Muscle Insider
New member
Mitchell Hooper’s rookie season was an anomaly in strongman. His first-ever pro show was the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest, which he entered as a reserve. He was the new guy on the block in a room full of the elite among the elite in the sport, including reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman and former WSM champions Brian Shaw, Oleksii Novikov, and Martins Licis, among others.
Hooper had to hold his composure as the mystery man in the contest, and it wasn’t until the full roster arrived on the first day that they were informed of who was in which group in the Qualifying stage. At least, that is how Hooper recounts his experience in the video below, published on his YouTube channel on Dec. 28, 2022. Check it out:
Related: Laurence Shahlaei Reveals Weight Loss of 102 Pounds for Drastic Physique Transformation]
2022 World’s Strongest Man Group 2
Hooper discovered that he was selected for Group 2, which looked like this:
From the Canadian’s point of view, his group was stacked.
I don’t know how this group got made.
Running through the list above, Shaw is a four-time WSM champion with the record for most consecutive WSM Final appearances (14). He’s only missed the WSM Final once — his WSM debut in 2009 — and prior to 2022, he never lost his group in Qualifying.
Bobby Thompson was entering his third WSM in 2022 — he made his WSM Final debut in 2021. The 2022 WSM was Felix’s 17th WSM appearance and was arguably Hooper’s softest competition by the numbers. Felix was 56 years old and only reached the WSM Final three times in his career. However, Felix’s nickname isn’t “Miracle Man” for nothing, and he can still lift with the best.
Before 2022, Janashia had never failed to reach a WSM Final. He competed five times at the WSM from 2016-2021, reaching the Finals every time. Peña made his WSM debut in 2020 but did not advance to the Final. If one were to just place a bet on who would advance from this group solely based on stats of past WSM performance, it’s a Shaw victory, and Janashia goes over Thompson in the Stone-Off. However, that is far from what happened in Sacramento, CA.
[Related: A Look Back at Olga Liashchuk’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman Victory]
This is a super strong group, but not a particularly fast group.
Hooper knew that if he were to contend against the athletes in his group, he would have to leverage his speed and athleticism, which is where he believed he excelled over his competition. Fortunately for Hooper, the Qualifying events gave him the opportunity to do just that.
Qualifying Round – Day One
Qualifying Round – Day Two
Qualifying Round – Day Three
Wrecking Ball Hold
Stone-Off (second place versus third place in each group after the first five events)
For the Loading Race, Hooper focused on maintaining his composure and avoiding mistakes — it was his professional strongman event debut, and he wanted to keep his nerves in check. He succeeded in that venture, destroying the rest of the group for a first-place time of 38.31 seconds.
Loading Race Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47 seconds
Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds
Hooper knew he was the fasted athlete in his group and his analysis of the events was, thus far, accurate. Although coming off a big opening win, Hooper still only expected to reach the Stone-Off at best heading into the Deadlift Ladder. His analysis of back-to-back event wins, however, was spot on.
Deadlift Ladder Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — Five reps in 31.21 seconds
Bobby Thompson — Five reps in 42.56 seconds
Gabriel Peña — Five reps in 52.53 seconds
Mark Felix — Four reps in 28.64 seconds
Brian Shaw — Four reps in 32.36 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — Three reps in 19.05 seconds
The expectation by Hooper and his team was that everyone would manage to lock out all five barbells. As such, Hooper planned to score his points by moving through the first four deadlifts as quickly as possible — he didn’t even use his lifting straps until the final pull. Everything was coming up Hooper in his WSM debut.
[Related: 2022 America’s Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Results — Bobby Thompson and Victoria Long Victorious]
Car Walk Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — 11.64 seconds
Mark Felix — 13.96 seconds
Bobby Thompson — 16.05 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — 18.16 seconds
Brian Shaw — 19.97 seconds
Gabriel Peña — did not finish
Going into his best event with the momentum of back-to-back wins, Hooper found himself in an excellent position to end Shaw’s streak of Qualifying group victories.
That was a real moment for me.
The fourth event was a log lift for reps with 145 kilograms (320 pounds). Since Felix and Hooper finished in the top two in the Car Walk, they were paired in the final heat for their group in the Log Lift. Given that Felix’s worst events are overhead events, Hooper felt he had the advantage of knowing exactly many reps he would have to score by the time it was his turn to lift.
That prediction also bore out correctly. Hooper knew he needed at least six reps but managed seven to tie for second-place points thanks to some advice on pacing the event from Maxime Boudreault.
Log Lift Results — Group 2
Bobby Thompson — Eight reps
Mitchell Hooper — Seven reps
Brian Shaw — Seven reps (T-second)
Konstantine Janashia — Five reps
Gabriel Peña — One rep
Mark Felix — Zero reps
With a huge lead over the rest of his group going into the final event, Hooper’s only way to lose the group was a last-place finish in the Wrecking Ball Hold combined with a Thompson victory. That was a tall order, as any grip event is a slam dunk for Felix.
Once Thompson failed to clear Felix’s new world record time in the Wrecking Ball Hold, Hooper knew he locked up the group victory. Hooper had the luxury of taking the event off if he felt like it, and he would still head to the WSM Final. Ultimately, Hooper went through the motions and held the wrecking ball momentarily before waving to the crowd cheering him on.
Wrecking Ball Hold Results — Group 2
Mark Felix — 2:20.49
Bobby Thompson — 1:21.33
Brian Shaw — 1:06.13
Konstantine Janashia — 1:01.38
Gabriel Peña — 48.27 seconds
Mitchell Hooper — 6.40 seconds
Hooper’s performance in the 2022 WSM Qualifying stage will likely remain one of the greatest rookie performances for many years to come. His experience at the 2023 WSM will almost certainly be different than his rookie year, as instead of flying under the radar, he will enter as one of the favorites to land on the podium.
Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
Mitchell Hooper’s rookie season was an anomaly in strongman. His first-ever pro show was the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest, which he entered as a reserve. He was the new guy on the block in a room full of the elite among the elite in the sport, including reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman and former WSM champions Brian Shaw, Oleksii Novikov, and Martins Licis, among others.
Hooper had to hold his composure as the mystery man in the contest, and it wasn’t until the full roster arrived on the first day that they were informed of who was in which group in the Qualifying stage. At least, that is how Hooper recounts his experience in the video below, published on his YouTube channel on Dec. 28, 2022. Check it out:
Related: Laurence Shahlaei Reveals Weight Loss of 102 Pounds for Drastic Physique Transformation]
2022 World’s Strongest Man Group 2
Hooper discovered that he was selected for Group 2, which looked like this:
From the Canadian’s point of view, his group was stacked.
I don’t know how this group got made.
[/quote]
Running through the list above, Shaw is a four-time WSM champion with the record for most consecutive WSM Final appearances (14). He’s only missed the WSM Final once — his WSM debut in 2009 — and prior to 2022, he never lost his group in Qualifying.
Bobby Thompson was entering his third WSM in 2022 — he made his WSM Final debut in 2021. The 2022 WSM was Felix’s 17th WSM appearance and was arguably Hooper’s softest competition by the numbers. Felix was 56 years old and only reached the WSM Final three times in his career. However, Felix’s nickname isn’t “Miracle Man” for nothing, and he can still lift with the best.
Before 2022, Janashia had never failed to reach a WSM Final. He competed five times at the WSM from 2016-2021, reaching the Finals every time. Peña made his WSM debut in 2020 but did not advance to the Final. If one were to just place a bet on who would advance from this group solely based on stats of past WSM performance, it’s a Shaw victory, and Janashia goes over Thompson in the Stone-Off. However, that is far from what happened in Sacramento, CA.
[Related: A Look Back at Olga Liashchuk’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman Victory]
This is a super strong group, but not a particularly fast group.
[/quote]
Hooper knew that if he were to contend against the athletes in his group, he would have to leverage his speed and athleticism, which is where he believed he excelled over his competition. Fortunately for Hooper, the Qualifying events gave him the opportunity to do just that.
Qualifying Round – Day One
Qualifying Round – Day Two
Qualifying Round – Day Three
Loading Race Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds
Hooper knew he was the fasted athlete in his group and his analysis of the events was, thus far, accurate. Although coming off a big opening win, Hooper still only expected to reach the Stone-Off at best heading into the Deadlift Ladder. His analysis of back-to-back event wins, however, was spot on.
Deadlift Ladder Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Five reps in 31.21 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — Five reps in 42.56 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — Five reps in 52.53 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — Four reps in 28.64 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — Four reps in 32.36 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Three reps in 19.05 seconds
The expectation by Hooper and his team was that everyone would manage to lock out all five barbells. As such, Hooper planned to score his points by moving through the first four deadlifts as quickly as possible — he didn’t even use his lifting straps until the final pull. Everything was coming up Hooper in his WSM debut.
[Related: 2022 America’s Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Results — Bobby Thompson and Victoria Long Victorious]
Car Walk Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — 11.64 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — 13.96 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — 16.05 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — 18.16 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — 19.97 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — did not finish
Going into his best event with the momentum of back-to-back wins, Hooper found himself in an excellent position to end Shaw’s streak of Qualifying group victories.
That was a real moment for me.
[/quote]
The fourth event was a log lift for reps with 145 kilograms (320 pounds). Since Felix and Hooper finished in the top two in the Car Walk, they were paired in the final heat for their group in the Log Lift. Given that Felix’s worst events are overhead events, Hooper felt he had the advantage of knowing exactly many reps he would have to score by the time it was his turn to lift.
That prediction also bore out correctly. Hooper knew he needed at least six reps but managed seven to tie for second-place points thanks to some advice on pacing the event from Maxime Boudreault.
Log Lift Results — Group 2
[*]Bobby Thompson — Eight reps
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Seven reps
[*]Brian Shaw — Seven reps (T-second)
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Five reps
[*]Gabriel Peña — One rep
[*]Mark Felix — Zero reps
With a huge lead over the rest of his group going into the final event, Hooper’s only way to lose the group was a last-place finish in the Wrecking Ball Hold combined with a Thompson victory. That was a tall order, as any grip event is a slam dunk for Felix.
Once Thompson failed to clear Felix’s new world record time in the Wrecking Ball Hold, Hooper knew he locked up the group victory. Hooper had the luxury of taking the event off if he felt like it, and he would still head to the WSM Final. Ultimately, Hooper went through the motions and held the wrecking ball momentarily before waving to the crowd cheering him on.
Wrecking Ball Hold Results — Group 2
[*]Mark Felix — 2:20.49
[*]Bobby Thompson — 1:21.33
[*]Brian Shaw — 1:06.13
[*]Konstantine Janashia — 1:01.38
[*]Gabriel Peña — 48.27 seconds
[*]Mitchell Hooper — 6.40 seconds
Hooper’s performance in the 2022 WSM Qualifying stage will likely remain one of the greatest rookie performances for many years to come. His experience at the 2023 WSM will almost certainly be different than his rookie year, as instead of flying under the radar, he will enter as one of the favorites to land on the podium.
Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
Click here to view the article.
Hooper had to hold his composure as the mystery man in the contest, and it wasn’t until the full roster arrived on the first day that they were informed of who was in which group in the Qualifying stage. At least, that is how Hooper recounts his experience in the video below, published on his YouTube channel on Dec. 28, 2022. Check it out:
Related: Laurence Shahlaei Reveals Weight Loss of 102 Pounds for Drastic Physique Transformation]
2022 World’s Strongest Man Group 2
Hooper discovered that he was selected for Group 2, which looked like this:
From the Canadian’s point of view, his group was stacked.
I don’t know how this group got made.
Running through the list above, Shaw is a four-time WSM champion with the record for most consecutive WSM Final appearances (14). He’s only missed the WSM Final once — his WSM debut in 2009 — and prior to 2022, he never lost his group in Qualifying.
Bobby Thompson was entering his third WSM in 2022 — he made his WSM Final debut in 2021. The 2022 WSM was Felix’s 17th WSM appearance and was arguably Hooper’s softest competition by the numbers. Felix was 56 years old and only reached the WSM Final three times in his career. However, Felix’s nickname isn’t “Miracle Man” for nothing, and he can still lift with the best.
Before 2022, Janashia had never failed to reach a WSM Final. He competed five times at the WSM from 2016-2021, reaching the Finals every time. Peña made his WSM debut in 2020 but did not advance to the Final. If one were to just place a bet on who would advance from this group solely based on stats of past WSM performance, it’s a Shaw victory, and Janashia goes over Thompson in the Stone-Off. However, that is far from what happened in Sacramento, CA.
[Related: A Look Back at Olga Liashchuk’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman Victory]
This is a super strong group, but not a particularly fast group.
Hooper knew that if he were to contend against the athletes in his group, he would have to leverage his speed and athleticism, which is where he believed he excelled over his competition. Fortunately for Hooper, the Qualifying events gave him the opportunity to do just that.
Qualifying Round – Day One
Qualifying Round – Day Two
Qualifying Round – Day Three
Wrecking Ball Hold
Stone-Off (second place versus third place in each group after the first five events)
For the Loading Race, Hooper focused on maintaining his composure and avoiding mistakes — it was his professional strongman event debut, and he wanted to keep his nerves in check. He succeeded in that venture, destroying the rest of the group for a first-place time of 38.31 seconds.
Loading Race Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47 seconds
Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds
Hooper knew he was the fasted athlete in his group and his analysis of the events was, thus far, accurate. Although coming off a big opening win, Hooper still only expected to reach the Stone-Off at best heading into the Deadlift Ladder. His analysis of back-to-back event wins, however, was spot on.
Deadlift Ladder Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — Five reps in 31.21 seconds
Bobby Thompson — Five reps in 42.56 seconds
Gabriel Peña — Five reps in 52.53 seconds
Mark Felix — Four reps in 28.64 seconds
Brian Shaw — Four reps in 32.36 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — Three reps in 19.05 seconds
The expectation by Hooper and his team was that everyone would manage to lock out all five barbells. As such, Hooper planned to score his points by moving through the first four deadlifts as quickly as possible — he didn’t even use his lifting straps until the final pull. Everything was coming up Hooper in his WSM debut.
[Related: 2022 America’s Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Results — Bobby Thompson and Victoria Long Victorious]
Car Walk Results — Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — 11.64 seconds
Mark Felix — 13.96 seconds
Bobby Thompson — 16.05 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — 18.16 seconds
Brian Shaw — 19.97 seconds
Gabriel Peña — did not finish
Going into his best event with the momentum of back-to-back wins, Hooper found himself in an excellent position to end Shaw’s streak of Qualifying group victories.
That was a real moment for me.
The fourth event was a log lift for reps with 145 kilograms (320 pounds). Since Felix and Hooper finished in the top two in the Car Walk, they were paired in the final heat for their group in the Log Lift. Given that Felix’s worst events are overhead events, Hooper felt he had the advantage of knowing exactly many reps he would have to score by the time it was his turn to lift.
That prediction also bore out correctly. Hooper knew he needed at least six reps but managed seven to tie for second-place points thanks to some advice on pacing the event from Maxime Boudreault.
Log Lift Results — Group 2
Bobby Thompson — Eight reps
Mitchell Hooper — Seven reps
Brian Shaw — Seven reps (T-second)
Konstantine Janashia — Five reps
Gabriel Peña — One rep
Mark Felix — Zero reps
With a huge lead over the rest of his group going into the final event, Hooper’s only way to lose the group was a last-place finish in the Wrecking Ball Hold combined with a Thompson victory. That was a tall order, as any grip event is a slam dunk for Felix.
Once Thompson failed to clear Felix’s new world record time in the Wrecking Ball Hold, Hooper knew he locked up the group victory. Hooper had the luxury of taking the event off if he felt like it, and he would still head to the WSM Final. Ultimately, Hooper went through the motions and held the wrecking ball momentarily before waving to the crowd cheering him on.
Wrecking Ball Hold Results — Group 2
Mark Felix — 2:20.49
Bobby Thompson — 1:21.33
Brian Shaw — 1:06.13
Konstantine Janashia — 1:01.38
Gabriel Peña — 48.27 seconds
Mitchell Hooper — 6.40 seconds
Hooper’s performance in the 2022 WSM Qualifying stage will likely remain one of the greatest rookie performances for many years to come. His experience at the 2023 WSM will almost certainly be different than his rookie year, as instead of flying under the radar, he will enter as one of the favorites to land on the podium.
Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
Mitchell Hooper’s rookie season was an anomaly in strongman. His first-ever pro show was the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest, which he entered as a reserve. He was the new guy on the block in a room full of the elite among the elite in the sport, including reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman and former WSM champions Brian Shaw, Oleksii Novikov, and Martins Licis, among others.
Hooper had to hold his composure as the mystery man in the contest, and it wasn’t until the full roster arrived on the first day that they were informed of who was in which group in the Qualifying stage. At least, that is how Hooper recounts his experience in the video below, published on his YouTube channel on Dec. 28, 2022. Check it out:
Related: Laurence Shahlaei Reveals Weight Loss of 102 Pounds for Drastic Physique Transformation]
2022 World’s Strongest Man Group 2
Hooper discovered that he was selected for Group 2, which looked like this:
From the Canadian’s point of view, his group was stacked.
I don’t know how this group got made.
[/quote]
Running through the list above, Shaw is a four-time WSM champion with the record for most consecutive WSM Final appearances (14). He’s only missed the WSM Final once — his WSM debut in 2009 — and prior to 2022, he never lost his group in Qualifying.
Bobby Thompson was entering his third WSM in 2022 — he made his WSM Final debut in 2021. The 2022 WSM was Felix’s 17th WSM appearance and was arguably Hooper’s softest competition by the numbers. Felix was 56 years old and only reached the WSM Final three times in his career. However, Felix’s nickname isn’t “Miracle Man” for nothing, and he can still lift with the best.
Before 2022, Janashia had never failed to reach a WSM Final. He competed five times at the WSM from 2016-2021, reaching the Finals every time. Peña made his WSM debut in 2020 but did not advance to the Final. If one were to just place a bet on who would advance from this group solely based on stats of past WSM performance, it’s a Shaw victory, and Janashia goes over Thompson in the Stone-Off. However, that is far from what happened in Sacramento, CA.
[Related: A Look Back at Olga Liashchuk’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman Victory]
This is a super strong group, but not a particularly fast group.
[/quote]
Hooper knew that if he were to contend against the athletes in his group, he would have to leverage his speed and athleticism, which is where he believed he excelled over his competition. Fortunately for Hooper, the Qualifying events gave him the opportunity to do just that.
Qualifying Round – Day One
Qualifying Round – Day Two
Qualifying Round – Day Three
Wrecking Ball Hold
Stone-Off (second place versus third place in each group after the first five events)
Loading Race Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds
Hooper knew he was the fasted athlete in his group and his analysis of the events was, thus far, accurate. Although coming off a big opening win, Hooper still only expected to reach the Stone-Off at best heading into the Deadlift Ladder. His analysis of back-to-back event wins, however, was spot on.
Deadlift Ladder Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Five reps in 31.21 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — Five reps in 42.56 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — Five reps in 52.53 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — Four reps in 28.64 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — Four reps in 32.36 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Three reps in 19.05 seconds
The expectation by Hooper and his team was that everyone would manage to lock out all five barbells. As such, Hooper planned to score his points by moving through the first four deadlifts as quickly as possible — he didn’t even use his lifting straps until the final pull. Everything was coming up Hooper in his WSM debut.
[Related: 2022 America’s Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Results — Bobby Thompson and Victoria Long Victorious]
Car Walk Results — Group 2
[*]Mitchell Hooper — 11.64 seconds
[*]Mark Felix — 13.96 seconds
[*]Bobby Thompson — 16.05 seconds
[*]Konstantine Janashia — 18.16 seconds
[*]Brian Shaw — 19.97 seconds
[*]Gabriel Peña — did not finish
Going into his best event with the momentum of back-to-back wins, Hooper found himself in an excellent position to end Shaw’s streak of Qualifying group victories.
That was a real moment for me.
[/quote]
The fourth event was a log lift for reps with 145 kilograms (320 pounds). Since Felix and Hooper finished in the top two in the Car Walk, they were paired in the final heat for their group in the Log Lift. Given that Felix’s worst events are overhead events, Hooper felt he had the advantage of knowing exactly many reps he would have to score by the time it was his turn to lift.
That prediction also bore out correctly. Hooper knew he needed at least six reps but managed seven to tie for second-place points thanks to some advice on pacing the event from Maxime Boudreault.
Log Lift Results — Group 2
[*]Bobby Thompson — Eight reps
[*]Mitchell Hooper — Seven reps
[*]Brian Shaw — Seven reps (T-second)
[*]Konstantine Janashia — Five reps
[*]Gabriel Peña — One rep
[*]Mark Felix — Zero reps
With a huge lead over the rest of his group going into the final event, Hooper’s only way to lose the group was a last-place finish in the Wrecking Ball Hold combined with a Thompson victory. That was a tall order, as any grip event is a slam dunk for Felix.
Once Thompson failed to clear Felix’s new world record time in the Wrecking Ball Hold, Hooper knew he locked up the group victory. Hooper had the luxury of taking the event off if he felt like it, and he would still head to the WSM Final. Ultimately, Hooper went through the motions and held the wrecking ball momentarily before waving to the crowd cheering him on.
Wrecking Ball Hold Results — Group 2
[*]Mark Felix — 2:20.49
[*]Bobby Thompson — 1:21.33
[*]Brian Shaw — 1:06.13
[*]Konstantine Janashia — 1:01.38
[*]Gabriel Peña — 48.27 seconds
[*]Mitchell Hooper — 6.40 seconds
Hooper’s performance in the 2022 WSM Qualifying stage will likely remain one of the greatest rookie performances for many years to come. His experience at the 2023 WSM will almost certainly be different than his rookie year, as instead of flying under the radar, he will enter as one of the favorites to land on the podium.
Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
Click here to view the article.
