The 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic started today in Columbus, Ohio. Ten of the world's top strongmen competed today for one of the most recognized titles in the sport. American strongman Rob Kearney AKA "The World's Strongest Gay", is currently in the lead. Continue on for a breakdown of the day one events as we cover the recap and results of the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic so far.
Current 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic Standings & Recap
- Rob Kearney — 18 points
- Oleksii Novikov — 16 points
- Martins Licis — 15 points
- JF Caron — 12.5 points
- Maxime Boudreault — 9.5 points
- Bobby Thompson — 9.5 points
- Evgeny Markov — 9 points
- Luke Stoltman — 8 points
- Tom Stoltman — 7 points
- Trey Mitchell — 5.5 points
2022 Arnold Strongman Classic Events Recap
Two of the five strongman events took place on Friday, March 4th, 2022. Let's have a look at how each event played out to result in the current standings above.
Max Squat
To get the party started, the first event of the 2022 ASC was the max squat. First, athletes established their max squat on a double T-bar. Next, athletes were allowed to be lift-equipped, with most of them using lifting suits, lifting belts, wrist wraps, knee wraps, and elbow sleeves.It's amazing how strong these athletes are; every athlete was able to squat 800 plus pounds in this event. The contest was organized similar to a weightlifting event, with the lightest lifters going first.
Evgeny was the first strongman to miss an attempt. He had 866 pounds on the barbell. Rather than repeat that weight and lift again without any rest, Evgeny decided he would settle for 821 pounds.
Martins didn't have his first attempt until 45 minutes into the event since his first attempt was at 901 pounds. He was able to lift it with ease and quickly moved up to the top of the leaderboard. Bobby used his second attempt to match Licis's lift, and Luke used his final attempt to move into the 900-pound club but just missed his 906-pound attempt.
JF made his way to the stage for his first attempt at an incredible 916-pounds. He made it look like it was his warm-up weight, moving the weight incredibly easy. He moved the weight so fast that many of the live audience likely blinked and missed it. Rob came back and completed his second attempt at 936 pounds. Martins was next and decided to crank it up a notch by increasing it to 941 pounds.
JF managed to pull off 951 pounds, not to be outdone; Martins added five more pounds to establish a max weight of 956 pounds. Rob knocked Martins into third place overall by successfully locking out 961 pounds. Rob's incredible performance was enough to secure second place in the event. JF scored the top single with 966 pounds for first place and a solid start to the competition.
MAX SQUAT RESULTS- JF Caron — 966 pounds
- Rob Kearney — 961 pounds
- Martins Licis — 956 pounds
- Bobby Thompson — 946 pounds
- Oleksii Novikov — 906 pounds
- Tom Stoltman — 861 pounds (Tied-sixth)
- Maxime Boudreault — 861 pounds (Tied-sixth)
- Trey Mitchell — 856 pounds
- Evgeny Markov — 821 pounds
- Luke Stoltman — 816 pounds
Monster Dumbbell For Reps
Athletes were given 90-seconds to complete as many reps as possible with a 275-pound dumbbell. Competitors were allowed to switch arms throughout the lift.Luke was first up and managed to secure three reps; he attempted a fourth and fifth rep but missed them. Evgeny sped through three reps but wasn't able to manage another rep after that.
Trey was third to lift and couldn't maintain his balance on his first and second attempts, and then dropped the weight on his third. After those blunders, he was unable to get back into the groove and lost a lot of energy. He finished with no reps. Tom took the floor next and struggled on all of his attempts, eventually bowing out of the event.
Maxime moved quickly through his first rep. His second rep failed, as well as his third, and he called it with one rep scored. Oleksii has been considered one of the strongest pressers in the game. When he started his turn, he made the first two reps look easy; with his third, fourth, fifth, and sixth reps going up successfully with slight hiccups. His seventh rep at the one-minute mark missed, but he was able to score it before his time was up.
Bobby (the replacement after Mateusz Kieliszkowski dropped out) struggled with his first and second attempts, eventually running out the clock before he could complete a rep. Martins, who had trained with Oleksii for this lift, finished the event tied for third with Luke and Evgeny.
Kearney continued his amazing performance with two strong reps in his first 30 seconds. After that, he managed two more reps, securing second place and playing it smart by not over-exerting himself trying to get first, which was a smart move on his part. Unfortunately, JF tweaked his shoulder on his first attempt, dropping the dumbbell. After attempting to clean the dumbbell up a second time, it was clear that something was off, and he bowed out. It is yet to be determined if he will be back for tomorrow's events.
MONSTER DUMBBELL FOR REPS RESULTS- Oleksii Novikov — 7 reps
- Rob Kearney — 4 reps
- Luke Stoltman — 3 reps (Time-3rd)
- Evgeny Markov — 3 reps (Time-3rd)
- Martins Licis — 3 reps (Time-3rd)
- Maxime Boudreault — 1 rep
- Trey Mitchell — 0 reps
- Tom Stoltman — 0 reps
- Bobby Thompson — 0 reps
- JF Caron — 0 reps
WRAPPING UP
The first day of the Arnold Classic started off incredibly, so make sure to check in with us tomorrow as we cover the last three events!
Do you think Kearney will hold onto his lead?
Andrew Lenau
Author