Mitchell Hooper wins World’s Strongest Man 2026 for his second title
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Event | 2026 World's Strongest Man |
| Dates | April 23–26, 2026 |
| Location | Myrtle Beach, South Carolina |
| Champion | Mitchell Hooper (Canada), 54 points |
| Runner-up | Rayno Nel (South Africa), 52 points |
| Third | Trey Mitchell (USA), 36 points |
Canada’s Mitchell Hooper won World's Strongest Man for the second time at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, three years after his first title at the same venue in 2023. He beat 2025 champion Rayno Nel by two points, with Trey Mitchell third.
Tom Stoltman, a three-time champion, missed the final podium after finishing second in 2025.
Final standings
| Place | Athlete | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 54 |
| 2 | Rayno Nel | South Africa | 52 |
| 3 | Trey Mitchell | USA | 36 |
| 4= | Ondřej Fojtů | Czech Republic | 31.5 |
| 4= | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 31.5 |
| 6 | Martins Licis | Latvia | 30.5 |
| 7 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 29 |
| 8 | Eddie Williams | Australia | 26 |
| 9 | Nick Guardione | USA | 21 |
| 10 | Austin Andrade | Mexico | 12.5 |
How Hooper won without winning a final event
Rayno Nel won three of the five events in the final — the box flip and yoke walk, the 400 kg bar lift and the bag toss — and Trey Mitchell won the other two, including the Atlas stones. Hooper won none. He still won the title because strongman awards points for placing in every event, and Hooper placed high in all of them while Nel had lower finishes in the events he did not win.
| Event | Winner | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Box flip and yoke walk | Rayno Nel | 27.30 s |
| Bar lift (400 kg) | Rayno Nel | 5 reps |
| Bag toss over bar | Rayno Nel | 9 bags, 39.23 s |
| 213 kg event | Trey Mitchell | 213 kg |
| Stone medley | Trey Mitchell | 5 stones, 42.10 s |
Our take
Hooper is the most complete strongman in the world: his weakest events are better than most athletes’ best. Nel is the more explosive athlete in raw strength, and their two-point margin captures the sport’s best rivalry exactly.
The bigger picture is generational. Stoltman, Brian Shaw and Hafþór Björnsson dominated the last decade; Hooper and Nel now own the top of the sport, with Fojtů and Kordiyaka next in line.
Hooper and Nel meet again at the Rogue Invitational in Aberdeen on October 23–25, 2026. Every WSM winner is on our World’s Strongest Man winners page.
How WSM is scored
World’s Strongest Man awards points by placing in each event: in a ten-man final, first place earns 10 points, second 9 and so on, with ties sharing the points. The athlete with the most points after the final event wins. Event wins matter, but consistency matters more — which is exactly how Hooper won without winning a final event in 2026.
Hooper vs. Nel: the numbers
| Mitchell Hooper | Rayno Nel | |
|---|---|---|
| WSM titles | 2 (2023, 2026) | 1 (2025) |
| 2026 final points | 54 | 52 |
| Final events won | 0 | 3 |
| Arnold Strongman Classic | 4 straight (2023–2026) | — |
| Rogue Invitational | 2024, 2025 | — |
Nel’s 2025 title and his three event wins in the 2026 final show he is the strongest athlete in the sport on his best days. Hooper’s record across WSM, the Arnold and the Rogue shows he is the most consistent. Their rivalry is the best thing in strongman right now.