Day 2 of the World’s Strongest Man is wrapped up! To start the day, the competitors took part in the car walk. The second and final event of the day was the log press. It looks like the rankings have shaken up a little bit since yesterday. A few new names are in the top two spots in their respective groups.
Tom Stoltman and Kevin Faires are your leaders in Group 1. Stoltman has the fastest car walk time of his group at 14.65 seconds, and he also had the most reps in the log press at eight reps. No surprise there, but Stoltman is really having himself a good competition. Even at second place, Kevin Faires is a full six points behind Stoltman. Right now, Stoltman is dominating. Group 2 is being led by Mitchell Hooper and Bobby Thompson, respectively. Hooper had the fastest car walk time of the entire competition at a blazing 11.64 seconds. Bobby Thompson was able to put himself in contention with today’s performance. We shall see if he is able to keep that momentum going. Surprisingly, Mark Felix would take a zero in the log press. I wouldn’t pick Felix to finish very high in the rankings, but I wasn’t really expecting a zero from him. Brian Shaw is in third in Group 2. Will he make up ground tomorrow, or is Shaw finally at the end of his WSM run? Group 3 is led by Oleksii Novikov and Adam Bishop. It should be to no one’s surprise that Novikov is leading. Adam Bishop’s performance was enough to put him in contention, but Trey Mitchell is only half of a point behind in third place. Group 4 led by Martins Licis and Maxime Boudreault. Licis is one an absolute tear this year, so I’m not surprised to see him maintain his position after day 2. However, Maxime Boudreault improved his rankings and had the best overall log press performance with a whopping ten reps. Group 5 is led by Luke Stoltman and Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted. Stoltman is clearly the best in the group with a seven point lead.
There has been some shuffling of the second place spots in the competition, but the group leaders remain the same. The Stoltman brothers, Hooper, Licis and Novikov are in total control of their destinies at the moment. At this point, I think the fighting will all be for the second spot in each group. Bobby Thompson and Kevin Faires seem to have a strong hold on their positions after today, but there could be a battle in Group 3. Adam Bishop and Trey Mitchell are only half of a point apart. Bishop will need to have a great performance on day three, or Mitchell will catch up to him. The same scenario can be said for Group 4. Maxime Boudreault and Pavlov Kordiyaka are also only half of a point apart. And last, but not least, Group 5 will see a battle between Melsted and Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf. Those two are just a point apart, as the rest of the group seems to be falling pretty far behind.
One more day of competitions and we will have our finalists! I’m going to list off who I think will be the finalists. In Group 1, Tom Stoltman and Kevin Faires. Group 2, Mitchell Hooper and Bobby Thompson. Group 3, Oleksii Novikov and Trey Mitchell. Group 4, Martins Licis and Pavlov Kordiyaka. Finally, Group 5, Luke Soltman and Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted. Granted, there isn’t much of a shake up than what the current standings are, but I don’t think there is really a lot to shake up. I think the top contenders have already solidified their positions, and it is only a matter of finishing strong. But, we will see. You never know when someone falls the hardest or shines the brightest.
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