The 2024 Strongest Man on Earth (SMoE) competition made history with its record-breaking prize purse of $263,200, the largest ever offered in the sport. The champion, Mitchell Hooper, took home $100,016.
Despite its success, the show wasn’t without controversy. On Aug. 23, 2024, four-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Brian Shaw, the Shaw Classic‘s namesake promoter, shared a detailed critique and breakdown of the competition.
Shaw highlighted the two events that drew the most criticism — the overhead medley and squat lift.
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1. Axle Implement Misplacement
In the overhead medley event, each athlete attempted to lift a 163-kilogram log, a 170-kilogram axle, a 177-kilogram log, an 184-kilogram axle, and a 191-kilogram log in two minutes.
However, after watching the first four athletes struggle, Shaw realized there had been a mix-up with the axles. The heavier 184-kilogram axle had been mistakenly placed before the lighter 170-kilogram one in the sequence.
My biggest disappointment from the contest.
After consulting all the athletes, the implements were rearranged in the correct order, and the four affected athletes were offered a chance to reattempt the event after all other competitors had completed their turns.
There is no perfect solution to something like this.
Taking full responsibility for the oversight, Shaw acknowledged that a more careful setup could have prevented this error. He expressed his frustration, noting that logistical missteps like these can undermine an athlete’s performance, potentially even costing them an event and a fair shot at the title.
2. Squat Depth Standards
The second controversy at the 2024 SMoE was Hooper’s unconventional form during the squat lift event. While fellow contestants relied on hip and knee flexion to execute their reps, Hooper primarily employed a hip hinge, sparking debate over the legitimacy of his technique.
Shaw clarified that before the competition, all competitors received a thorough explanation of the rules, including personal demonstrations from Shaw himself on the required movements and the criteria for a valid lift in each event.
Shaw highlighted that the SMoE team documented each athlete’s foot position, knee angle, and bar position on their backs to establish clear benchmarks for judging the lifts.
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Shaw then explained the difference between powerlifting and strongman squat standards. In powerlifting, squat depth is typically judged by whether the lifter’s hip crease descends below the top of the knees, a standard that is rigorously enforced in competitions.
“In strongman, once you get under the apparatus, your only responsibility is to take it off the rack, go from the top to the bottom, and then get back up,” Shaw explained.
Shaw underlined that each athlete adopted a unique approach to leverage their strength for this event. While some maintained an upright torso to maximize glute and quad engagement, others, like Hooper, leaned forward to leverage their back strength.
Shaw revealed that whenever the referees had doubts about a lift meeting the standards, they thoroughly reviewed it before deciding. He asserted that every lift awarded in the competition adhered to the established guidelines and was judged fairly.
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Featured image: @shawstrength on Instagram
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