A change has been made less than two weeks before the contest.
Written by Roger Lockridge
Ukrainian strongman Pavlo Nakonechnyy has officially withdrawn from the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest. Nakonechnyy will not make the trip to Myrtle Beach, SC on the week of Apr. 19-23, 2023, due to the same knee injury that forced him to withdraw from the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man competition in mid-March. His fellow countryman, Pavlo Kordiyaka, stepped up and won that competition on Apr. 1, 2023. Nakonechnny initially suffered the injury during the deadlift portion of the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic.
The World’s Strongest Man promoters shared the news on Instagram on Saturday, Apr. 8. Nakonechnyy later posted comments on his own Instagram page regarding his absence.
“I [will] miss WSM 2023. I wish all athletes success and see you next year at WSM 2024.”
On the same day as the withdrawal announcement, WSM organizers also shared that American competitor Thomas Evans will replace Nakonechnyy in the lineup.
Evans is coming off a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic in early March 2023. Mitchell Hooper won that contest, but Evans finished one spot ahead of two-time World’s Strongest Man champion Tom Stoltman. This will be Evans’ first WSM appearance.
Prior to the 2023 season, Evans was the 2022 Arnold Amateur Strongman winner and he won the 2022 Shaw Classic open contest. He also competed in the 2022 Official Strongman Games, where he placed eighth out of ten men. The 28-year-old be one of seven Americans on the roster to compete at the WSM. The others are Kevin Faires, Trey Mitchell, Spenser Remick, Evan Singleton, Bobby Thompson, and four-time World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw, who will be competing in the contest for the final time.
With this change in the lineup, the complete 30-man WSM roster is now as follows:
- Tom Stoltman (UK) — Defending two-time WSM champion
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
- Brian Shaw (USA)
- Trey Mitchell (USA)
- Luke Stoltman (UK)
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
- Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
- Evan Singleton (USA)
- Adam Bishop (UK)
- Aivars Šmaukstelis (Latvia)
- Kevin Faires (USA)
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted (Iceland)
- Paul Smith (UK)
- Rauno Heinla (Estonia)
- Bobby Thompson (USA)
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski (Poland)
- Gavin Bilton (UK)
- Spenser Remick (USA)
- Eddie Williams (Australia)
- Thomas Evans (USA)
- Konstantine Janashia (Georgia)
- Graham Hicks (UK)
- Mathew Ragg (New Zealand)
- Gabriel Rhéaume (Canada)
- Fadi El Masri (Australia)
- Jaco Schoonwinkel (South Africa)
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (Australia)
- Mark Felix (UK)
- Pa O’Dwyer (Ireland)
- Cheick “Iron Biby” Sanou (Burkina Faso)
Featured Image: @theworldsstrongestman on Instagram
About Roger Lockridge
Roger “Rock” Lockridge has been writing professionally for 10 years and has been training for 20. His work in the fitness industry has been seen in numerous outlets and has been a part of coverage for several events including the Mr. Olympia, Arnold Classic, the CrossFit Games, and the Olympics. He’s also shared his own personal success story in several interviews and articles. Lockridge lives in West Virginia with his wife and son.