“Can’t Even Touch Your Toes”: Strongman Icon Mitchell Hooper Admits the Tough Reality of Competing at the World’s Strongest Man

There’s no denying that Mitchell Hooper has evolved into one of the most physically powerful athletes on the planet, all thanks to his jaw-dropping performance at every Strongman event this season.

While he did not win the gold at the World’s Strongest Man this year, his performance was incredible enough for a second place at the podium. These days, he has been peeling back the curtains to what being a strongman in such competitions looked like.

His recent video features his performance at the WSM’s Atlas Stone placement where he took turns to carry and place heavy stones of various weights on their designated platforms. These stones could weigh anywhere between 308 to 462 lbs, and Hooper successfully loaded four out of five stones.

However, he clearly seemed to be struggling towards the end as he reached the penultimate stone. While he had a total cap of 60 seconds, he could not go for the last weight, thus falling a few seconds and a weight short of winning the event. But the reason for his struggle was far from his capacity.

 

 

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“It’s hard to describe how difficult atlas stones are as a 12th event, when at that point you can’t even touch your toes…”

The WSM spread across five days, with various events, categories of participants, and levels of advancement. However, participants still went through multiple events in a single day, planned and prioritized their energy and endurance accordingly, and avoided grave injuries at any step.

Hooper might have managed to get through almost all of the hurdles save for the last pointer, where he hurt himself. The first event of the WSM finals did not look good for him, as he ended up with bloodied hands.

Yet, he pressed on and made it work till the end when he fell only a few points short of the winner, Tom Stoltman. He even reflected on the importance of staying injury-free in such competitions in one of his older posts.

Mitchell Hooper Reveals shredded skin and Bloodied Hands as an Athlete’s Harsh Reality

Being an athlete wasn’t easy, and one had to prepare for some severe injuries during competitions. Strongman championships are infamous for many horrifying accidents during events that often cause some really gory scenes. Hooper recently put his name in the injured athletes’ goblet, with his terribly shredded palms during the finals.

In a lengthy post, the Canadian explained how staying injury-free in such competitions gave athletes more power to push through some extreme endurance-challenging situations. His peeled skin, bloody hands, and constant medical assistance gave him a disadvantage that ultimately affected his performance. That being said, he was super proud of his fellow competitors, especially Stoltman, and was happy to stand by his side.