Rayno Nel wins the 2025 WSM championship!
Last updated on May 18th, 2025
The 2025 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Finals came down to the Atlas Stones. The podium was determined entering the event — Rayno Nel, Mitchell Hooper, and defending WSM champion Tom Stoltman would stand next to each other during the award ceremony. The question was who would stand where.
The Atlas Stone event featured five stones weighing 140 to 210 kilograms. The athlete who loaded all five stones in the fastest time won.
[Stay Tuned: 2025 World’s Strongest Man Live Results & Leaderboard]
2025 World’s Strongest Man Atlas Stones Results
- Tom Stoltman (UK) — Five in 31.76 seconds
- Trey Mitchell (USA) — Five in 41.08 seconds
- Rayno Nel (RSA) — Four in 30.17 seconds
- Mitchell Hooper (CAN) — Four in 31.02 seconds
- Paddy Haynes (UK) — Four in 34.07 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (UKR) — Four in 38.39 seconds
- Shane Flowers (UK) — Four in 54.09 seconds
- Luke Stoltman (UK) — Three in 25.05 seconds
- Eddie Williams (AUS) — Three 25.88 seconds
- Ondrej Fojtů (CZE) — Three in 31.38 seconds
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Typically, the athletes compete in reverse order of finish from the previous event. However, since this was the title-awarding event, athletes ran according to rank on the overall leaderboard.
Luke Stoltman vs. Eddie Williams
Stoltman, in his sixth WSM Final, was in the heat against WSM Finals debutant Williams. Williams was first to the initial stone but Stoltman was the first to load it. The third stone was clearly where the weight jump was felt as both were slow to load it.
Williams struggled to lift the fourth stone. Stoltman lifted the fourth stone to the pedestal but dropped it before it settled. He lapped it during another attempt as the whistle blew.
Pablo Kordiyaka vs. Shane Flowers
Kordiyaka chose to lift without a shirt and only tacky on his arms, a strategy meant to use skin for extra traction on the stones. It was a bold strategy given how the stones baked in the hot Sacramento sun that loomed overhead.
They loaded the first stones simultaneously. Kordiyaka took a slight lead by the third stone. Kordiyaka caught the crowd’s roar when he loaded the fourth stone. The Ukrainian lapped the fifth stone but couldn’t lift it farther than that. Flowers did not attempt the fifth stone.
After their heat, Flowers received a five-second penalty for rolling the fourth stone off its ring toward its pedestal.
Paddy Haynes vs. Ondrej Fojtů
They were exactly even through the first stone, but Haynes pulled ahead by the second. Haynes was a full stone ahead after loading the fourth stone; Fojtů bowed out at three stones. He successfully lapped the fifth stone, hoisting it to the pedestal, but couldn’t get it over the lip to lock it in, and it careened to the floor.
Mitchell Hooper vs. Trey Mitchell
Hooper had an audible exhale before racing to the first stone. He stumbled on the ring and dropped the first stone, losing valuable time.
Mitchell was steady through the entire heat, becoming the first athlete to load all five stones. Hooper made two attempts at the fifth stone but couldn’t budge it.
Rayno Nel vs. Tom Stoltman
Having the leader’s advantage, Nel knew loading all five stones would secure him the WSM title regardless of time. Otherwise, he only needed to beat Hooper’s four-stone time.
Stoltman was the only athlete other than Kordiyaka to lift shirtless. Stoltman one-motioned the first three stones with a significant lead over Nel. Nel loaded his fourth stone, but it was unclear if the time beat Hooper. Nel attempted to load the fifth stone, but it wasn’t there before the whistle blew.
After dramatic anticipation, Nel’s time was a second faster than Hooper’s, securing Nel as the 2025 WSM champion.
[Related: Luke Richardson and Evan Singleton Withdraw from 2025 World’s Strongest Man]
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Featured image courtesy of World’s Strongest Man/Rich Storry
