Arnold Strongman Classic 2026

I wasn't able to watch this year's competition in real-time, as the Friday broadcast began right in the middle of my workday. Thankfully the Arnold organizers have always had a good quality stream that is immediately archived to YouTube. I'm not much of a brand cheerleader, but the money and attention Rogue have put into strongman events has done wonders for making competitions easier to follow and enjoy.

This is my favourite of the major strongman shows, although the line-up lost a lot of starpower this year. Even with last-minute replacements, the roster only had 9 athletes on the men's side. The loss of Tom Stoltman and Hafthor Bjornsson all but removed any serious competition for the three-time defending champion Mitchell Hooper.

The women's division continues to show a lot of growth. The rate at which deadlift records keep getting broken is a really good sign for the future. It's been fun watching long-time competitors like Olga Liaschuk, Hanah Linzay and Inez Carrasquillo continue to improve while newcomers like Lucy Underdown and Jessica Lyle continue to get better and better.

Event Notes

Mitchell Hooper's overall dominance was not surprising. He's tough to like but impossible to deny. It's really too bad he and Hafthor won't have one of those classic rivalries like Brian Shaw and Big Z, or Eddie Hall and Hafthor.

Lucas Hatton getting zero points in the Stone To Shoulder event wasn't something I saw coming. He was also massively disadvantaged in the Stone Drag, exhausting himself just getting the Dinnie stones onto the sled.

I also figured that Trey Mitchell would do a lot better this year, since the Frame Carry event — which seems to be an automatic zero, due to some kind of grip issue — wasn't in play. Unfortunately, the Elephant Bar Deadlift and Stone Drag events went terribly for him.

Martins Licis was nowhere near his former glory, but had some moments that showed he's also not completely washed either. His performance in the Stone To Shoulder event was reminiscent of his Arnold 2022 win, and he was one of only two athletes to complete the Stone Drag. He finished much better than he started.

The women's division was extremely competitive right up to the end, with Olga Liaschuk finally winning the contest after multiple second place finishes.

Overall, I felt the everything was still very fun to watch, even if the men's side was closer to a Giants Live lineup as opposed to one of the 3 major strongman shows of the year. The events were a fun mix and the pacing of the broadcast was excellent. I'm already looking forward to next year's installment.