First held at the Giants Live Strongman Open earlier this year, this event tested the athletes’ grip power and willpower. Kevin Faires, who placed ninth at the 2023 Giants Live Strongman Classic, cemented his place in strongman history books by setting a World Record by keeping the wrecking ball in place for nearly two minutes.
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Event 6: Tug of War
Eddie Hall confidently used his joker card in an old-fashioned tug-of-war contest. The three-part battle started with separate showdowns between four-person male and female teams and concluded with an eight-a-side mixed-gender dual.
Unfortunately for Team USA, all three rounds went to Team UK , who closed the gap to just three points heading into the last event.
Pull 1: Women
Team UK (Moore, Roberts, Thompson, and Underdown) defeats Team USA (Carrasquillo, Dixson, Murray, and Stowers)
Pull 2: Men
Team UK (Bilton, Felix, L. Stoltman, and T. Stoltman) defeats Team USA (Kearney, Licis, Remick, Singleton)
Pull 3: Mixed
Team UK (Moore, Roberts, Thompson, Underdown, Bilton, Hall, L. Stoltman, and T. Stoltman) defeats Team USA (Carrasquillo, Dixson, Murray, Stowers, Faires, Kearney, Licis, and Remick)
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Event 7: Power Stairs
The last event had three men and two women alternate carrying a weight each to the top of a set of stairs. While the men worked with 496-pound (225-kilogram) and 551.2-pound (250-kilogram) weights, the women used 275.6-pound (125-kilogram) and 286.6-pound (130-kilogram) weights.
Between having a 1.5-second head start due to their three-point lead and executing the challenge with excellent technique, Team USA stormed to the top of the stairs and secured the World’s Strongest Nation title .
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Ultimately, all the athletes showcased tremendous class and respect for one another while putting their bodies on the line for the sake of national pride. With the teams splitting the first two matchups, the third iteration of the World’s Strongest Nation should be even more competitive. Only time will tell whether Team USA can become the first back-to-back winners in the contest’s brief history.
Featured Image: Giants Live Strongman / Instagram