Aivars Šmaukstelis returns to winning ways following a spectacular performance.
The 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers took place on June 29-30 in Finland. It gathered 12 high-profile Strongman athletes and put them through a series of seven excruciating tests of strength. Ultimately, Aivars Šmaukstelis accumulated the highest number of points and won the title.
Aivars Šmaukstelis has added yet another title to his impressive resume, having won the 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers competition. He had a superb performance, finishing inside the top three on six out of seven events and racking up 72 points. That was more than enough to crush all of his rivals and prove that he is still among the greatest Strongmen in the world.
2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers Results
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 72 points
- Mika Törrö — 64 points
- Evans Aryee — 59 points
- Jesse Pynnönen — 57 points
- Brian Kichton — 52 points
- Jakub Szczechowski — 47 points
- Andrea Invernizzi — 41 points
- Ilya Khazov — 40 points
- Heikki Pohjonen — 40 points
- Ervin Toots — 31 points
- Simon Pratte — 27 points
- Mitch Flowers — 16 points
Event Recap
Event One — Truck Pull
The first event of the 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers was a Truck Pull. It weighed 26,000 kilograms (57,320 pounds) and the athletes had to move it across a distance of 20 meters. The time limit was 75 seconds.
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Jesse Pynnönen was the winner of the opening event and, in fact, beat all other athletes by a large margin. His time of 40.78 seconds was nearly 8 seconds quicker than that of his closest rival, showing how powerful he is.
Heikki Pohjonen had an incredible performance as well, but was unable to contend for the top spot. On the contrary, he was involved in an epic battle for second place, beating Aivars Šmaukstelis by just one second.
- Jesse Pynnönen — 40.78 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 48.32 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 49.56 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 50.16 s
- Ilya Khazov — 54.19 s
- Mika Törrö — 56.81 s
- Brian Kichton — 56.88 s
- Evans Aryee — 56.97 s
- Ervin Toots — 58.47 s
- Simon Pratte — 63.53 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 69.19 s
- Mitch Flowers — 5.13 m
Event Two — Front Hold
The second event of the competition was pretty straight forward, as the athletes picked up a 25-kilogram (55-pound) bike and performed a Front Hold. The goal was to hold the implementation for the longest time possible.
A special mentality is required for events such as the Front Hold, as the athletes undergo a lot of physical and psychological pain. However, Ilya Khazov proved to be the most worthy of the win, reaching a time of 45.12 seconds.
Aivars Šmaukstelis was giving his all in an attempt to take first place, but his strength gave out at the 40.44-second mark. This was enough for second place, though, less than one second ahead of Heikki Pohjonen.
- Ilya Khazov — 45.12 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 40.44 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 39.59 s
- Brian Kichton — 38.35 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 36.41 s
- Mika Törrö — 35.88 s
- Evans Aryee — 35.03 s
- Jesse Pynnönen — 33.34 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 32.37 s
- Ervin Toots — 31.84 s
- Mitch Flowers — 31.03 s
- Simon Pratte — 31.00 s
Event Three — Frame Carry
The challenges only grew harder with every event that came next, as the Frame Carry tasked the athletes with carrying a 360-kilogram (793-pound) implement for the maximum distance possible within a 60-second time cap. This meant that the athletes had to deplete their forearm and grip energy supplies, which proved to make the remainder of the competition much more difficult.
Andrea Invernizzi made easy work of the carry, reaching a distance of 24.91 meters. This not only secured him the event win, but also gave him the overall lead after three events.
The experienced Mika Törrö also fared well on the Frame Carry, managing to cross 22 meters with the implement in his hands. In turn, he placed second, while third place belonged to Evans Aryee with 20 meters.
- Andrea Invernizzi — 24.91 m
- Mika Törrö — 22 m
- Evans Aryee — 20 m
- Brian Kichton — 19.25 m
- Jakub Szczechowski — 10.35 m
- Jesse Pynnönen — 8.9 m
- Ervin Toots — 4.98 m
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4.75 m
- Heikki Pohjonen — 3.33 m
- Simon Pratte — 3.23 m
- Ilya Khazov — 2.1 m
- Mitch Flowers — 2.03 m
Event Four — Forest Machine Pull
As if the truck pull wasn’t difficult enough, the fourth event of the competition was a Forest Machine Pull. So, following the same format as event one, the event had only one difference, the weight. Specifically, the vehicle used for the fourth event weighed 18,000 kilograms (39,683 pounds).
As expected, Jesse Pynnönen once again took the win, showcasing his impressive pulling power once again. His result came out to 22.63 seconds, which was insanely fast.
Aivars Šmaukstelis was much closer to Jesse this time, proving just how big of a role his endurance and experience play in long-format competitions. In turn, he placed second, just 0.71 seconds behind the winner. Mika Törrö was not far behind either, finishing less than two seconds behind Aivars.
- Jesse Pynnönen — 22.63 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 23.34 s
- Mika Törrö — 23.94 s
- Brian Kichton — 25.09 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 25.34 s
- Evans Aryee —25.78 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 25.81 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 27.94 s
- Ilya Khazov — 28.53 s
- Ervin Toots — 28.65 s
- Simon Pratte — 34.37 s
- Mitch Flowers — 51.28 s
Event Five — Shield Carry
Next up was the Shield Carry, which is basically a humongous 160-kilogram metal implement. It is known for being very awkward to carry, but that also makes it a unique event. The goal was to complete a 40-meter carry in the shortest time possible.
Aivars Šmaukstelis finished in exactly 20 seconds and claimed his first event win of the entire competition. However, it did not come without struggle, as the notoriously quick Evans Aryee pushed him to the limit. Consequently, Aryee finished in second place, just 0.07 seconds behind Aivars.
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 20.00 s
- Evans Aryee — 20.07 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 21.65 s
- Jesse Pynnönen — 22.50 s
- Mika Törrö — 22.62 s
- Ervin Toots — 22.72 s
- Simon Pratte — 22.88 s
- Brian Kichton — 23.81 s
- Ilya Khazov — 27.28 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 39.21 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 40.16 s
- Mitch Flowers — 39.8 m
Event Six — Bag Toss Medley
The penultimate event of the 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers was the Bag Toss Medley. It consisted of six sandbags ranging in weight from 22-kg (48.5-lb) to 35-kg (77-lb) all of which had to be tossed over a 4.3-meter high beam. The goal was to be quick and finish with the fastest time.
Having tasted victory in the event prior to the Bag Toss, Aivars Šmaukstelis was determined to top the leaderboards once again. So, he finished all six tosses in just 15.16 seconds, thus smoking all of his rivals.
Jakub Szczechowski placed second as the only other man to finish the event below 20 seconds. Evans Aryee rounded up the top three with a time of 23.94 seconds.
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 6 in 15.16 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 6 in 19.56 s
- Evans Aryee — 6 in 23.94 s
- Mika Törrö — 6 in 27.61 s
- Brian Kichton — 6 in 31.25 s
- Ervin Toots — 6 in 35.56 s
- Mitch Flowers — 5 in 18.14 s
- Ilya Khazov — 5 in 31.17 s
- Simon Pratte — 5 in 35.04 s
- Jesse Pynnönen — 5 in 40.10 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 3 in 14.58 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 3 in 18.32 s
Event Seven — Loading Race
The final event of the 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers was a Loading Race, another moving based challenge. In turn, the athletes had to pick up and carry four 130-kilogram (286.5-pound) implements and carry them to their respective platforms. The goal was to finish as quickly as possible.
Mika Törrö wrapped up one of his greatest performances in recent years with an event win, completing all four implements in a time of 16.09 seconds. Consequently, he secured a silver medal overall.
Aivars Šmaukstelis and Evans Aryee had another photo-finish, completing the event within just 0.02 seconds of each other. Aivars was the luckier one, finishing in second place, while Aryee had to settle for third.
- Mika Törrö — 4 in 16.09 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4 in 16.91 s
- Evans Aryee — 4 in 16.93 s
- Jesse Pynnönen — 4 in 18.47 s
- Simon Pratte — 4 in 19.34 s
- Jakub Szczechowski — 4 in 21.94 s
- Brian Kichton — 4 in 22.10 s
- Ilya Khazov — 4 in 22.50 s
- Mitch Flowers — 4 in 22.72 s
- Heikki Pohjonen — 4 in 23.68 s
- Andrea Invernizzi — 4 in 26.75 s
- Ervin Toots — 4 in 27.28 s
Check out some of the events, courtesy of 5th-place finisher Brian Kichton:
Aivars Šmaukstelis is one of the winningest athletes at the highest level of Strongman, as he now has 26 victories in 70 International performances. He is known for competing often and performing well every time he steps out on the stage, which is a characteristic that not many athletes have. Having spent a decade competing, Aivars is easily one of the most notable athletes of the modern era and will hopefully continue to build his legacy.