Europe has crowned its strongest man and it is Pavlo Kordiyaka. Pavlo came in hungry for the title at the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man competition, which took place on April 1st, in Leeds, England, and ultimately came out victorious. The one-day competition consisted of five grueling events, all strategically picked and lined up to test every aspect of the participants’ strength. So, the 13 athletes gave their all to compete for one of the most prestigious titles in the world.
With the previous champion, Oleksii Novikov, being present at the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man, it was clear that he was the biggest favorite. However, Novikov had to satisfy himself with a silver medal, as his fellow countryman Pavlo Kordiyaka pulled out an impressive performance worthy of first place. The two Ukrainians fought throughout the entire competition, but Pavlo had the better day.
The two athletes fighting for third place were Aivars Šmaukstelis and Eythor Melsted. However, Aivars’ performance on the final event, the Atlas Stones, secured him the bronze medal.
2023 Europe’s Strongest Man Results
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine) — 57.5 points
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine) — 53.5 points
- Aivars Šmaukstelis (Latvia) — 51.5 points
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted (Iceland) — 45.5 points
- Adam Bishop (UK) — 41.5 points
- Shane Flowers (UK) — 37 points
- Pa O’Dwyer (Ireland) — 36.5 points
- Konstantine Janashia (Georgia) — 30.5 points
- Dennis Kohlruss (Germany) — 26 points
- Paul Smith (UK) — 25.5 points
- Gavin Bilton (UK) — 17.5 points
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (France) — 16.5 points
- Graham Hicks (UK) — 8 points
Related: Strongman Pavlo Nakonechnyy Announces Withdrawal From 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man
Event One — Log Ladder
The 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man is the first edition in the past six years to not feature the Log Lift World Championships as a part of it. So, it usually featured a Log Lift for max weight event, but that wasn’t the case this year. However, it still began with some sort of a Log Lift variation, which is the ladder. This means that the athletes took on five progressively heavier Logs, ranging from 120 to 180 kilograms, with the goal of completing them in the quickest time possible.
Safe to say that Ukraine was represented well at the start of the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man, as both of their representatives placed in the top two. Pavlo Kordiyaka won the event as the only participant to complete all five logs. Oleksii Novikov finished in second as the quickest man to complete four logs. Rounding up the top three, Eythor Melsted finished two seconds slower than Novikov.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 5 in 52.55 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 4 in 38.35 s
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted — 4 in 40.98 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4 in 43.58 s
- Paul Smith — 3 in 27.83 s
- Graham Hicks — 3 in 29.09 s
- Dennis Kohlruss — 3 in 30.66 s
- Gavin Bilton —3 in 33.51 s
- Konstantine Janashia —3 in 33.54 s
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 3 in 37.27 s
- Shane Flowers — 2 in 12.20 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 2 in 14.41 s
- Adam Bishop — 2 in 17.01 s
Load & Push
The Load & Push event of the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man required a lot of concentration and coordination from the athletes. They first had to load an anvil, sandbag, and a tire into a cart then push it for a certain distance as quickly as possible.
The quickest to complete this feat of strength was once again Pavlo Kordiyaka, marking an unbelievable start for him. He finished everything in just 44.14 seconds, two seconds faster than his countryman Oleksii Novikov. Adam Bishop crossed the line another three seconds after Novikov to place third.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 44.14 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 46.07 s
- Adam Bishop — 49.80 s
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 50.26 s
- Shane Flowers — 50.94 s
- Gavin Bilton — 51.75 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 52.19 s
- Paul Smith — 52.69 s
- Konstantine Janashia — 54.36 s
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted — 54.89 s
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 55.39 s
- Dennis Kohlruss — 62.54 s
- Graham Hicks — WITHDREW
Deadlift
The third event of the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man was the deadlift for reps, one of the more common tests of strength in Strongman. This time, the athletes had 60 seconds to complete as many reps as possible with 350 kilograms.
Ukrainians continued in their winning ways, but this time it was Oleksii Novikov, the 2020 WSM Champion, who won the event. However, Novikov wasn’t alone, as he and Adam Bishop both locked out nine reps, tying for first place. Another tie happened for third place, as Pa O’Dwyer and Aivars Šmaukstelis completed seven reps each.
- Oleksii Novikov — 9 reps
- Adam Bishop — 9 reps
- Pa O’Dwyer — 7 reps
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 7 reps
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted — 6 reps
- Shane Flowers — 6 reps
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 3 reps
- Konstantine Janashia — 3 reps
- Dennis Kohlruss — 2 reps
- Gavin Bilton — 2 reps
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 1 rep
- Paul Smith — 1 rep
Conan’s Wheel
The penultimate event of the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man was one of the most painstaking tests in the sport. The Conan’s Wheel required immense strength, but also mental toughness and endurance. It required athletes to lift a giant wooden beam connected to a wheel and carry it for the maximum distance possible. The distance was measured by the degree at which it moved. For example, 360° (degrees) means that the participant completed an entire spin around the wheel.
Proving that they are in a league of their own, Pavlo Kordiyaka and Oleksii Novikov were fighting for first place in this event as well. Ultimately, Pavlo came out on top as the only man to hit four digits, turning the wheel for 1,009 °, almost three full spins around the wheel. Oleksii ended up coming short at 897 °, but it was still significantly further than Eythor Melsted’s 760 ° which earned him third place.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 1,009 °
- Oleksii Novikov — 897 °
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted — 760 °
- Pa O’Dwyer — 733 °
- Adam Bishop — 731 °
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 710 °
- Dennis Kohlruss — 640 °
- Shane Flowers — 640 °
- Paul Smith — 582 °
- Konstantine Janashia — 363 °
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 173 °
- Gavin Bilton — WITHDREW
Atlas Stones
As is the case at the majority of competitions, the Atlas Stones wrapped up the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man competition as well. The time limit was once again 60 seconds, while the five increasingly heavy stones weighed from 100 to 180 kilograms
Aivars Šmaukstelis was the speediest of all athletes, flying through all five stones and finishing with a time of 20.47 seconds. Just after him came Pavlo Kordiyaka, securing his overall win with a time of 21.76. Eythor Melsted finished in third place once again finishing the event in just slightly over 22 seconds.
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 5 in 20.47 s
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 5 in 21.76 s
- Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted — 5 in ~22.1 s
- Shane Flowers — 5 in 22.73 s
- Konstantine Janashia — 5 in 23.69 s
- Adam Bishop — 5 in 26.32 s
- Pa O’Dwyer — 5 in ~30.6 s
- Dennis Kohlruss — 5 in 22.73 s
- Oleksii Novikov — 4 in ~18.0 s
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 4 in 31.15 s
- Paul Smith — 2 stones
Related: Rauno Heinla Withdraws From 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man
The 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man was Pavlo Kordiyaka’s 12th International Strongman competition and his third victory. However, it is also the biggest title of his career so far, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Pavlo will now hope to put up a similar performance at the 2023 World’s Strongest Man competition in just a few week’s time.