Let’s bulk up again, Sacramento: World’s Strongest Man competition returns in May

Sacramento will host the World’s Strongest Man competition May 24 through May 29 this spring, Visit Sacramento and the organization announced Thursday morning.

This is the second year of a three-year deal Sacramento has to host the competition. Last year’s June competition was televised at a later date on CBS and CBS Sports Network.

A site has not been chosen; last year’s competition was held in Old Sacramento, along the waterfront. Fans can go to https://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/ to be the first to learn when VIP tickets go on sale.

“World’s Strongest Man helped to usher in the return of events in California last summer, and we’re excited to show off Sacramento to an international audience again in 2022,” said Mike Testa, president and CEO of the Visit Sacramento Sports Commission, in a news release. “Last year’s events were limited to spectators due to Covid-19, but this year’s competition should have much more in-person opportunities for fans. We’ve already started getting inquiries from people around the world looking to book their trip to Sacramento for this year’s competition.”

New this year will be the size of the field, which will increase from 25 to 30 competitors.

This year will be the 45th edition of the competition. The event features four rounds of competition in the preliminaries and six events in the finals, with standard weightlifting fare like deadlifts paired with novelty feats of strength, such as a keg toss. Last year’s competition included Sacramento-centric events like competitors pulling a train car with an estimated weight between 50 and 80 tons, down a 20-meter track in a race against time.