Cheick "Iron Biby" Sanou Withdraws from 2023 World's Strongest Man, Kristján Jón Haraldsson in as Substitute

Sanou stepped out of the competition earlier than taking part in even one occasion.

Written by Robert Zeglinski Final up to date on April 19, 2023

Earlier than the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) even started, Cheick “Iron Biby” Sanou withdrew the primary morning of strongman’s largest competitors. On the time of this writing, there isn’t a official clarification for the athlete’s early withdrawal. Iceland’s Kristján Jón Haraldsson changed Sanou on the 2023 WSM roster, although he was not beforehand counted as an official reserve in case of a competitor’s withdrawal or damage. It’s the reigning Iceland’s Strongest Man (ISM) champion’s debut within the WSM.

Extra from Breaking Muscle:

Although the 2023 WSM would’ve been his first look within the flagship strongman competitors, Sanou will not be new to the strongman scene. Sanou was the third-place finisher on the 2021 Giants Dwell Strongman Traditional. Sanou has beforehand needed to withdraw from the 2022 Giants Live Strongman Classic (as a result of travel-related points).

The athlete from Burkina Faso has a well-established status for being proficient in overhead lifts. Sanou possesses each the present Axle Press World File of 217 kilograms (477.4 kilos) and the Log Lift World File of 229 kilograms (504.8 kilos).

Sanou formally joins Ukraine’s Pavlo Nakonechnyy and Canada’s Maxime Boudreault on the record of 2023 WSM withdrawals within the early goings, with Sanou being the primary withdrawal as of the competition’s begin time. Boudreault withdrew due to a shin injury in February, which additionally knocked him out of the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC). In the meantime, Nakonechnyy probably bowed out due to issues from a deadlift-related ailment suffered during the 2023 (ASC) in March. The Ukrainian competitor didn’t take part within the early-April 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) due to mentioned damage, hoping to get better in time to compete on the WSM.

Listed here are the up to date Qualifying Spherical teams for the 2023 WSM:

2023 World’s Strongest Man Qualifying Spherical Teams

There are 5 teams of six athletes within the 2023 WSM, which shall be parsed all the way down to 10 opponents for the weekend’s Remaining.

Group 1

Konstantine Janashia
Pavlo Kordiyaka
Pa O’Dwyer
Tom Stoltman
Bobby Thompson
Eddie Williams

Group 2

Kristján Jón Haraldsson
Gavin Bilton
Fadi El Masri
Thomas Evans
Oleksii Novikov
Luke Stoltman

Group 3

Graham Hicks
Mitchell Hooper
Mateusz Kieliszkowski
Mathew Ragg
Spenser Remick
Aivars Smaukstelis

Group 4

Adam Bishop
Kevin Faires
Rauno Heinla
Gabriel Rhéaume
Jaco Schoonwinkel
Brian Shaw

Group 5

Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf
Mark Felix
Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted
Trey Mitchell
Evan Singleton
Paul Smith

Haraldsson will take Sanou’s place in Group 2 of the Qualifying Spherical, becoming a member of former WSM champion (2020) Oleksii Novikov — the seemingly headliner of that blend.

Extra from Breaking Muscle:

At solely 24 years previous, Haraldsson would possibly nonetheless be a relative unknown within the worldwide strongman scene. That isn’t the case for the defending ISM champion in his native Iceland, who has began to dominate in numerous home contests. In Haraldsson’s solely different worldwide strongman aggressive appearances, he completed in fourth place in the course of the 2021 Magnus Magnús Ver Magnússon Traditional (MVMC). He adopted that efficiency with an Eleventh-place end result on the 2022 MVMC.

The comparatively younger Icelandic athlete will undoubtedly look to enhance that rap sheet on the 2023 WSM. Placing himself on the map now might portend Haraldsson turning into the following potential nice Icelandic strongman, following within the footsteps of the legendary Magnús Ver Magnússon and Hafthor Björnsson.

Keep tuned to Breaking Muscle for live updates of the 2023 WSM leaderboard and some other breaking information that information in in the course of the large contest in Myrtle Seashore, SC.

Featured picture: @theworldsstrongestman on Instagram

Trending Merchandise