Mitchell Hooper subscribes to one simple yet prevailing personal philosophy.
“Lift heavy. Be kind.”
For the first World’s Strongest Man champion from Canada, it’s a fitting axiom. Hooper made that history Sunday at the 2023 WSM Finals in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as he finished with 53.5 total points over the six events.
“It’s not going to hit me for a while,” Hooper told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s very hard for me to digest these things. It’s really hard to put into words how I feel. Really, shock is how I feel.”
Hooper’s win prevented a three-peat by Great Britain’s Tom Stoltman, who finished second with 49 points. Oleskii Novikov of Ukraine came in third (41 points).
Hooper, 27, finished eighth at last year’s World’s Strongest Man in his rookie debut. Entering this year’s competition, Hooper liked what he saw from the event list, but placed his chances of winning it all at less than 50%.
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During his preparation, Hooper worked especially hard at the Knaack dumbbell, which he considered his weakest event. Hooper started his day with a win in the Shield Carry event to pick up his first 10 points of the day before setting a 27-pound personal best in the Knaack.
With two wins in two events, Hooper realized his shot was playing out in his favor. His worst showing of the day came in the next event, Fingal’s Fingers, but he rebounded by claiming 9.5 points in the Max Dumbbell with four reps. Hooper then won the bus pull by more than two seconds and was firmly in the driver’s seat.
“If people can take something from me,” Hooper said, “it’s that consistent effort over a very long period time can result in pretty amazing physical (feats).”
Stoltman, arguably the best stones thrower in the world, was still on his heels, but Hooper’s second-best mark in the final event, the Atlas Stones, sealed the victory for the Canadian.
Hooper owns a kinesiology clinic in his hometown of Barrie, Ontario and said his goal is to use exercise as medicine to prevent chronic injuries, disease and other conditions.
“My goal in all of these things is to experience what I ask other people to do,” Hooper said. “I ask other people to be uncomfortable lifting heavy, I must do the same thing to be able to relate to them. I must run distance to instruct someone to aerobic train. I’m just really, really fortunate that it’s turned into something pretty incredible.”
The win made Hooper think of Jean-Francois Caron, who runs the strongman circuit in Canada and was an 11-time qualifier who last appeared at the World’s Strongest Man in 2018.
“I hope it makes him very proud of the foundation that he laid,” Hooper said.
Part of Hooper’s journey included marathon training and has a personal best time of 3:24.
“It’s a lot genetic luck,” he joked.
To go from distance running to the World’s Strongest Man was a transformation he hopes can resonate with other people.
“I understand how daunting that can be,” Hooper said. “I hope the people can see what I’ve done and I hope it inspires people.”
Upon loading the last Atlas stone, Hooper’s fiancée, Ashley, jumped into his arms. Hooper knows the photos from that moment will be ones he cherishes forever.
He also wants there to be a larger purpose behind his historic victory.
“I hope people can go into a gym, see the biggest guy there, and see that as an authority of someone they can go to for advice rather than something of an intimidation reason to not go to the gym,” he said. “I hope that I can continue to spread that message.”
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
