Mitchell Hooper reveals what he admires about four-time World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw ahead of his latest appearance

This year’s World’s Strongest Man will be the last cheer for four-time champion Brian Shaw.

The 40-year-old American has been at the forefront of the sport for fifteen years and has established himself as one of the greats of competition and the sport as a whole.

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His departure also marks the end of a dominant era in the sport that Shaw, fellow four-time champion Žydrūnas Savickas and five-time champion Mariusz Pudzianowski have enjoyed since the turn of the century.

Looking ahead, 27-year-old Canadian Mitchell Hooper will be one of the youngsters aspiring to take over.

After a remarkable rookie season in which he defeated Shaw to win his World Championship qualifying bracket in his first-ever competition before winning his first two titles later in the year, Hooper is one of the frontrunners to challenge reigning champion Tom Stoltman from Great Britain for the crown 2023.

And after getting to know Shaw throughout the 2022 season, which included finishing third at the Shaw Classic in Colorado, Hooper was full of praise for the three-time Arnold Strongman Classic winner.

Speaking to the US Sun, Hooper admitted that while he was “not a strong historian,” his “gut feeling” was: “[Shaw is] certainly one of the best of all time, maybe in a threesome with Z (Savickas) and Pudzianowski.”

He later said, “The beauty of Brian is that his family is on the front line of everything, whether it’s his social media, the Shaw Classic, Keris (Shaw’s wife) out there, and I admire him more than a person , which is me as an athlete.

“Which obviously doesn’t take anything away from an athlete, but to see where he’s been and what he’s done and to be able to have that home life that he still cares about is something I find really admirable .”

But before Shaw leaves the Worlds to spend more time with his wife and their sons, Braxton and Kellen, he’ll be looking to lift the trophy one last time.

And Hooper expects them to challenge both of them.

After Hooper stated that “I think I’m going to fight for the title this year,” Hooper also highlighted “Tom, Oleksii (Novikov), Brian and Trey Mitchell,” saying, “If the winner isn’t one of those five, then I would be very surprised.”

All will compete April 19-23 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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