Martins Licis ( lv, Mārtiņš Līcis, ; born September 28, 1990) is a

Latvian-American Latvian Americans are Americans who are of Latvian ancestry. According to the 2008 American Community Survey, there are 93,498 Americans of full or partial Latvian descent. History The first significant wave of Latvian settlers who immigrated ...

professional

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These ...

, notable for winning 2019 World's Strongest Man,

2022 Arnold Strongman Classic The 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic was a strongman contest that took place in Ohio, Columbus from 4–5 March 2022 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The Arnold Strongman Classic is seen as one of the biggest and most prestigious strongme ...

, and 2021

Rogue Invitational The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a CrossFit competition and a strongman competition. The event, organized by Rogue, started in 2019 as a CrossFit sanctioned competition, but has since become a major competition for ...

strongman championships. He's one of only four strongmen in history (after

Žydrūnas Savickas Žydrūnas Savickas (; born ...

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

and

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English, born 26 November 1988), is an Icelandic professional strongman, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person t ...

) to win 'both' World's Strongest Man and Arnold Strongman Classic competitions.

Early life

Licis was born in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

on September 28, 1990. He holds dual citizenship with Latvia and the United States, and speaks Latvian fluently. He represents the United States in competition, having moved there with his family at the age of four. He grew up in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

. During summers, he visited his grandparents' farm in Latvia, where he was first introduced to stone lifting by his grandfather Imants Līcis, a sculptor who formerly competed in Olympic weightlifting. In 2010, Licis moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

together with his friend Mikel Monleon. Licis eventually found a job as a personal trainer in West Hollywood, and later found out about the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. Through this, Haugen invited Licis to train at his gym, but only let him compete in the Strength Classic three years later in 2015.

Career

In 2015, Licis placed first in the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. In 2016, Licis reached the World's Strongest Man finals for the first time and placed sixth. He placed fourth in the World’s Strongest Man finals in 2017 and 2018. Besides Strongman, Licis also competes in mas-wrestling, a variation of stick wrestling. He won gold in the 2016 MAS Wrestling Open World Championships in Columbus Ohio, beating out previous champion VIktor Kolibabchuk. Licis' first pro triumph came in 2017 at the Ultimate Strongman Summermania, winning the competition representing his home country

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. In 2019, Licis came in second during the

Arnold Strongman Classic The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the Ar ...

, placing behind current and 3x champion

. In June later that year, however, he won his first World’s Strongest Man title, beating out defending champion Björnsson, who finished in third after suffering a torn plantar fascia in his left foot during the heats that significantly hampered him in the final. Licis also placed ahead of

Mateusz Kieliszkowski Mateusz Kieliszkowski (born 12 August 1993) is a Polish strongman competitor. He is particularly known for his impressive pressing ability within strongman, as well as his prowess in the Atlas Stones and various moving events. Strongman caree ...

who placed second, and 4 times

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decembe ...

winner

who placed sixth, still recovering his hamstring injury sustained in the

earlier in March of the same year. Licis dominated the final, finishing in the top three in all five disciplines, and winning two events outright. On January 18, 2020, Licis won the Arnold Strongman Santa Monica Qualifier, beating out Brian Shaw by 1 point. This earned him a spot to compete in the Arnold Strongman Classic in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

on March 8. At the

, Licis finished 3rd, behind the winner Björnsson and the second place Kieliszkowski. Licis spent most of the 2020 and 2021 strongman season in recovery, with his ultimate comeback taking place in late October to the very first

Strongman competition, which boasted the biggest prize purse in the history of strongman competition with four WSM champions competing. Licis beat

Tom Stoltman Tom Stoltman (born 30 May 1994) is a Scottish professional strongman competitor, reigning two time World's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man from Invergordon, Scotland. Nicknamed "The Albatross" due to his sizeable arm span, Stoltman is ...

and Oleksii Novikov to win the competition and a top prize of $133,685. The next day he set a new record in Thor's Hammer Lift by lifting a 136-kilogram (300-pound) hammer. In March 2022, at the

, Licis performed consistently strongly in all five events, with first, second, or third finishes in all but one event. His win in the last event Stone-to-Shoulder for Reps secured him the title of the

for the first time, after finishing runner-up and third place in 2019 and 2020. In May 2022, Licis returned to World's Strongest Man for the first time since winning the 2019 contest. He finished 2nd, behind the winner Stoltman and beating Novikov on a tie breaker.

Media appearances

In May 2020, Licis appeared on ''Game On!'' as an obstacle, engaging contestants in a strength contest. In August 2020, Licis appeared on an episode of ''To Tell The Truth'' with two other people all of them claiming to be the reigning World’s Strongest Man. In March 2021, Licis appeared in a

Geico The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...

commercial titled "Worlds Strongest Man Takes On The Recycling".

Personal records

Strongman

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

– '' as achieved this feat twice' ( 2017 World's Strongest Man & 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic) * Barrel Deadlift – x 7 reps in 47.00 seconds ( 2018 World's Strongest Man - Group 4) * Deadlift Static Hold – - 41.25 seconds ( 2019 World's Strongest Man) * Silver Dollar

– (2018

World's Ultimate Strongman World's Ultimate Strongman is an annual strength athletics competition which began on October 26, 2018. The event has a number of rival and parallel competitions, including the World's Strongest Man, the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Giants L ...

) * Squat – (

) * Circus Barbell Squat (for reps) – x 9 reps ( 2019 World's Strongest Man) * Circus Barbell Squat (for reps) – x 13 reps ( 2017 World's Strongest Man) * Steinborn Squat – ( 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic) ''(World Record)'' * Flintstone Barbell press – ( 2022 World's Strongest Man) * Log press – (

) * Axle press – ( 2018 World's Strongest Man) * Cyr Dumbbell press – ( 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic) * Giant Dumbbell press – x 3 reps (

) * Bale Tote – for 3.78 meters (2017

) * Timber carry – (10 meter ramp) in 10.03 seconds (Raw grip) (

) * Hercules hold ( in each hand) – 50.94 seconds (2019 Giants Live Wembley) *

Atlas Stones Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully ...

– 5 Stones weighing in 20.37 seconds (2019 Giants Live Wembley) *

– 5 Stones weighing in 18.73 seconds (2018 Giants Live World Tour Finals) * Inver Stones – 5 Stones weighing in 23.53 seconds (2021

) ''(World Record)'' * Húsafell Stone carry – for ( 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic) * Odd Haugen tombstone to shoulder - x 2 reps ( 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic) * Rogue-a-Coaster (arm over arm pull) - over a 54 feet inclined ramp in 33.83 seconds (2022

) ''(World Record)'' * Conan's Wheel of Pain – 36.35 meters (119 3/4 feet) ( 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic) ''(World Record)'' * Truck pull – 25 meters in 37.84 seconds (2015 Giants Live Viking Challenge)

References

External links

Profile on Ultimate StrongmanYouTube channelInstagram profileTwitch Channel
*
Facebook page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Licis, Martins 1990 births American sportsmen American strength athletes Living people Latvian emigrants to the United States Sportspeople from Amherst, Massachusetts Twitch (service) streamers