Nakonechnyy looks key to another major win.
On July 13, 2023, Strongman Pavlo Nakonechny shared his Instagram video 200-kilogram (440.9-pound) bench press for seven reps During the training period. According to the title of Nakonechnyy’s post, This session is part of the Ukrainian athlete’s ongoing preparation for the 2023 Shah Classic (SC).. The competition is scheduled for August 19-20, 2023 in Loveland, CO. American athlete Trey Mitchell is the two-time defending SC champion (2021-2022).
2013, 2015 in a stacked SC field that includes Mitchell and various World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champions Mitchell Hooper (reigning, 2023), Tom Stoltman (2021-2022), Oleksii Novikov (2020), and the competition’s titular competitor (2013, 2015). -2016), the 26-year-old Nakonechny is still a dark horse contender for the title. Winning an event like the bench press — whose presence in the 2023 SC event catalog is why Nakonechnyy is glossing over it — would go a long way toward his chances.
Still a relatively young athlete in the strongman scene, Nakonechny put himself on the map when he won the 2022 Giants Live World Open (GLWO) title. Nakonechnyy’s victory was notable as he defeated other notable strongman superstars Hooper, Novikov and 2023 Giants Live Strongman Classic (GLSC) champion Evan Singleton. However, a knee injury at the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC) robbed Nakonechny of the opportunity to build on his success with two major competitions from the 2023 strongman season. At the time of this writing, it is still unclear what the extent and nature of Nakonechny’s injury is.
Instead of making his debuts at the 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) and 2023 WSM, Nakonechnyy was forced to withdraw from both competitions and take time to recover to full strength. After a recent third-place podium appearance at the 2023 Pahlawon Mahmud Strongman Grand Prix (PMSGP), Nakonechny seems set to raise his profile again in a competition with a bigger reputation like the 2023 SC.
Here’s an overview of the current 2023 SC roster and the full list of contenders that Nkonechny should beat in his debut in the competition:
2023 Shaw Classic Roster
- Trey Mitchell (United States) – two-time champion
- Brian Shaw (United States) — 2022 runner-up
- Michelle Hooper (Canada) – 2022 third place
- Tom Stoltman (United Kingdom)
- Luke Stoltman (United Kingdom)
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
- Bobby Thompson (United States)
- Adam Bishop (United Kingdom)
- Graham Hicks (United Kingdom)
- Pavlo Nakonechny (Ukraine)
- Thomas Evans (United States)
- Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
- Kevin Fares (United States)
- Ivers schmouxtelis (Latvia)
- Evan Singleton (United States)
- * Gavin Bilton (United Kingdom) | *Replaces Matesz Kielski
According to his resume Strongman Archives, Nakonechnyy has typically performed well in competition debuts in his young career. Nakonechny can boast six top-five finishes, including a win at the 2022 GLWO, in seven first-time appearances in their respective strongman competitions. Such a precedent bodes well for the athlete at the 2023 SC.
In a competition filled with superstars like the 2023 SC, Nakonechny faces a tall order to make a mark. If he really gets back to firing on all cylinders, the Colorado success story for this young Ukrainian dynamo probably shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Featured image: @pavlo_nakonechnyy on Instagram
