Johansson Wins OSG Europe on a Tiebreak as Claire Myler Dominates
UPLIFT IRON CLUBHarrogate's Two Very Different Championship Stories
Fredrik Johansson won the men's 2026 OSG European Championships in Harrogate, England, after an unusually close contest. Johansson and Oskar Ziółkowski finished level on 36 points, with the final Power Stairs result settling the tiebreak. Claire Myler won the women's competition with 55 points and three event victories across five demanding disciplines. The October 3–4 contest combined a deadlift ladder, dumbbell ladder, sandbag toss, shield carry and power stairs. Each event demanded a different mix of strength, speed and technique, rewarding complete strongman athletes rather than specialists in one lift.
The final men's standings show how little room there was for error. William Relf finished third on 35 points, just one behind the co-leaders, while Dawid Pakulski was fourth with 34 and Jamie Butler fifth with 33. Those gaps are tiny when one event placing can move an athlete several positions. Johansson's two event victories were crucial, but the title was not secured until the last challenge. Ziółkowski had won the sandbag toss and remained in contention right to the finish. A dramatic result did not require a world record; it required five consistent performances and one better finish when the pressure peaked.
The women's standings tell a different story. Myler accumulated 55 points, five ahead of Patricia Smit on 50. Jade Skill and Cassandra Annergren tied on 45 points, with Skill third in the published order, and Chloe Leggett followed on 43. Myler won the deadlift ladder, dumbbell ladder and power stairs, giving her control of the contest despite not winning every discipline. Her ability to respond to a difficult sandbag toss with strong results in the carries and final event was more important than one spectacular lift.
These results are worth examining because strongman is a test of decisions as much as force. Competitors must judge how quickly to move between implements, when to protect grip and how to manage fatigue across two days. The champion is not necessarily the person who looks most dominant in a single highlight. In Harrogate, one title was decided by a tiebreak, the other by repeated event wins, and both demonstrated the value of a broad strength base.
Claire Myler Won by Being the Most Complete Strongwoman
Claire Myler's victory was not a single-lift upset. She led the women's division by repeatedly collecting the maximum points in events with very different demands. The final score was 55 to Patricia Smit's 50, with Jade Skill and Cassandra Annergren next on 45. Five points is a meaningful advantage in a contest where a failed implement can erase an afternoon of good work. Myler had enough range to win three of the five events while remaining competitive in the two she did not dominate.
Her opening deadlift ladder was especially emphatic. Competitors had one minute to pull four increasingly heavy barbells, ending at 250 kilograms (551.2 pounds). Myler completed all four in 16.20 seconds. Patricia Smit, the next-fastest woman, needed 33.57 seconds. That is not merely a heavier lift; it reflects efficient transitions, confidence at the bar and the ability to apply strength repeatedly without unnecessary delay. The first event gave Myler a commanding start and forced everyone else to chase.
The dumbbell ladder showed a different side of the same skill set. The women's implements ran from 40 to 70 kilograms, and nobody completed the third and fourth lifts. Myler won by pressing two in 13.61 seconds, ahead of Jade Crouch at 16.08. A good strongwoman is not required to succeed at every weight presented by an event. When the heaviest implements are beyond the field, speed and execution at the achievable weights decide the points. Myler made that format work for her.
She did not have a flawless weekend. In the sandbag toss she cleared four bags, while Smit won the event with all five in 18.88 seconds. Jade Skill later produced the longest women's shield carry at 79.3 meters, far beyond Myler's 46.4 meters. But Myler answered with second in the carry and a victory in the final Power Stairs. Her 12 steps in 37.17 seconds were faster than Skill's 43.63. The pattern is the lesson: protect your floor on weaker events and be ruthless on the disciplines you can win.
Deadlift, Dumbbell and Sandbag Ladders Reshaped the Men’s Race
Johansson began the event with a fast deadlift ladder, finishing all four barbells in 22.50 seconds. Butler finished second and Ziółkowski third. Those opening points proved valuable later, because the championship remained close throughout the five-event program. Competitors moved through four progressively heavier barbells in one minute. The weights ranged from 300 to 360 kilograms, so efficient setup between attempts mattered.
The dumbbell ladder was less favorable for Johansson. William Relf completed four overhead implements in 38.45 seconds and won, while Tomas Šliupas was second in 39.77. Johansson completed three and placed eighth. A single disappointing result did not end his title challenge because the format rewarded cumulative points rather than elimination after one mistake.
In the sandbag toss, Oskar Ziółkowski won by completing all five throws in 12.87 seconds. Dawid Pakulski was only 0.07 seconds behind. Johansson also cleared five bags but took considerably longer, placing seventh. These results demonstrate how strongman combines maximum strength with practiced transitions, throwing mechanics and composure under a strict clock. The strongest puller does not automatically win the fastest toss.
Shield Carry: Where Distance Became Championship Points
The fourth event replaced explosive speed with a different kind of discomfort: carrying a huge shield for as much distance as possible. The men's implement weighed 190 kilograms, or about 419 pounds, and the women's weighed 130 kilograms, or about 287 pounds. There was no conventional race to a finish line. Every extra meter counted, so athletes had to balance an awkward object, maintain breathing and keep moving after their grip and upper back started to fatigue.
William Relf dominated the men's Shield Carry with 60 meters. Johansson reached 49.7 meters for second, Anton Wasser was third at 48.1, and Jamie Butler fourth at 45.8. Oskar Ziółkowski managed 32.9 meters and placed seventh. That difference helped Johansson close the points gap before the final event. It also shows why a strongman contest cannot be reduced to the biggest one-repetition maximum: carrying an unstable load for distance is a separate skill from lifting a balanced barbell.
In the women's competition, Jade Skill produced the standout distance of 79.3 meters. Myler finished second with 46.4, narrowly ahead of Chloe Leggett at 45.5. Patricia Smit reached 25.2 meters. Skill's result was exceptional, but Myler protected her overall lead by taking strong points even without winning the event. It was an example of tactical consistency: an athlete can lose one discipline to a specialist without losing the championship.
For recreational lifters, loaded carries are useful because they demand bracing, posture, grip and locomotion together. A beginner does not need a giant shield. Farmers walks with manageable dumbbells or kettlebells can train similar general qualities, although the implement and skill are not identical. Progress distance or load gradually, keep a clear path and stop before control breaks down. The lesson from Harrogate is that moving weight well can be as important as moving it once.
Power Stairs: The Final Event That Decided Everything
Everything in the men's division came down to Power Stairs. Athletes had to move four heavy implements up a three-step staircase, completing 12 individual steps. The men's loads ranged from 200 to 240 kilograms, or roughly 441 to 529 pounds. Johansson finished all 12 in 27.77 seconds, winning the event. Ziółkowski finished in 31.81 seconds for second, while Dawid Pakulski took third in 32.94. With Johansson and Ziółkowski tied on 36 overall points, the higher placing in this final event gave Johansson the championship.
That finish illustrates the unusual demands of strongman. Power Stairs are not just a deadlift repeated on a platform. The athlete must pick an implement from a lower position, transfer it to a higher step, reposition and repeat while managing fatigue and balance. Rushing a setup can waste more time than a controlled reset. The decisive four-second gap at Harrogate reflected a combination of strength, rhythm and precise transitions rather than a simple difference in maximal pulling ability.
The women's event supplied a fitting conclusion to Claire Myler's weekend. She completed all 12 steps in 37.17 seconds, with Jade Skill second in 43.63. Chloe Leggett placed third after completing 11 steps. Myler's win was her third event victory of the competition and removed any doubt about the overall standings. It also reinforced the pattern from the opening deadlift ladder: she was able to produce fast, repeatable efforts with heavy objects under time pressure.
Power Stairs are not a casual gym exercise, and lifters should not imitate the competition with improvised unstable platforms. The useful takeaway is to train leg and hip strength, grip, bracing and safe carries separately before combining demanding movements. In a close contest, competence across several movement patterns is often what creates the winning margin. Johansson's final effort was dramatic precisely because the earlier four events had kept the title undecided.
What Five Strongman Events Teach Ordinary Lifters
Strongman is often presented as an exhibition of raw power, but the Harrogate results reward a more nuanced interpretation. Across the five events, competitors had to pull, press, throw, carry and climb. No single gym lift can perfectly predict all five. A fast deadlift ladder favors efficient setups and repeated high-force efforts; a dumbbell ladder adds overhead stability; a sandbag toss demands explosive coordination; and the shield carry turns grip and posture into a long-duration test.
That variety offers a useful template for general strength training. Build a foundation with squat or hinge patterns, upper-body pressing, pulling and loaded carries. Add controlled power work only after the movement is familiar. For most gym members, two or three sessions per week with progressive loads will be more sustainable than trying to mimic elite strongman volume. The competition implements are specialized and far beyond beginner training weights, so the goal is to learn from the movement categories, not copy the loads.
Speed under a clock is another recurring theme. Johansson won the deadlift ladder in 22.50 seconds, Myler won hers in 16.20, and both champions also won the final Power Stairs. Those times show why efficiency matters once strength is sufficient to complete the task. In the gym, a lifter can practice crisp setup, consistent bracing and controlled transitions without turning every workout into a race. Technical competence should precede attempts to move faster.
Finally, strongman is an exercise in managing weaknesses. Johansson's eighth place in the dumbbell ladder did not ruin his weekend, while Myler's fifth in the sandbag toss did not prevent a comfortable overall victory. Their stronger events offset their weaker ones. Ordinary lifters can apply the same logic: identify a lagging movement pattern, train it patiently and keep the rest of the program productive. The objective is not perfection in every session, but a balanced training base that survives an occasional bad day.
What the Results Mean for Johansson, Myler and Strongman
Johansson's European title is an important addition to a career that already includes national success. The Swedish athlete has won Sweden's Strongest Man twice, and the Harrogate result represents his first international title. The road to that result was not a straight line. Previous international appearances included an eighth-place finish at the 2025 OSG European Championships, while the 2026 event finally delivered the win. The story is less about overnight transformation than years of learning how to compete across changing events.
Myler arrived with significant credentials of her own, including the 2025 Masters World's Strongest Woman title. Her 2026 European victory added another major achievement and showed that she could translate experience into a dominant performance against a varied field. Patricia Smit's second place and Jade Skill's spectacular shield carry also deserve attention. A championship weekend can have a clear overall winner while still producing several outstanding individual performances.
The depth of the men's contest was striking. Just three points separated the top five: Johansson and Ziółkowski on 36, William Relf on 35, Dawid Pakulski on 34 and Jamie Butler on 33. Relf won two events yet finished third overall, illustrating how the points system rewards performance throughout the program rather than a simple count of victories. The women's standings were more spread out, but individual event specialists still shaped the leaderboard.
Looking ahead, this contest provides a useful benchmark for how the athletes perform when strength is tested in different ways. It does not guarantee results at future competitions, where equipment, events and competitors may change. What Harrogate established is concrete: Johansson won a razor-close title through the Power Stairs tiebreak, and Myler won the women's championship through repeated excellence. For fans, that is the drama of strongman. For lifters, it is a reminder that consistency and versatility are skills worth training.
The Podium Contenders Who Made Harrogate So Competitive
The two champions deserved the headlines, but the other podium finishers explain how competitive Harrogate was. William Relf ended just one point behind the men's co-leaders with 35. He won the dumbbell ladder and the shield carry, two events requiring very different skills. A lifter capable of moving heavy implements overhead and carrying an awkward 190-kilogram shield for 60 meters has more than one specialty. His third-place finish was therefore not a failure to perform; it was the consequence of an exceptionally tight points race.
Oskar Ziółkowski was equally close to the title. He won the sandbag toss and was second in the final Power Stairs. His total matched Johansson's 36 points, but the decisive final-event placing favored the Swedish athlete. A championship can be decided by a few seconds even when the competitors have been separated by small margins all weekend. Dawid Pakulski's 34 points and Jamie Butler's 33 kept the top five compressed, meaning neither leader could afford an easy final attempt.
Patricia Smit made Myler work for her women's crown. Smit finished with 50 points and won the sandbag toss, clearing all five bags in 18.88 seconds. Jade Skill also produced one of the event's most memorable performances, carrying the 130-kilogram shield 79.3 meters. That was far beyond the rest of the women's field, even though Skill finished third overall. Cassandra Annergren matched Skill's 45-point total, and Chloe Leggett was close behind with 43.
These performances matter because the scoreboard tells more than a simple list of winners. Some athletes were exceptional at one discipline, some gathered points through consistent finishes, and the eventual champions combined both approaches. The results also show why judging strength by one viral clip is misleading. Strongman rewards the full program. The athlete who wins the fastest throw or longest carry still needs to press, pull and move through the other events. Harrogate supplied examples of every possible route to a high placing.
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