Mateusz Kieliszkowski Withdraws from 2023 Shaw Traditional, Gavin Bilton Steps In

After suffering a leg injury within the spring of 2022, Kieliszkowski returned to the strongman fray throughout the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC). The competitors, the place the Polish athlete completed because the runner-up to eventual WSM champion Mitchell Hooper, marked Kieliszkowski’s first aggressive look in roughly a yr and a half since his harm.

Nevertheless, even with a powerful second-place consequence on the early March contest, Kieliszkowski appeared to grasp he seemingly wouldn’t be at his absolute best bodily situation earlier than a 2023 WSM return, simply over six weeks later. Such a prediction would come to fruition when the athlete didn’t make it out of Group 3 within the Qualifying Spherical.

On the time of this writing, with no particular particulars on the extent of Kieliszkowski’s capabilities or limitations, it seems the strongman is taking a step again to additional emphasize restoration earlier than pushing full throttle once more someday sooner or later. That may very well be a clever determination, contemplating a full-strength Kieliszkowski was a back-to-back runner-up on the 2018-2019 editions of the WSM.

Kieliszkowski’s absence will permit Bilton, a frequent fixture at strongman contests all through any given competitors yr, to attempt to make his mark on the 2023 SC for the primary time. Bilton not too long ago received the 2023 Strongman Champions League (SCL) Serbia and may very well be using a wave of momentum into one other stellar efficiency. Notably, Bilton was additionally the runner-up on the 2023 Britain’s Strongest Man (BSM), falling simply wanting the victor Adam Bishop.

Bilton and the remainder of the roster in Colorado will probably be chasing Trey Mitchell, who’s the two-time defending champion of the SC (2021-2022). Mitchell defeated the eponymous Shaw on each events for the 2 consecutive titles.