Some brands sponsor a podcast. We sponsored the strongest men on Earth.
This April, STOKE Footwear joined the 2026 SBD World's Strongest Man in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as the event's Official Shoe Partner — a sold-out, four-day battle of Atlas Stones, Truck Pulls, and feats of strength that have been testing human limits since 1977. This year, 25 athletes (plus 2 alternates) showed up to find out who could carry the most, pull the hardest, and outlast everyone else on the field. We showed up to make sure their feet didn't quit before they did.
Why STOKE, Why Strongman
It's not as random a pairing as it sounds.
STOKE was built for guys who are on their feet all day, carrying real weight, doing real work — not chasing a personal best in a 10K. Strongman competitors are the most extreme version of that guy: hours on concrete, hundreds of pounds in their hands, four days straight, no days off. If our PowerStack™ cushioning and Big Ball Girth™ fit system could hold up under that kind of demand, they'd hold up under anybody's.
So we put them to the test. Literally.
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Every one of the 25 competing athletes and 2 alternates received STOKE footwear in their official welcome boxes
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Every referee on the competition floor wore STOKE for all four days of the event
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We built the "STOKE Starting Line" into the Titan's Toss — one of the event's signature feats — with branding airing on CBS, CBS Sports Network, and international broadcasts reaching over 100 countries
What the Crowd Was Saying
The athletes weren't the only ones who noticed. Myrtle Beach sold out all four days, and the fans who packed the stands had their own reactions once they got a pair of STOKE on their feet at Vendor Village.
One attendee, a former military service member, put it simply:
"I used to be in the military. These are the most comfortable shoes I've worn."
Another didn't waste any words:
"Like clouds on your feet."
That's not a paid script. That's what happens when you build a shoe for guys who actually know what a long, hard day on your feet feels like.
The Numbers Don't Lie
World's Strongest Man isn't a niche event — it's one of the biggest stages in strength sports, and being on it put STOKE in front of an audience most footwear brands only dream about:
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Sold out, all four competition days
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2,300+ attendees on-site, with 89.5% traveling in from outside the Myrtle Beach market
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$12M+ in estimated media value, with coverage in USA Today, Yahoo Sports, Men's Fitness, Men's Journal, and Muscle Insider
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1.14 billion estimated media impressions
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480M+ views and 96M+ accounts reached across World's Strongest Man's own social channels during the event window
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Global broadcast distribution projected to reach over 100 countries and 489 million homes
We didn't just show up. We showed up everywhere.
Real Shoes, for the Real Strongest Men in the World
STOKE was never built for the runway or the podium. It was built for the guy who's on his feet all day, every day, doing the work nobody films — until, for one weekend in Myrtle Beach, somebody did.
If STOKE can keep up with the men who pull trucks and carry Atlas Stones for a living, it'll keep up with whatever's on your schedule this week.
Check out the shoes the strongest men in the world wore to work.
STOKE Footwear is the Official Shoe Partner of the SBD World's Strongest Man. Event and media statistics sourced from the official 2026 World's Strongest Man x STOKE Post-Event Recap.