Martins Licis

Licis was born in Riga on September 28, 1990.[2] 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. 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.[3]

In 2010, Martins Licis moved to California 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.[3]

In 2015, Licis placed first in the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. In 2016, Licis reached 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.[3] 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.[4] Licis' first pro triumph came in 2017 at the Ultimate Strongman Summermania, winning the competition representing his home country Latvia.

In 2019, Licis came in second during the Arnold Strongman Classic, placing behind current and 2x champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. In June 2019, he won his first World’s Strongest Man title, beating out Björnsson, who came in third after injuring his left plantar fascia. Licis also placed ahead of Mateusz Kieliszkowski, who placed second, and 4 times World's Strongest Man winner Brian Shaw, who placed sixth after injuring his hamstring competing alongside Licis in the Arnold Strongman Classic earlier in March of the same year.[1]

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 on March 8.[5] In the Arnold Strongman Classic Licis finished 3rd, behind the winner Björnsson and the second place Kieliszkowski.

In May 2020, Licis appeared on Game On! as an obstacle, engaging contestants in a strength contest.[6][7][8]

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.[9]

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