Four Years. Four Champions. One Mouthpiece.

When Mitchell Hooper lifted the World's Strongest Man trophy for the second time in 2026, a lot of things crossed the finish line with him; years of training, sacrifice, elite coaching, and a physiology built for moments that would break most people.

But there was something else. Something small, sitting between his teeth.

An AIRWAAV mouthpiece.

If that sounds familiar, it should. Because in 2025, when Rayno Nel won the whole competition as a relative newcomer to the world stage; he had an AIRWAAV in. In 2024, when Tom Stoltman stood on top of the podium; AIRWAAV in. In 2023, when Mitchell Hooper won it the first time, same story.

Four World's Strongest Man titles. Four consecutive years. Four athletes. One mouthpiece.

At some point, that stops being a coincidence.

The Four-Year Dynasty, Year by Year

2023: Mitchell Hooper Takes the Title

Mitchell Hooper arrived at WSM 2023 as one of the most anticipated competitors in years. He left as champion. And throughout every event, the Atlas Stones, the truck pulls, the overhead press, he had an AIRWAAV mouthpiece in. It was his first championship. It wouldn't be his last.

2024: Tom Stoltman Climbs to the Top

Tom Stoltman, one of the most decorated athletes in strongman history, claimed the 2024 title with AIRWAAV as part of his competition kit. The Scottish giant, known for his dominance in the overhead and stone events, had made the mouthpiece a non-negotiable part of his setup.

2025: Rayno Nel Shocks the World

If 2025 had a story, it was Rayno Nel. Competing at the highest level of the sport, Nel turned heads all competition and when the final results were tallied, he stood on the top step of the podium. AIRWAAV in. A new champion, but the same equipment choice.

2026: Hooper Does It Again. The Podium Makes History.

Mitchell Hooper returned to WSM 2026 and left with his second title. But the bigger story might be what happened across the entire podium. First place: Hooper. Second place: Rayno Nel, the reigning champion, now runner-up, still wearing AIRWAAV. Third place: Trey Mitchell, one of the most respected competitors in the sport. Also wearing AIRWAAV.

For the second consecutive year, every athlete on the WSM podium, first through third, competed with an AIRWAAV mouthpiece.

Four years. Four champions. Two consecutive years where the entire podium wore the same mouthpiece.

It Goes Well Beyond the Podium

Here's what doesn't show up in the results column: the majority of all 30 World's Strongest Man finalists wear AIRWAAV during competition. Most of them have no sponsorship deal with the brand. No financial incentive. No contractual obligation.

They wear it because they say it works.

Talk to the athletes at an event like WSM and you'll hear the same thing over and over, it's a non-negotiable. They don't train without it. They don't compete without it. Walk the floor before any event begins and you'll see it hanging from the mouths of athletes as they mentally lock in, getting ready to lift something that most humans can't even conceptualize moving.

Among the 2026 finalists wearing AIRWAAV: Andre Foytou (5th), Eddie Williams (8th), and Matthew Redd (7th), alongside the podium trio of Hooper, Nel, and Trey Mitchell. That's the majority of the field's top finishers, all making the same choice.

4 of 4 consecutive WSM champions wore AIRWAAV

2 of 2 consecutive years the entire podium wore AIRWAAV

Majority of all 30 WSM finalists compete with AIRWAAV

When the Coaches Believe It, Pay Attention

Athletes choose their equipment for a reason. But when the coaches, the people who have spent decades studying what separates good from elite, make the same choice, that's a different kind of signal.

Joe Ken is one of the most respected minds in strength sports. He has coached Brian Shaw, a four-time World's Strongest Man champion widely considered one of the greatest in the sport's history. He currently coaches competitor Tom Evans. Joe Ken is an AIRWAAV advocate.

Chad Coy, coach of 2026 WSM podium finisher Trey Mitchell, is another. Coy has spent years at the highest level of strongman, both as a competitor and a coach. He understands, better than most, what it actually takes to perform at this level.

Both men chose AIRWAAV. Not because they were asked to. Because they saw what it did.

When the coaches who built WSM champions make something a non-negotiable, the rest of the sport tends to follow.

The Science Behind Why They Won't Compete Without It

It's worth understanding what's actually happening when one of these athletes bites down on an AIRWAAV, because the benefits aren't theoretical, and they aren't subtle.

Strength and Power You Can Feel Immediately

When an athlete clamps down under a heavy load, AIRWAAV accelerates the communication between the brain and the muscles. Think of it like upgrading from a dial-up connection to fiber, the signal gets there faster. Muscles fire more quickly, the body stabilizes harder, and the athlete produces more power in the moments that matter most.

For a strongman carrying a 400-pound yoke or pulling a 10-ton truck, the ability to generate maximum neuromuscular output in a fraction of a second isn't a nice-to-have. It's the difference between completing an event and not.

Breathing That Holds Up When Everything Else Wants to Fall Apart

Strongman competition is not a static sport. These athletes are moving. Carrying sandbags, running with yokes, pressing logs overhead, with their heart rates spiking and their lungs demanding more than their bodies want to give.

The way AIRWAAV positions the tongue and jaw actually widens the airway, allowing athletes to take in more air, more efficiently, even when they're deep in the red zone. Peer-reviewed research shows AIRWAAV lowers respiratory rate by up to 20%.* At the level of World's Strongest Man, breathing efficiency isn't a marginal gain, it's how you survive an event long enough to win it.

The 1–2% That Changes Everything

At the elite level of any sport, the margin between first place and fifth is paper thin. For these athletes, it might be one rep. One second. One event.

AIRWAAV gives athletes 1-2% more than they had before. More power, more stability, more breathing efficiency. At the World's Strongest Man level, that 1–2% is the difference between standing on the podium and watching from the sidelines.

Four consecutive champions didn't decide to make AIRWAAV a non-negotiable because they were asked to. They did it because when you're competing at the absolute edge of human capability, you can feel the difference.

The Official Mouthpiece of World's Strongest Man: Four Years Running

AIRWAAV has been the official mouthpiece of World's Strongest Man for four consecutive years. That relationship gives AIRWAAV a unique window into the world's most demanding strength competition, and gives WSM athletes access to the most rigorously developed performance mouthpiece in the sport.

What's happened over those four years isn't just a partnership story. It's a proof-of-concept story. The world's strongest athletes, the ones who understand better than anyone what their bodies need to perform, chose AIRWAAV. And then they kept winning.

What It Means for You

You're not competing at World's Strongest Man. But the physiology is the same.

The neuromuscular connection. The airway. The breathing under load. The stability when you're bracing for a heavy squat or grinding through a conditioning workout. These aren't mechanisms that only apply at the elite level, they're how every human body works. AIRWAAV just lets you get more out of yours.

Four consecutive World's Strongest Man champions made their choice. You can make the same one.

*Respiratory rate claim based on peer-reviewed published research. Individual results may vary. AIRWAAV is not a medical device and does not treat or diagnose any medical condition.