21 Facts About Martins Licis

Martins Licis holds dual citizenship with Latvia and the United States, and speaks Latvian fluently.

Martins Licis represents the United States in competition, having moved there with his family at the age of four.

In 2010, Martins Licis moved to California together with his friend Mikel Monleon.

Martins Licis eventually found a job as a personal trainer in West Hollywood, and later found out about the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic.

In 2015, Martins Licis placed first in the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic.

In 2016, Martins Licis reached the World's Strongest Man finals for the first time and placed sixth.

Martins Licis placed fourth in the World's Strongest Man finals in 2017 and 2018.

Besides Strongman, Martins Licis competes in mas-wrestling, a variation of stick wrestling.

Martins Licis won gold in the 2016 MAS Wrestling Open World Championships in Columbus Ohio, beating out previous champion Viktor Kolibabchuk.

Martins Licis dominated the final, finishing in the top three in all five events, and winning two events outright.

On January 18,2020, Martins Licis won the Arnold Strongman Santa Monica Qualifier, beating out Brian Shaw by 1 point.

Martins Licis spent most of the 2020 and 2021 strongman season in recovery, with his ultimate comeback taking place in the inaugural Rogue Invitational Strongman competition in 2021, which boasted the biggest prize purse in the history of strongman competition with four WSM champions competing.

Martins Licis beat Tom Stoltman and Oleksii Novikov to win the competition and a top prize of $133,685.

In March 2022, at the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, Martins Licis performed consistently well in all five events, with first, second, or third finishes in all but one event.

In May 2022, Martins Licis returned to World's Strongest Man for the first time since winning the 2019 contest.

Martins Licis finished 2nd, behind the winner Tom Stoltman and beating Oleksii Novikov on a tie breaker.

In November 2022, Martins Licis competed at the 2022 Rogue Invitational looking to defend the title he won the year before.

Martins Licis picked up a bicep injury midway through the competition and finished 4th.

In March 2024, Martins Licis competed at the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic, but finished in a disappointing 8th place.

Martins Licis was then promoted to blue belt in jiu-jitsu by his coach Thiago Rodrigues on March 6,2025.

In March 2021, Martins Licis appeared in a Geico commercial titled "Worlds Strongest Man Takes On The Recycling".