[13] In 2001, a contest in the Faroe Islands dealt Savickas a major setback, as he tore both patellar tendons during the Conan's Wheel event.

[15] On October 24, 2005, Savickas represented Lithuania in a team competition with Vidas Blekaitis, Saulius Brusokas, and Vilius Petrauskas.

[citation needed] In September 2007, Savickas finished in 3rd place at the last ever IFSA World Championships behind runner-up Mikhail Koklyaev and champion Vasyl Virastyuk in Geumsan, South Korea.

[18] On October 3, 2009, Savickas won the 2009 World's Strongest Man competition ahead of defending champion and five-time winner Mariusz Pudzianowski.

In April 2011, Savickas set a new Guinness World Record by performing a 20-meter Farmer's Walk in 7.55 seconds with 150 kg (330 lb) implements in each hand.

[25] During the SCL Finals in Sarajevo, Savickas set a new world record in the Log Lift with 215 kg (474 lb).

[21] In September 2011, Savickas lost his WSM crown to Brian Shaw at the 2011 World's Strongest Man contest at Wingate University, North Carolina, coming in second place for the fourth time.

Savickas won the 2012 Europe's Strongest Man contest on June 23, 2012, his second ESM title after winning in 2010.

On October 1, 2012, Savickas regained the WSM crown by winning the 2012 World's Strongest Man contest in Los Angeles, California.

Savickas won his inaugural 2013 contest, the Strongman Champions League Holland event held in Kalkar, Germany on June 22, 2013.

[34][35] Savickas also attempted a new Log Lift world record of 221 kg (487 lb), but failed to lockout the weight overhead.

At the 2014 World's Strongest Man, he managed to win his fourth title with just half a point difference over the second-placed Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson and in so doing became the oldest WSM winner in history, at 38 years and 258 days.

Savickas also won the 2014 Arnold Strongman Classic, for the 7th time, defeating his long-time rival Brian Shaw.

[38] Savickas secured second place behind Brian Shaw at the 2015 Arnold Strongman Classic, despite being hindered by back and hamstring injuries.

Later that year, at the 2015 World’s Strongest Man competition, Savickas again finished as the runner-up to Shaw, once more competing through back and hamstring injuries.

[63] During an interview with strongman analyst Laurence Shahlaei in 2020, Žydrūnas said that Mariusz Pudzianowski, Svend Karlsen, Derek Poundstone, Brian Shaw and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson are the 5 greatest strongmen he has competed against.

[65] In 2012, he explained that participating in politics was a "pastime", as he saw his sporting career as his free time and didn't understand what sportsmen are "supposed to do all day".

[72] Describing his political views as a candidate to the Seimas, he identified as a businessman as well as a sportsman, and expressed his desire to lower taxes and reduce the bureaucratic apparatus.

[76] He was one of the leaders of an anti-restriction protest during the commemmoration of the January Events in 2022 and described the pandemic controls of the Šimonytė Cabinet as a "dictatorship" and "anti-constitutional",[77] which got members of the municipal council in his home town Biržai to propose revoking his honorary citizenship.

[81] Zydrunas Savickas has a YouTube channel where he talks on strongman related topics such as recovery, diet, and training habits.