Deadlift World Championship 2022 & World Open 2022
The first event will feature the deadlift championships, as everyone will try to take the world record with a massive 505kg lift. After that, the competition turns into the World Open. Our athletes are:
Gavin Bilton – Wales – 2x UK’s Strongest Man (2020 and 2021)
Evan Singleton – USA – World Open winner 2021
Mitchell Hooper – Canada – 2nd at Strongman Classic UK 2022
Andy Black – Scotland
Chris Van Der Linde – Africa (Guest Lifter)
Pavlo Nakonechnyy – Ukraine
Rauno Heinla – Estonia
Shane Flowers – England
Pa O’Dwyer – Ireland – 2nd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2022
Graham Hicks – England – Britain’s Strongest Man 2019
Ivan Makarov – Georgia
Oleskii Novikov – Ukraine – World’s Strongest Man 2020
An incredible line up, especially for the Deadlift World Championships. 7 of these men have lifted at least 1000lbs in competition before, and a couple of them have come close to breaking the deadlift record. The question is, can anyone actually do it today?
Event 1 – Max Deadlift
This event will start at a massive 400kg, and only get heavier from there until someone tries 505kg for the new world record. 9 men lifted 400kg, with Heinla, Hooper and Makarov passing at the opening weight. Andy Black, Pa O’Dwyer and Shane Flowers attempted 425.5kg and failed, while Novikov lifted it. Time for us to join into the action with Van Der Linde, the African record holder, and he gets it up easy. Singleton is up next and this should be well within him, and yep, it is. Hooper next, and again this should be well within him, and he makes it look easy. Nakonechnyy is a powerlifting beast, and yeah, he lifts this weight up the easiest so far. Gavin Bilton gets a Welsh record by lifting this weight and he looked very comfortable doing it. I wonder how much further he can go. He suffered some big injuries a year ago and almost retired, but he’s back, looking strong, and claims he’ll win WSM within the next 2 years. I wish him well! Speaking of coming back from injuries, Graham Hicks is here and he too lifts the 425.5kg weight. Looking forward to seeing how he performs in this competition! Heinla also makes 425.5kg as we expected, along with Makarov. The next round is 453.6kg(1000lbs), with Singleton and, surprisingly Van Der Linde both failing. Novikov has decided to bow out before attempting the weight, so save energy for the rest of the competition. Can Gavin Bilton join the 1000lbs club and break his own Welsh record? Sadly not, but he gave it a good attempt. Next year for sure! Graham Hicks is best known as a presser, but can he make 1000lbs? Yes, yes he can! Great stuff! He’s decided that’s enough for this event and I don’t blame him. Nakonechnyy is out next and I’d be shocked if he didn’t get it. He does, and I’m not shocked. Woo! Hooper gets his turn now, and 1000lbs is still less than his personal best. He has to work at it at the top of the lift, but he does lock out. Might be his final lift tbh. Makarov is the man to watch, with this weight still being really easy for him. 476kg is the next jump, and I don’t see many doing it. Heinla is up first and WOW, I haven’t seen anyone lift that weight that easily except for maybe Eddie Hall. Hooper fails at this weight, but I was expecting that. Makarov has skipped that weight and will attempt 505kg. A good attempt, up to his knees, but no further. That means Rauno Heinla is this year’s Deadlift Champion!
Event 2 – Farmer’s Walk & Loading Medley
What a brutal event to follow the World Deadlift Championships! 150kg in each hand for the Farmer’s Walk, then a 120kg barrel, 120kg sack and 115kg tire for the loading medley. Everyone is going to be exhausted! Heinla, despite winning the Deadlift Championships could only manage 2m on the Farmer’s Walk. I guess he used up all his energy. O’Dwyer managed to finish the course in 52.39 seconds, and Andy Black did it in 51.37 seconds. Makarov has withdrawn from the competition, no doubt from that 505kg attempt just sapping away his energy. Now we join in on the action with Novikov against Bilton. Novikov has the SPEED which will make him very hard to beat. He’s way ahead of the Welshman, and finishes in a fantastic time of 41.75 seconds. Bilton manages to finish in current second just under 50 seconds. Nakonechnyy and Singleton are next, and both are looking very fast. It all comes down to the tire to separate them, with Nakonechnyy taking the win, but Singleton still manages to beat out Novikov! I wouldn’t have called that! Graham Hicks Vs Mitchell Hooper. Hooper is flying, while Hicks is a little slow, as he’s very much built for static power more than anything else. He just misses out on 1st, but overtakes Singleton. Hicks down in 5th. Novikov “only” finishes in 4th place in an event you’d normally expect him to win! Pa O’Dwyer is announced as being injured and withdrawing from the competition too unfortunately.
Event 3 – Log Press
Before this event starts we get word of ANOTHER injury, and defending champion Evan Singleton is out now. That will really open up the top places. Moving on to event 3, its a 150kg log that needs to be pressed out as many times in 75 seconds. A great event for Graham Hicks. Andy Black, Rauno Heinla and Oleksii Novikov have been and gone, with 1, 5 and 7 reps respectively. We join the action as Graham Hicks faces off against Gavin Bilton. A bad start for Bilton who doesn’t get his first lift allowed, while Hicks seems to be utterly exhausted and only manages 3 reps. Bilton manages to catch him up, and even goes ahead with 4 reps. A surprise for sure. Finally we have Hooper and Nakonechnyy. Hooper gets to 7 fairly easily, then manages an 8th just barely for the event win. Nakonechnyy manages 7 to tie with Novikov.
2 Events left, so lets check up on the points:
Hooper looking very impressive, but Nakonechnyy is only half a point behind him. Novikov is further behind on points than you would expect him to be, with Hicks and Heinla all within touching distance of that podium finish. Even Bilton has a chance at it.
Event 4 – Hammer Hold
A 30kg Hammer needs to be held in front of the athletes with straight and fully stretched out arms for the longest time possible. A difficult event! Black and Flowers have gone, with Flowers leading with a time of just over 36 seconds. We join in on Hicks and Bilton taking their turn. 39.78 seconds for Bilton, while Hicks manages 50.82 seconds. That could be a very good result for him in this event! Heinla and Nakonechnyy are next to try, with Heinla managing just over 42 second and Pavlo getting just over 47 seconds for current 2nd place. Final 2 men now and its Novikov and Hooper. Novikov needs to do well here to close that points gap. Sadly its only 4th place for him, while Hooper finishes in 1st! He’s looking good for the overall win now!
One event to go to determine the new Live Open champion, as Evan Singleton of course sadly injured and out of the competition. Lets see who leads the way:
Hooper 2 and a half points ahead, so a good stone run should keep him in 1st place. Nakonechnyy has a very good chance of taking the overall win still though. Hicks, Novikov and Heinla all vying for that 3rd place finish, and I’d put money on Novikov doing better than them both in the stones and taking 3rd.
Event 5 – Castle Stones
5 stones. Stick em on podiums. 120kg to 200kg. We all know the deal! Andy Black finished all 5 in 27.63 seconds, with Shane Flowers finishing in 20.46 which is a great time and might actually get in between some of the bigger names. Time to join the action with Bilton against Heinla. Bilton is looking perhaps better than ever on this event, finishing in 18.54 seconds! Heinla does it in just over 24 seconds. Hicks and Novikov time, in a battle for 3rd. Hicks was faster on the first 2, but Novikov catches up an finishes in 19.57 seconds. 21.92 for Hicks which is a great time normally, but not good enough here. Hooper and Nakonechnyy in a battle for 1st place! Pavlo gets 1st place in the event, with Hooper finishing down in 5th… which COULD have lost him the overall win.
Who wins?
Pavlo Nakonechnyy wins! Hooper finishes second, with Novikov overtaking Hicks for 3rd place. Seems we have some new blood coming into Strongman!
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