Björnsson Smashes 510kg to Take Both Titles in Birmingham

Both the Mutant World Deadlift Championship and Strongman Open titles fell to Hafþór Björnsson in what was an unbelievable display of strength at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena! The Icelandic giant produced a truly astonishing display of power as he marked his return to the Giants Live stage with a new Deadlift world record of 510kg (1,124lb). Taking the title by 40kg from runners up Austin Andrade and Adam Bishop, Thor made his 510kg lift look like a warm-up attempt as the barbell moved seamlessly and without deceleration to full lockout.

His penultimate effort at 470kg had looked ridiculously simple, leaving no one in the 7,000 strong crowd in any doubt he would add to his own record. As the new Mexican deadlift sensation, Raul Flores, and Estonian Master’s world record holder, Rauno Heinla, failed to complete their 480kg attempts, The Mountain stepped up to the platform with minimal rest from his previous lift. Magnús Ver Magnússon, who had disallowed Evan Singleton’s 420kg lift earlier in the evening, was able to offer the easiest down signal decision of his refereeing career, as Hafþór ripped the bar from the floor with immaculate technique to complete his second world record in six weeks.

Björnsson has now added 10kg to the half-tonne record Eddie Hall established back in 2016 and told the crowd that “the sky is the limit…I could take the record to 550kg”. On the evidence of the relative ease of his lift, few would now doubt this possibility. Underlining how little the new record took out of him physically, he went on to take overall victory in the Strongman Open, completing five more gruelling events. With a winning margin of 8-points over North America’s Strongest Man, Bryce Johnson, Thor swept all before him and has once again asserted his dominance over the sport of Strongman!

His victory was certainly aided by the early departure from the contest of T-Rex, Evan Singleton, who was unable continue following his 420kg Deadlift. Darren Sadler overturned Magnússon’s decision and the lift was awarded, but in raising the bar from the ground three times, the Strongman Classic and Strongest Man on Earth champion sustained an injury that would sadly force him to withdraw.

Bryce Johnson was last season’s runner up at the Official Strongman Games and produced a superb all-round performance to clinch the runner-up spot by a single point over New Zealand’s Mat Ragg. Having led the contest at the halfway point, Ragg seemed to succumb to the pace of the show and faded in the final few events, allowing both Johnson and Thor to move past him. After a superb event win in the Viking Press it was possible for Bryce to take overall victory in the final event: Power Stairs, but Thor was not to be denied, and Johnson would have to settle for second place on his Giants Live debut.

Having joined the 1,000lb deadlift club with a huge personal best in the opening event, England’s Paddy Haynes narrowly missed out on a podium place by just half a point. He claimed event victories in both the Sandbag Steeplechase and Power Stairs to recover from a poor Hammer Hold result, leaving him in 6^th place after four events. A Fourth straight Giants Live podium was not to be for the Oxford farmer, but he once again underlined his huge talent and meteoric progress in the sport!

Singing Strongman, Eddie Williams, produced a stunning event win in the Farmer’s Walk on his way to 5^th place overall, just a point shy of Haynes. Beating runner-up Luke Stoltman’s time by over 2.5 seconds, the Australian’s speed down the 30m course with the 150kg implements was incredible! Taking the runner-up spot in the Viking Press, Williams recovered well from his disappointment in the Deadlift, where his 420kg lift left him down in 11^th. His consistent performance, thereafter, earned him the scalp of Britain’s Strongest Man, Luke Stoltman, who was also left playing catch-up after the Deadlift.

The Bull, Gavin Bilton, was thrilled to extend his Welsh Deadlift record to 440kg and produced some very solid results on his way to 7^th overall. Third in the Viking Press was the pick of his performances across the six events, and the former professional rugby player seemed to be back to some of his best form. With 38.5-points, he was a single point clear of Canada’s Strongest Man, Tristain Hoath, whose 3^rd place in the Hammer Hold was the highlight of his evening.

Fellow Brit, Adam Bishop, had not contested the World Deadlift Championships since 2021, when he had joined the 1,000lb club in Manchester. Returning from a disappointing Britain’s Strongest Man earlier this year, Bish looked comfortable at 453kg and set a new lifetime best of 470kg to share second place with Austin Andrade. The Mexican overbalanced after grounding the weight, and with his hands strapped to the bar, face planted into the platform. He was much relieved to see Magnússon’s thumbs up as he recovered but was later forced to withdraw from the final event after sustaining an arm injury in the Viking Press.

Ukraine’s Pavlo Nakonechnyy also succumbed to injury and was forced to pull out during his Deadlift warm-up. The 2022 World Open winner has been recovering from a serious car-crash for several seasons now but had looked to be in good form during his pre-show preparation and was bitterly disappointed, along with his fans, to be forced to sit the contest out.

With six events, this show was one of the toughest in Giants Live history and in producing the heaviest Deadlift ever lifted and then going on to secure overall victory, Björnsson’s return to Giants Live was nothing short of staggering. Thor was already Giants’ most prolific winner and in claiming his 9^th title he continues the run of victories that include five Europe’s Strongest Man wins.

As he stood atop the podium having received both winner’s trophies and his cheque for £100,000, courtesy of his new world record, he paid tribute to his family and the team behind him, telling them “I couldn’t do this without you”. When we will next see him on the Giants Live stage again remains to be seen, but his performance in Birmingham, and most notably the manner of his historic 510kg lift, will certainly live long in the memory!

Don’t forget, you can catch up on the event and rewatch at anytime at www.officialstrongman.com >>

Event Results

Event 1: Mutant Deadlift World Championships

Weight increments: Round 1: 400kg, Round 2: 420kg, Round 3: 440kg, Round 4: 453kg (1,000lb), Round 5: 470kg, Round 5: 480kg, Round 7: 510kg (World Record)

Event 2: Vitakick Farmer’s Walk

150kg in each hand, 30m course, 60-second time limit

Event 3: Mirafit Sandbag Steeplechase

2 x 140kg Sandbags, 30m carry, 1.2m Hurdle at 15m, 75 second time limit

Event 4: SBD Hammer Hold

Hammer weight: 27kg, no time limit

Event 5: BadRhino Viking Press

Implement weights: 150kg, 60 second time limit

Event 6: Castle Water Power Stairs

Implement weights: 200kg, 225kg, 240kg, 250kg, 60 second time limit