On August 14, Giants Live hosted the 2021 World Open and the World Deadlift Championship in Manchester, England. Ten strongmen from around the world gathered with hopes of being the one to stand atop the podium and be called the best deadlifter on the planet.
In the end, American Evan Singleton won the World Open champion. Adam Bishop finished as the runner-up, and 2020 World’s Strongest Man Oleksii Novikov came in third place. The top three finishers earn qualifications to the 2022 World’s Strongest Man. Novikov and Singleton have already qualified, thanks to their first and second-place finishes, respectively, at the Strongman Classic. Bishop earns his qualification here thanks to placing second. The full top 10 are as follows.
- Evan Singleton — 43 points
- Adam Bishop — 40.5 points
- Oleksii Novikov — 39.5 points
- Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 29.5 points
- Gabriela Peña — 26 points
- Gavin Bilton — 21.5 points
- Andy Black — 20 points
- Rauno Heinla — 19 points
- Mikhail Shivlyakov — 18.5 points
- Ivan Makarov — 17.5 points
Event Results
Here’s how each competitor fared in all five events, according to Giants Live.
Max Deadlift
The athlete who can pull the heaviest weight wins.
- 1st — Ivan Makarov, 475 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Nedzmin Ambeskovic, 453.5 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Adam Bishop, 453.5 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Evan Singleton, 453.5 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Oleksii Novikov, 453.5 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Gabriel Peña, 453.5 kilograms
- 2nd (tie) — Pavlo Nakonechnyy, 453.5 kilograms
- 8th (tie) — Mikhail Shivlyakov, 425 kilograms
- 8th (tie) — Rauno Heinla, 425 kilograms
- 8th (tie) — Andy Black, 425 kilograms
Carry & Drag
160 kilograms in each hand for the carry, 350-kilogram anchor drag for time.
- 1st — Evan Singleton, 27.38 seconds
- 2nd — Adam Bishop, 31.17 seconds
- 3rd — Oleksii Novikov, 31.59 seconds
- 4th — Andy Black, 36.05 seconds
- 5th — Pavlo Nakonechnyy, 36.91 seconds
- 6th — Mikhail Shivlyakov, 40.66 seconds
- 7th — Gabriel Peña, 33.4 meters
- 8th — Ivan Makarov, 29.2 meters
- 9th — Gavin Bilton, 24.1 meters
- 10th — Rauno Heinla, 22 meters
Viking Press
160 kilograms for max reps.
- 1st — Evan Singleton, 12 reps
- 2nd (tie) — Adam Bishop, 11 reps
- 2nd (tie) — Oleksii Novikov, 11 reps
- 4th — Gavin Bilton, 10 reps
- 5th (tie) — Pavlo Nakonechnyy, 9 reps
- 5th (tie) — Rauno Heinla, 9 reps
- 7th — Mikhail Shivlyakov, 8 reps
- 8th (tie) — Ivan Makarov, 4 reps
- 8th (tie) — Andy Black, 4 reps
- 10th — Gabriel Peña, 1 rep
Hammer Hold
30-kilogram front hold for the best time.
- 1st — Gabriel Peña, 46.85 seconds
- 2nd — Oleksii Novikov, 43.93 seconds
- 3rd — Evan Singleton, 41.91 seconds
- 4th — Rauno Heinla , 36.91 seconds
- 5th — Adam Bishop, 35.85 seconds
- 6th — Mikhail Shivlyakov, 32.46 seconds
- 7th — Gavin Bilton, 29.95 seconds
- 8th — Andy Black, 27.26 seconds
- 9th — Pavlo Nakonechnyy, 27.00 seconds
- 10th — Ivan Makarov, 20.38 seconds
Castle Stones
Each athlete loads five stones ranging from 100 to 180 kilograms.
- 1st — Adam Bishop, 18.81 seconds
- 2nd — Pavlo Nakonechnyy, 19.75 seconds
- 3rd — Evan Singleton, 20.1 seconds
- 4th — Oleksii Novikov, 20.9 seconds
- 5th — Gavin Bilton, 22.76 seconds
- 6th — Andy Black, 24.28 seconds
- 7th — Gabriel Peña, 25.96 seconds
- 8th — Rauno Heinla, 28.72 seconds
- 9th — Mikhail Shivlyakov, 29.76 seconds
- 10th — Ivan Makarov, 4 in 48.4 seconds
The Top Three Breakdown
It was a close race to the podium. Here’s a quick recap on how each of the three finalists performed during the World Open.
Winner — Evan Singleton
The American known as “T-Rex” had a terrific performance — winning two of the five events. He placed first in the Carry and Drag Medley with a time of 27.38 seconds. He followed that up by winning the Viking Press, pressing 160 kilograms (352 pounds) for 12 reps with ease. Other highlights include him tying for second in the Max Deadlift with a 453.5-kilogram (1,000-pound) pull and clinching the overall victory by placing third in the Castle Stones.
Second Place — Adam Bishop
The former British Strongest Man won the Castle Stones with a time of 18.81 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to take the title away from Singleton. He placed second in the Viking Press with 11 reps, coming within inches of locking out a 12th but was unable to. He also tied for second in the Max Deadlift with the same weight that Singleton pulled. His consistent number of top-three finishes is what led him to the podium.
Third Place — Oleksii Novikov
Novikov won World’s Ulitmate Strongman’s Strength Island and Strongman Classic contests already this year. Still, he told people in attendance that he was dealing with knee injuries before the contest started. He tied for second in the Viking Press with Bishop, and he also finished the 30 kilograms (66 pounds) Hammer Hold in the silver position. (Gabriel Peña won that event with a time of 46.85 seconds.) Novikov placed fourth in the Castle Stones, which is what cemented his third place overall finish.
World Deadlift Championship
In April of 2021, Giants Live announced that they were looking for any athlete who could deadlift 505 kilograms and offered $50,000 to anyone who did it. Giant’s Live had a few contenders lined up — notably, Asko Karu and Peiman Maheripourehir — but due to injuries and travel issues, Nedzmin Ambeskovic was the only guest. In the end, no one claimed the 50 grand. Ivan Makarov completed the heaviest deadlift — 475 kilograms (1,047 pounds). Five men (Singleton, Novikov, Peña, Bishop, and Nakonechnyy) tied for second place with lifts of 453.5 kilograms.
It is worth noting that Pavlo Nakonechnyy actually skipped on attempting the 475-kilogram lift in favor of jumping straight up to 505 kilograms (1,113.5 pounds). He and Makarov both attempted the history-making weight, but neither man was able to complete the lift. For the time being, Hafthor Björnsson’s 501-kilogram pull is still the heaviest lift ever completed.
Featured Image Courtesy of Giants Live
