The 2024 USA Strongman Championships will be held in Las Vegas, NV, on Sept. 28. The 2024 World Deadlift Championships will be the competition’s opening event.
2024 USA Strongman Championships Roster
- Tom Stoltman — Three-Time Reigning World’s Strongest Man
- Mitchell Hooper — 2023 World’s Strongest Man, 2024 Strongest Man on Earth
- Cheick “Iron Biby” Sanou — Log Lift World Record Holder
- Evan Singleton — 2023 Giants Live World Tour Open Champion
- Trey Mitchell — Two-Time Shaw Classic Champion
- Oleksii Novikov — 2020 World’s Strongest Man
- Graham Hicks
- Rauno Heinla — Partial Deadlift World Record Holder
- Austin Andrade
- Luke Stoltman — 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man
- Eddie Williams — Nicol Stones World Record Holder
- Lucy Underdown — Strongwoman Deadlift World Record Holder
- Ivan Makarov
- Mathew Ragg
- Marcus Crowder
Giants Live Promoter Colin Bryce arguably knows the athletes competing in Sin City and their capacities for gargantuan lifts better than any non-athlete in the strongman world. Bryce gave BarBend an exclusive interview, offering his insights into who he thinks could set a new all-time deadlift world record of 505 kilograms and what the podium in Vegas will likely shake out to.
[Related: Mitchell Hooper Opens Up — A Strongman’s Perspective On Therapy]
Note: the interview below has been lightly edited for readability.
BarBend (BB): Do you think a new deadlift world record will be achieved? If so, who do you think will pull the milestone 505 kilograms?
Colin Bryce (CB): I certainly believe Graham Hicks is capable of it. He looks fantastic; he’s dedicated the best part of a year towards this. He’s in an incredibly positive mood at the moment — not his normal state of mind going into competition; he’s often critical of himself and fears he will underperform, but not this time. Hicks is more likely to do it than not.
Hicks is up against it against Rauno Heinla and Ivan Makarov. Those two guys are only going for the deadlift. Makarov has gone up to 512 kilograms off blocks this year and has the most incredibly ridiculous long-arms-to-height ratio — he doesn’t have to stand up very much for the barbell to be past his knees. Can he lock it out? Well, 512 kilograms off blocks proves he can.
Heinla has pulled 476 kilograms, but he’s not getting any younger, he’s certainly into the shout.
Then there’s Mitchell Hooper, who no one has even spoken about. He pulled 420 kilograms in training like it was nothing. I know it’s 85 kilograms off of that, but Hooper is a modern-day Superman. He is a unique character.
Who would have said Hooper would break the Axle Press world record? People spoke about Hooper having a weakness in the shoulders when he first arrived on the scene. March forward 2.5 years, and Hooper plans on taking Iron Biby’s log lift world record within a year or so. He’s deadlifted 475 kilograms before any of us heard of him. Jumping up another 30 kilograms is possible, so watch out for him.
BB: Who do you expect in the remaining four events?
CB: The Car Walk is second — a sprint head-to-head with 1,000 pounds on the back, as good as a super yoke. Funny enough, it’s the kind of event Iron Biby is unbelievably good at, but he never trains it because he doesn’t have the kit back home to train on.
Trey Mitchell, with his snapped Achilles before, might struggle a little bit. Evan Singleton, I see doing particularly well. He’s a one-day-competition marvel. He might not pull more than 1,000 pounds, but I certainly see him being in the points for everything.
After that, we have 100-kilogram dumbbell pressing. You could say it’s light, but after a max deadlift, you want to give these guys weights they can handle. We’ll still get the best presser, and that’s what’s important.
It should really be Novikov. He’s the best dumbbell presser out there, but again, Hooper is probably in with a shout. Hooper is also in with a shout of the Wrecking Ball Hold as well — 267 kilograms in hand for as long as possible. Hooper has the record of 118.2 seconds and may go further than that.
Singleton and Eddie Williams are also really good at that. Williams has a hell of a grip on him.
The one man we haven’t talked about winning events so far is three-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Tom Stoltman, but I certainly give him the last event — the Atlas Stones. What Stoltman turns up, we’ll have to wait and see.
I think this will be a Mitchell Hooper day, winning the overall contest. I think this will be a Graham Hicks deadlift world record.
2024 USA Strongman Championships
Doors for the 2024 USA Strongman Championships open at 3:30 p.m. PT, and the competition begins at 5:00 p.m. PT. Tickets start at $40, and a group/family discount is available. When fans purchase three tickets, the fourth ticket is free—a 25% savings—using discount code USA24. More details are available at www.strongmanchampionship.com.
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Featured image: @colinbryceoly on Instagram
