This Saturday, May 30th, strongman Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine will lift a 100kg/220lb giant dumbbell for as many reps as possible in 75 seconds to set the standard for a new world record. It will done on episode four of World Ultimate Strongman’s (WUS) “Feats of Strength” series.
The event will be streamed live via CoreSports.world at 12pm EST/6pm CET.
Unlike previous episodes in the series that have covered Hafthor Bjornsson’s 501kg deadlift and Tom Stoltman’s all-time world record Atlas Stone over bar, Novikov will not be trying to break a record. Instead, he will be setting an entirely new one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xIboggPOb/
In a comment on a WUS’s Instagram page, their follower non_erit_tristis asked: “Is this setting a new record or breaking an old one?” WUS’s reponse:
“Setting a new one.”
This shifts the question from “how many reps does Novikov need to hit?” to “how many reps can Novikov successfully perform?”
Although the event is marketed as “giant dumbbell”, it will functionally be a 100kg/220lb Cyr dumbbell for reps. For context, the world record Cyr Dumbbell is a 150kg/330lb press by Mateusz Kieliszkowski at WUS — besting the previous record of 145kg/320lb that Kieliszkowski set at the 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC). Check out the 150kg/330lb lift below from Starting Strongman‘s YouTube Channel:
Novikov was able to lift 136kg/300lb at the 2020 ASC before failing to lift 140kg/310lb. He also beat out Kieliszkowski at the 2019 Arnold Strongman South American and 2019 Arnold Strongman Africa. For an idea of what Novikov’s giant dumbbell record will look like, here he is lifting 110kg/242.5lb for 5 reps from a training session he posted on his Instagram page:
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Novikov has proven time and time again that he is one of the strongest men in the world and he has been given the unique opportunity to set a brand new world record. So how many reps will he be able to do? We’ll have to tune in on Saturday to find out.
Feature image from Oleksii Novikov’s Instagram page: @novikov_strong
