Over the weekend, Big Dogs 4 brought eight of the biggest names in powerlifting together to compete over one day in Australia. The event runs in conjunction with the Wild Cats meet, which is a competition featuring the strongest middleweight women in Australia.
There were all kinds of big lifts that went down over the weekend, but we’re here to highlight a few performances that had us particularly excited. Before we dive into that, here’s a rundown of the roster for Big Dogs 4.
- Odell Manuel
- Graham Hicks
- Yury Belkin
- Erik Karacsondi
- Dylan Hellriegel
- Gawain Johnstone
- Warrick Eccles
3 Big Performances
1. Odell Manuel
Manuel, six-time winner of Australia’s strongest powerlifter, finished in first place at Big Dogs 4 with a performance we will all be sure to remember.
At 40-years-old, Manuel squatted 470kg, benched 260kg, and deadlifted 380kg for a massive 1,110kg total. His squat was also a new PR. Let us not downplay or forget that he actually missed his opener, then came back to hit an a new all-time PR!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ZQjNBFETr/
2. Graham Hicks
British powerlifter and strongman Graham Hicks finished in second place at the Big Dogs 4 meet. He was 2019 Britain’s Strongest Man, and over the weekend his performance was all kinds of impressive.
He squatted 440kg, benched 270kg, and deadlifted 390 for a 1100kg total. Some things worth pointing out here is that both his bench and deadlift were big enough beat Manuel, but it was on squat where Manuel had the slight edge.
3. Yury Belkin
Russian powerlifter Yury Belkin brought home third place at the Big Dogs 4 meet with the heaviest deadlift on the day. He pulled 415kg. His other lifts on Saturday included a 420kg squat and 235kg bench press.
Belkin was lifting at ~105kg bodyweight, and did approach the day hoping to go for an All-Time World Record on the squat and deadlift. He attempted 455kg on squat and 435kg on deadlift, but unfortunately missed both.
Big Dogs is always a fun powerlifting meet that isn’t organized by bodyweight, and brings some of the world’s best to one stage to compete, try for records, and have some fun.
Feature images from @odellmanuelpowerlifter, @grahamhicksuk, and @belkin_one_power Instagram pages.
