Strongman competitors are professional athletes and are among the elite of the world because of the effort and ability it takes to perform their incredible feats in competition. While Eddie Hall is familiar with the rigors of the sport, he has taken strongman athleticism to a new level even in “retirement.” In a video posted on YouTube on Sunday afternoon, the 2017 World’s Strongest Man and world record holder in the deadlift performed a backflip in a gymnastics center.
Hall starts the video by introducing Nile Wilson, an Olympic gymnastics athlete and YouTube vlogger, who stated his goal for the “Strongest Man in History” star.
Wilson: “I want the World’s Strongest Man to achieve a backflip. This is going to make waves and movements in the internet and the world to prove that gymnastics is for everyone.”
While initially expressing doubt, Hall accepted the challenge. After they complete a warm-up process, Wilson shows Hall some drills that gymnastics athletes perform along with other movements. Hall even does his version of “the worm” dance and a short handstand. After some work on the mats, Hall and Wilson finally make their way to the center’s foam pit where after a couple of practice attempts, he’s able to complete the full backflip into the pit. After a short celebration, Hall expressed his disbelief while clearly looking proud of his accomplishment.
“Never before in a million year’s I’d thought you’d get me to do a backflip. Never in a million years.”
Hall isn’t the first man his size to do a backflip. There have been a few super-heavyweights in professional wrestling that do a move known as a “moon-sault” which is a backflip off of the top rope. Among the first was the late 400 pound Leon White, known as “Vader.” Nonetheless, very few are capable of doing this and for Hall to be able to at 6 feet, 3 inches and 380 pounds is a testament to the athleticism and physical gifts he has. He still has a lot of his strength as well, documented by his previous video of him incline pressing 242 pound dumbbells.
At the conclusion of the video, Hall performs a “human Atlas Stone” with Wilson and also a “human javelin,” throwing Wilson into the foam pit.
Featured Image: Instagram/eddiehallwsm by Hannah Felicity
