The 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM), 2024 Strongest Man on Earth (SMoE), 2024 Rogue Strongman Invitational (RSI) champion, and three-time reigning Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC) champion, Mitchell Hooper, has set the date: on Sept. 6, he will attempt to deadlift an all-time world record of 505 kilograms at the 2025 World Deadlift Championships (WDC) in Birmingham, England.
[Related: The Heaviest Deadlifts Ever Pulled]
500-Kilogram Deadlift Club
The quest to eclipse the record of 500 kilograms set in 2016 by Eddie Hall has been long and winding. The only athlete to join the 500-kilogram conventional deadlift club is Hafthor Björnsson on May 2, 2020, when the Icelandic powerhouse locked out 501 kilograms.
While that lift is considered the heaviest of all time, it is not without its asterisks, since it was pulled outside of competition in Björnsson’s home gym at the World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) ‘Feats of Strength’ Series during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Björnsson’s 501-kilogram lift did not appear challenging for him. The speed of his pull suggested he had more in the tank, though trying to lift more than anyone else ever has right after lifting more than anyone else ever had is not a reasonable decision, given the stress on the nervous system.
Hooper’s Potential
Hooper, alongside his coach, 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) Laurence Shahlaei, declared that to rid the record of any controversy, the 505-kilogram deadlift attempt would happen at the same competition where Hall performed his 500-kilogram pull nearly a decade ago.
Shahlaei feels Hooper’s deadlift progression over the past few years, since entering competitive strongman, has trended toward a capacity to pull 505 kilograms confidently. Shahlaei believes there is an 80% chance Hooper successfully pulls 505 kilograms in Birmingham.
The roster for the 2025 WDC has not been released at the time of this article’s publication. Still, the possibility that Björnsson would compete against Hooper at that contest for the world record deadlift would be the stuff of legend.
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Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
