Jón Páll Sigmarsson was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Strongest Man four times and the first and only man to win the World Muscle Power Classic five times.
The deadlift is a weight and strength training exercise in which a loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press, as well as a frequent lift in strongman. It is also occasionally used in armlifting. The deadlift is widely considered the King of all exercises.
World's Strongest Woman is an annual strongwoman contest, and considered the pinnacle for female competitors and recognized as the world championships, and was held during the same time and same location as WSM from 2001 to 2003.
Rebecca 'Becca' Swanson is an American powerlifter, strongwoman and former professional wrestler. She broke multiple powerlifting world records, including the heaviest squat, bench press, deadlift and the total. Due to her many accomplishments including unbeaten strength world records to-date, she is regarded as "the strongest woman to have ever lived".
Nick Best is an American strongman and powerlifter.
Mark Felix is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has competed at a record 18 World's Strongest Man contests, reaching the finals three times. He is the winner of the 2015 Ultimate Strongman Masters World Championships, 2016 WSF World Cup India and has won several international grip contests, including the Rolling Thunder World Championships in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Vice Grip Viking Challenge in 2011 and 2012.
Manfred Hoeberl is an Austrian former strongman and powerlifter who was known as having the largest muscular arms in the world during the early-mid 1990s. He was born in the same town as bodybuilding legend and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Having competed in 18 International strongman competitions and winning 6 of them, Hoeberl is among the 50 most decorated strongmen of all time.
Aneta Florczyk is a Polish female athlete and strongwoman.
Stefán Sölvi Pétursson is an Icelandic strongman and a finalist of the World's Strongest Man competition, winning 4th place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition held in Sun City, South Africa and 9th place in the 2011 World's Strongest Man competition held in Wingate, North Carolina. He has also won Icelandic Strongman competitions multiple times including Iceland’s Strongest Man in 2009 and 2010.
Benedikt "Benni" Magnússon is an Icelandic strongman and powerlifter, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest deadlifters of all-time. He held the raw deadlift world record from 2011 to 2022 with 460.4 kg (1,015 lb), and it remains the heaviest raw deadlift ever done in conventional stance.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Shaw has also set more than 25 world records in deadlifting, stonelifting, keg-tossing, grip related movements and more.
Krzysztof Edward Radzikowski is a professional strongman competitor from Głowno, Poland. He has competed in 112 International strongman competitions and has won 24 of them, making him the sixth most decorated strongman in history following Žydrūnas Savickas, Mariusz Pudzianowski, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Brian Shaw and Aivars Šmaukstelis.
Mike Burke is an American strongman and a grip strength specialist from Aurora, Colorado. Before becoming a strength athlete, he worked as a construction worker.
Edward Stephen Hall is a British media personality and a retired strongman. He is best known for his world-record setting 500 kg (1,102 lb) deadlift in 2016 which is widely regarded as one of the greatest feats of strength in history. He is also known for winning 2017 World's Strongest Man competition.
Donna Moore is a British strongwoman and winner of the 2016, 2017, and 2019 World's Strongest Woman competitions, the 2016 and 2017 Arnold World Strongwoman champion, and 2018 Arnold Pro Strongwoman champion.
Listed below are the progressions of 7 deadlift world records across powerlifting, strongman and armlifting, and ultimately, the all-time progression across all strength sports.
Tamara Walcott is a powerlifter and strongwoman from the United States Virgin Islands. Weighing in at 138 kg (304 lb), she started powerlifting in 2018 and after four years in 2022 at American Pro, totaled 735 kg (1,620 lb) in sleeves and broke April Mathis' 11-years standing 730.5 kg (1,610 lb) world record, establishing the heaviest raw powerlifting total of all-time by a woman.
Olga Liashchuk is a Ukrainian pro Strongwoman from Donetsk. She is a 2 x time Arnold Strongwoman Classic champion and winner of World's Strongest Woman, Strongest Woman in the World, and Shaw Classic Open (Women) competitions.
Rebecca Anne Lorch was an American competitive weightlifter and strongwoman. She was a nutritionist and became interested in strength competitions after surviving a serious motorcycle accident. She would go on to win the lightweight classes of the 2019 and 2020 editions of America's Strongest Women competition. Lorch died of suicide at age 32.
Annika Karhu née Eilmann is a Strongwoman and grip athlete from Naantali, Finland. She is renowned as the first woman in history to lift and hold the Dinnie Stones, a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire.
