Graham Hicks joins the 1000lb Club: A Summary of Giants Live Cardiff

On Saturday we saw another roster of Strongmen compete at the Giants Live Open and World Deadlift Championships. As much as we were disappointed to see our own Evan Singleton have to pull out of the comp due to health reasons, we enjoyed watching each and every other athlete put on a show for us all. 

The show kicked off with the Deadlift attempts. This simple event saw only 5 athletes stepping up to the platform for the 1000lb pull, one of which was Silverback's own, Graham Hicks. We're so proud to see Hicksy pulling this out and putting his hard work to the test. 

The results from the Deadlift Championships are as follows:

Rauno Heinla — 476 kilograms (1,049.4 pounds)
Graham Hicks — 453.5 kilograms (999.8 pounds)
Mitchell Hooper — 453.5 kilograms (999.8 pounds)
Ivan Makarov — 453.5 kilograms (999.8 pounds)
Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 453.5 kilograms (999.8 pounds)
Gavin Bilton — 425.5 kilograms (938.1 pounds)
Oleksii Novikov — 425.5 kilograms (938.1 pounds)
Evan Singleton — 425.5 kilograms (938.1 pounds)
Shane Flowers — 400 Kilograms (881.9 pounds)
Andy Black — 400 Kilograms (881.9 pounds)
Pa O’Dwyer — 400 Kilograms (881.9 pounds)

The final deadlift weight sat at 476 kilograms (1,049.4 pounds) and Rauno Heinla was the only athlete to successfully pull that weight, setting a new Masters world record.

10 men then went on to compete in The Medley event. This event included each competitor completing a farmer’s walk with 150-kilogram implements for 10 meters, load a 120-kilogram barrel onto a podium 12 meters away, a 120-kilogram sandbag onto a podium 15 meters out, and carry a 135-kilogram tire 20 meters. The standings for The Medley event are as follows:

Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 37.11 seconds
Mitchell Hooper — 38.23 seconds
Evan Singleton — 38.85 seconds
Oleksii Novikov — 41.75 seconds
Graham Hicks — 49.56 seconds
Gavin Bilton — 49.9 seconds
Andy Black — 51.37 seconds
Pa O’Dwyer — 52.39 seconds
Shane Flowers — 56.3 seconds
Rauno Heinla — two meters

The next event, the Front Hold, required each athlete to hold up a 30kg implement at shoulder height and keep it there for as long as possible. Mitchell Hooper came on top in this event, keeping the hold for just over 54 seconds. Hicks and Nakonechnyy followed in second and third. The Front Hold standings were as follows:

Mitchell Hooper — 54.45 seconds
Graham Hicks — 50.82 seconds
Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 47.38 seconds
Oleksii Novikov — 45.66 seconds
Rauno Heinla — 42.62 seconds
Gavin Bilton — 38.78 seconds
Shane Flowers — 36.17 seconds
Andy Black — 35.83 seconds

The final event, the Atlas Stones, saw the athletes racing to place 5 stones, weighing from 100kg to 180kg, on their pedestal. Nakonechnyy came out on top, taking just over 17 seconds to complete all 5. Gavin Bilton's home crowd cheered him into second place, with a time of 18.54 seconds, with Novikov coming in at the 3rd spot. The Atlas Stones results stood as follows:

Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 17.65 seconds
Gavin Bilton — 18.54 seconds
Oleksii Novikov — 19.57 seconds
Shane Flowers — 20.46 seconds
Mitchell Hooper — 21.32 seconds
Graham Hicks — 21.92 seconds
Rauno Heinla — 24.42 seconds
Andy Black — 27.63 seconds

The three podium finishers gained themselves invitations to the 2023 WSM contest in Myrtle Beach, SC. A decision to comopete will see Nakonechnyy with a WSM debut. The final World Open results are as follows: 

2022 Giants Live World Open Results
Pavlo Nakonechnyy — 49 points
Mitchell Hooper — 47.5 points
Oleksii Novikov — 39.5 points
Graham Hicks — 37.5 points
Gavin Bilton — 34 points
Rauno Heinla — 33 points
Andy Black — 20 points
Shane Flowers — 18 points
Evan Singleton — 14 points
Ivan Makarov — Eight points
Pa O’Dwyer — Six points