Eddie Hall

Eddie Hall

Personal information
Birth name	Edward Hall
Born	(1988-01-15) 15 January 1988[1] Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England[1]
Residence	Stoke-on-Trent, UK
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight	174.5 kg (385 lb)[1]
Sport
Sport	Strongman competitor
Medal record Competitor for  United Kingdom World's Strongest Man Qualified 2012 World's Strongest Man Qualified 2013 World's Strongest Man 6th 2014 World's Strongest Man 4th 2015 World's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man Giants Live 4th 2012 Australia 2nd 2013 Hungary 3rd 2014 Hungary Britain's Strongest Man 1st Britain's Strongest Man 2014 1st Britain's Strongest Man 2015 1st Britain's Strongest Man 2016 UK's Strongest Man 1st UK's Strongest Man 2011 1st UK's Strongest Man 2012 1st UK's Strongest Man 2013 1st UK's Strongest Man 2014 1st UK's Strongest Man 2015 England's Strongest Man 1st England's Strongest Man 2010 (Elite) 1st England's Strongest Man 2011 (UKSC)

Edward "Eddie" Hall (born 15 January 1988) is an English professional strongman competitor, notable for having won on multiple occasions both the UK's Strongest Man, and England's Strongest Man titles. He has also competed at the World's Strongest Man and is the current world record holder in the deadlift with straps.^[2]

Biography

Eddie Hall was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme. He began working in the garage at the Market Drayton’s Robert Wiseman Dairies site as a mechanic from 2008.^[3] He trained and competed as a body-builder and entered the strongman circuit having done a strongman's camp at the Iceman gym in Stoke-on-Trent. In 2010 his fellow Staffordshire competitor, Dave Meer of Tamworth, had to drop out of the England championships organised by Elite Strongman because of injury. He arranged for Hall to take his place and led to Hall making it into the 2010 finals which he won on his first attempt by half a point.^[4]

Earning a place at the UK Strongest Man 2011 competition in Belfast which ended with Eddie Hall as the UK’s Strongest Man, with Ken Nowicki in 2nd and Rich Smith in 3rd.^[5] His win was helped by Hall setting a new national record in the "Viking Hold", hanging on to 20 kg axles in each hand at full stretch for one minute and 18 seconds. Hall tore tendons in an arm during the competition, but was hopeful of a spot at the World's Strongest Man in September. However, his improved ranking could only guarantee a spot for 2012, and he did not compete at WSM in 2011.^[6]

Winning the UK title meant that Hall became the first choice to replace Jono MacFarlane of New Zealand in the Giants Live Melbourne event in February 2012, when the latter suffered a back injury.^[7] He placed fourth in his first taste of international competition. Later, in April 2012, he was invited to compete at Europe's Strongest Man, another Giants Live event. This was held at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, home of the Leeds Rhinos Rugby League team and Hall found himself competing alongside six of the ten finalists from World's Strongest Man 2011, including two time World's Strongest Man, Zydrunas Savickas. Hall finished in eighth place.^[8]

In April 2013, Hall failed to qualify for Europe's Strongest Man 2013. However, he was given a second chance when Ervin Katona was forced to retire due to injury. Hall competed in his place and came in eighth place.

In April, Hall also featured on BBC One's Watchdog programme, who enlisted his help to test even the strongest of drivers in specific circumstances.^[9]

In 2012, Hall competed at the World's Strongest Man finals, but did not progress beyond his qualifying group. Hall returned in 2013, winning two events in his heat but narrowly missing out on qualifying after a poor final event. In 2014, Hall reached the final for the first time, coming second in the Squat Lift event and ultimately finishing 6th.

In March 2015, Hall achieved the world record for lifting the weight of 462 kg (over 72 stone) in the deadlift.^[2] The record was achieved at the Arnold Classic, in Australia, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was present to cheer him on. He promptly broke his own record at the World Deadlift Championships 2015, with a 463kg deadlift.^[10]

In 2015 he also finished 4th at the Worlds strongest man, an improvement of two places on the previous year

Personal records

In Competition:

• Bench Press – 300 kg (661 lb)
• Deadlift with straps – 463kg (1020.74 lb) ^[10] – World record

Gym Lifts (all Raw):

• Deadlift with straps – 461.98 kg (1018.5 lb)
• Squat – 405 kg (891 lb)
• Bench Press – 300 kg (661 lb)
• Log Press – 211 kg (465 lb) strict press. – British record, done at Britain's Strongest Man 2015.
• Axle Press – 200 kg (440 lb) strict press.
• Leg Press – 1000 kg (2,200 lb) for 10 reps.

References