“Hall was brought up in and around Stoke-on-Trent,” DAF Trucks UK wrote of Eddie Hall, and he took “an apprentice technician role at Lex Commercials, the local DAF Trucks site in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent. ‘I applied for — and got — the job.’” He became a strongman: “Hall has also won five consecutive Britain’s Strongest Man contests from 2014 to 2018,” says Giants Live, the event organizer.
“Last year, Hall said he would deadlift 500kg,” FloElite wrote in July 2016, and “many—myself included—barely gave it a second thought. It was an absurd statement.” DAF Trucks UK says “he pledged to come back and lift 500kg,” and that “Many laughed at ‘The Beast’ because the weight lift was regarded as impossible.”
His chance came “at the World Deadlift Championships at the First Direct Arena, in Leeds, UK, on 9 July 2016,” in Guinness World Records’ words, “In front of a packed arena of nearly 10,000 people,” FloElite reported. “Then, 465kg was loaded onto the bar for a new world record.” “Competitors Jerry Pritchett (USA) and Benedikt Magnusson (Iceland) each pulled 465kg in the competition,” BarBend wrote, and the format “took the bar straight from 465kg to 500kg.” “When 500kg was loaded onto the bar, the crowd was buzzing.”
“Hall strapped in, pulled, and made the weight look effortless—until it passed his knees,” FloElite wrote. “He fought to push his hips forward until the judge gave him the down command. A new world record! … he collapsed around the bar.” BarBend reported that “a spent Hall — bleeding from his nose — had to be helped up from the ground after the lift.” Hall told Euronews in 2018: “I woke up in a massive pool of blood.” “I had blood coming out of my nose, my tear ducts, my ears.” “My heart rate was through the roof, my blood pressure was unreadable,” he said. “I couldn’t see, I lost my vision for a few hours.”
But “Eddie Hall was the first person ever to deadlift 500kg, or half a tonne,” Giants Live says. “After Hall finally regained his composure, heavy tears flowed,” FloElite wrote, and BarBend says “support staff brought out a fan to help cool down an exhausted Hall before he made it back to his feet.” “A year later, he returned to Botswana in Gaborone to claim the title,” Giants Live says: “In winning the 2017 World’s Strongest Man final, Eddie Hall ended Britain’s 24-year wait for a British champion.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He lifted half a ton, then collapsed with blood running from his nose. BarBend: “a spent Hall — bleeding from his nose — had to be helped up from the ground after the lift.” FloElite: “The effort took a lot out of Hall; he collapsed around the bar.” Hall, to Euronews: “I had blood coming out of my nose, my tear ducts, my ears.” 234
- His name is Eddie Hall. BarBend, headline: “BREAKING: Eddie Hall Makes History, Becomes First Man to Deadlift 500kg.” 2
- He grew up in Stoke-on-Trent and trained as a truck mechanic. DAF Trucks UK: “Hall was brought up in and around Stoke-on-Trent”; “an apprentice technician role at Lex Commercials, the local DAF Trucks site in Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent. ‘I applied for — and got — the job.’” 5
- Then he became Britain’s strongest man and promised to deadlift 500 kilos. Giants Live: “Hall has also won five consecutive Britain’s Strongest Man contests from 2014 to 2018.” FloElite (July 2016): “Last year, Hall said he would deadlift 500kg.” DAF Trucks UK: “he pledged to come back and lift 500kg.” 635
- Nobody had ever done it, and people laughed. DAF Trucks UK: “Many laughed at ‘The Beast’ because the weight lift was regarded as impossible.” FloElite: “many—myself included—barely gave it a second thought. It was an absurd statement.” BarBend: “becoming the first man to deadlift 500kg.” 532
- In July 2016, nearly 10,000 fans packed the arena in Leeds. Guinness World Records: “at the World Deadlift Championships at the First Direct Arena, in Leeds, UK, on 9 July 2016.” FloElite: “In front of a packed arena of nearly 10,000 people.” 13
- Hall and two rivals pulled 465 kilos, a world record. FloElite: “Then, 465kg was loaded onto the bar for a new world record”; “Hall blasted it ... Pritchett followed with a shockingly easy lift, and Magnusson slowed down slightly at lockout.” BarBend: “Competitors Jerry Pritchett (USA) and Benedikt Magnusson (Iceland) each pulled 465kg in the competition.” 32
- Then the bar went to 500. FloElite: “When 500kg was loaded onto the bar, the crowd was buzzing.” BarBend: “the competition format, which took the bar straight from 465kg to 500kg.” 32
- Hall pulled, and it flew up until it passed his knees. FloElite: “Hall strapped in, pulled, and made the weight look effortless—until it passed his knees.” BarBend: “Hall pulled the half-ton weight quickly off the ground and fought hard at the top.” 32
- He fought to lock it out, then collapsed. FloElite: “He fought to push his hips forward until the judge gave him the down command. A new world record! ... he collapsed around the bar.” 3
- “I woke up in a massive pool of blood,” he said. Euronews (November 9, 2018): “‘I woke up in a massive pool of blood,’ he recalls.” 4
- He lost his vision for hours. Euronews: “‘My heart rate was through the roof, my blood pressure was unreadable,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t see, I lost my vision for a few hours.’” 4
- But he was the first man ever to deadlift half a ton. Giants Live: “Eddie Hall was the first person ever to deadlift 500kg, or half a tonne.” Euronews: “the first man to deadlift 500kg.” 64
- When he finally got back on his feet, he cried. FloElite: “After Hall finally regained his composure, heavy tears flowed.” BarBend: “support staff brought out a fan to help cool down an exhausted Hall before he made it back to his feet.” 32
- A year later, he was crowned World’s Strongest Man. Giants Live: “A year later, he returned to Botswana in Gaborone to claim the title”; “In winning the 2017 World’s Strongest Man final, Eddie Hall ended Britain’s 24-year wait for a British champion.” 6
Sources
- Heaviest Strongman deadlift Guinness World Records
- BREAKING: Eddie Hall Makes History, Becomes First Man to Deadlift 500kg (David Tao, July 9, 2016) BarBend
- Eddie Hall Becomes First Strongman to Deadlift 500kg (Paige Bayer, July 11, 2016) FloElite
- Strongman Eddie Hall recalls 500kg deadlift: “I woke up in a massive pool of blood” (November 9, 2018) Euronews
- How Eddie Hall went from DAF Technician to The World’s Strongest Man (May 21, 2020) DAF Trucks UK
- Eddie Hall, athlete page Giants Live
Notes
His 2015 record: sources give 462 kilograms, 464 (Giants Live) or 465 (DAF Trucks UK); the Short gives no number for it and says only that he promised 500.
First, not heaviest: Guinness World Records still lists his 500 kilograms as the heaviest strongman deadlift, but heavier deadlifts have been made since. The Short says only that he was the first man ever to deadlift half a ton, which every source agrees on.
The rivals: only the two strongmen who shared the 465-kilogram record with him, Jerry Pritchett and Benedikt Magnusson, are named here (BarBend, FloElite); other results from that day are left out.
His injuries: only his own words are used, about the blood from his nose, waking in blood and losing his vision for a few hours. Other medical details reported later are left out.
Eddie Hall is alive. Only competition results, statements by the record keepers and the organizer, reporting on the lift and his own published words are used; nothing here goes into his family or private life.
Pictures: there is only one free photo of Eddie Hall, taken in Leeds on the evening of July 8, 2016, the day before the lift (Quentin J. Thompson); the people behind him are not named. No free photo shows the lift itself, so the deadlift pictures are stand-ins, other strongmen at other contests and not Eddie Hall: a strongman deadlift at a contest in Poland, in the rain (Artur Andrzej); a US Marine at the Okinawa’s Strongest competition at Camp Foster, Japan, on March 22, 2025 (2nd Lt. Giovanni Jimenez, US Marine Corps); and a strongman at lockout at the Jack Katz Memorial Strong Man Competition on August 8, 2010 (stu_spivack). The First Direct Arena in Leeds, where the lift happened, is seen from outside on November 16, 2013 (Mtaylor848), and from the stage at a concert on November 24, 2013, full and with empty seats before it began (Rich Tea), not at the strongman event. The bottle kilns of the Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, are seen on September 18, 2024 (shikari), and a DAF XF truck in Bavaria in 2011 is not his (High Contrast). The spectators and officials in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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