World record lift celebrated at action-packed Power in the Park
A stunning world record deadlift was the highlight of an action-packed Power in the Park event at Melton Mowbray at the weekend.
Some of the area’s strongest men and women – both able-bodied and disabled – competed against each other in a series of eye-popping challenges on the playing fields at Long Field Spencer Academy.
And a large crowd cheered on Scott Lansdowne as he completed the biggest ever deadlift – where a barbell is lifted from the ground to standing position – by someone aged over 50.
Scott raised an amazing 425kg, or 67 stones, which is the equivalent weight of a horse or a polar bear.
In doing so, the former heavyweight boxer beat the previous record of 420kg set by Mark Felix, a former World’s Strongest Man competitor.
Scott (53) told the Melton Times: “The crowd went absolutely crazy when I lifted it.
"It is an iconic lift for a strongman and it was a huge amount of weight on that bar.
"It was an incredible day and it is still sinking in that I did it.”
Scott, of Goadby Marwood, trained hard for the challenge, lifting weights, doing power sessions on the bike, eating a strict diet and doing some hypnosis beforehand.
It was adjudicated on that day by fellow strongman Matt Diamond, who signalled that he was happy that Scott was in control of the bar and was not wobbling as he raised the bar.
"I had to sacrifice time with my family to do this with the training,” added Scott.
"But I am excited about deadlifts and I think I can go higher.”