Henla is quickly becoming deadlift royalty.
When it comes to massive deadlifts, Rauno Henla comes, he sees, and he always conquers. The seasoned veteran strongman now has another victory to boast about. On July 22, 2023, in the 2023 Tartu Rummmees Ja Rammuneen (TRJR) competition, Heenla successfully locked out 540-kilogram (1,190.5-pound) 18-inch deadlift. The 18-inch deadlift is characterized by the athlete pulling a barbell loaded with large-diameter plates, leaving the bar 18 inches off the floor. Henla’s mark is a world recordsurpasses the previous high bar 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds). The athlete wore a lifting belt and used lifting straps to assist in pulling.
The previous record was held by 2020 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Oleksiy Novikov, who completed an 18-inch deadlift of 537.5 kilograms (1,185 pounds) en route to his WSM title. Now, the record is held by 41-year-old Heinla – who has cemented his hallowed reputation as one of the world’s greatest deadlifters. Novikov offered a simple “congratulations” to Henla in the comments section of an Instagram post, showing off an 18-inch deadlift.
Henla is no stranger to the record deadlift of any variation. If anything, based on his productive 2022, it might be surprising that the Estonian athlete has taken this “long” to add another deadlift feat to his resume.
In early June 2022, Heinla pulled the silver dollar deadlift world record. 579.7 kilograms (1,278 pounds) At the 2022 Silver Dollar Deadlift Estonian Championships (SDDEC). He followed that performance by breaking the Masters Deadlift World Record with a pull of 476 kilograms (1,049.4 pounds), winning him the 2022 World Deadlift Championship (WDC) title.
According to their page Strongman Archives, Heinla has had a very active competitive run in recent months, notably placing runner-up in both the 2022 Masters World’s Strongest Man (MWSM) and 2023 Australia’s Strongest International (ASI). However, none of his recent outright competition accomplishments compare to holding three separate deadlift world records in three separate pulling events.
After securing another deadlift world record, Heinla will likely shift his focus to one of the biggest unicorns in strength sports: the all-time deadlift world record of 501 kilograms (1,104.5 pounds), set by Hafthor Björnsson in May 2020. As a member of the WD 202, Heinla gets a chance to make history. Giants Live World Open (GLWO) on September 2, 2023 in Cardiff, Wales.
Giants Live is offering a $55,000 prize to any 2023 WDC athlete who breaks the record And Deadlift at least 505 kilograms (1,113.3 pounds). If there was a choice for any strongman capable of reaching the milestone, Heinla would undoubtedly be one of the more plausible choices.
Featured image: @rauno_heinla on Instagram
