Barrie strongman targets world record at deadlift championships

Mitchell Hopper will head to Cardiff, Wales, this week to compete against 11 other elite strongmen in the deadlifting world championships (Christian D'Avino / CTV News).

While he may be relatively new to the weight lifting world, a Barrie man has set his sight on breaking a world record at his upcoming competition.

Mitchell Hooper will head to Cardiff, Wales, this week to compete against 11 other elite strongmen in the deadlifting world championships. "We're all looking to pick up a little over 1100 pounds and set a new world record," Hooper said. "I've done 1050 in training so percentage-wise, I'm not far off, but yeah we'll see what happens on the day."

Hooper is no stranger to records in weight lifting. At 26, Hooper said he placed first in every Strongman and Powerlifting competition he entered and broke multiple national records, including a 475kg deadlift and 232kg atlas stone.

Last year, Hooper ​took home gold in the Static Monsters Worldwide competition with a new World Record total of 670 kg.

This time around, he said he's more focused than ever.

"A couple of years ago, when I was running marathons, it was completely out of my realm of possibility as well," he added. " it's just about doing a little bit more every day and seeing where it takes you, there's a lot of recovery, a lot of food, just getting the training in."

Hooper said he is leaving Thurs., August 4, ahead of next weekend's competition.