Benedikt Magnússon is an Icelandic strongman and powerlifter who, in 2003, exploded onto the strongman scene at just 20 years old, where he won both Iceland’s Strongest Man and Iceland’s Strongest Man IFSA.
In 2005, Benedikt Magnússon participated in the WPO European Powerlifting Semi Finals, in Helsinki, where he broke Andy Bolton’s all-time deadlift world record by raw pulling 426kg raw as his opening. Bolton responded with an opening lift of 427.5kg before Magnússon shattered this with a massive 440.5kg on his second lift. An amazing feat that pushed the record to a never approached territory. However, this record stood for only 4 months before Bolton lifted the same at the 2006 Arnold Classic. Magnússon suffered an injury following this, and over the next 3 years, Bolton pushed ahead, increasing the record up to 457.5kg.
Bolton held this record for 2 years, but it wouldn’t last. In 2011, Magnússon competed in the Ronnie Coleman Classic Clash of the Titans IV, where he claimed the World Record for Powerlifting with a magnificent lift of 460.4kg, which remained the heaviest raw or equipped Powerlift for 11 years until 2022, and to this day remains the heaviest raw deadlift ever done in conventional stance.
Competing next in 2014 at the World Deadlift Championship in Leeds, UK, Magnússon beat his World Record with another amazing lift of 461kg before losing this to Eddie Hall the following year at the Arnold Expo.
When he returned to the World Deadlift Championship in 2016, he lifted a massive 465kg, reclaiming the World Record and sharing this briefly with Eddie Hall and Jerry Pritchett.
After suffering a stroke, Benedikt Magnússon is now working on his recovery and hoping to return to the weightlifting scene at the Andy Bolton Deadlift Challenge in December. With our shared platforms, we hope to help others learn how to workout to help recovery from injury or illness or just learn how to strength train to push themselves to reach their goals. Check out our socials for regular updates and videos and follow Magnússon’s journey to recovery and reaching his goals.
YouTube: @benedikt.magnusson | Instagram: @benni_magnusson_official | Twitch: @benni_magnusson
