The 2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man took place on March 31st in Preston, United Kingdom. It gathered one of the largest and most impressive lineups of Strongman athletes weighing under 90 kilograms, as it featured a total of 25 competitors. Once everything was wrapped up, Dan Benson came out victorious.
Usually, when lineups consist of this many athletes, the key To success is consistency throughout all events because just one mistake or a low placement could cause a tremendous amount of points. That turned out to be the case at the 2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man as well, as Dan Benson won two events, placed second twice, and finished fourth in one event.
2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man Results (Top 10)
- Dan Benson — 118.5 points
- Ollie Clarke — 113 points
- Josh Lancaster — 105.5 points
- Jake Pacer Allen — 102 points
- Mark Cummins — 96.5 points
- Michael Sillis — 96.5 points
- Connor Smith — 93.5 points
- Matt Dymond — 80 points
- Will Clarke — 79.5 points
- Richard Molnar — 75 points
Event Recap (Top 5)
Event One — Log Lift
For the first event of the 2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man competition, the athletes performed a Log Lift for reps. They had the ability to choose between 90-kg (198.4-lb), 110-kg (242.5-lb), and 130-kg (286.6-lb). However, just one rep with the heavier log ranked higher than any number of reps with a lighter one.
Ollie Clarke was the standout athlete from the 25-man lineup, being the only one who performed four reps after picking the heaviest Log. In fact, the fourth rep he performed separated him from the two-man tie that happened in the battle for second-place between Frank Parks and Josh Lancaster, who performed three reps each.
- Ollie Clarke — 4 reps (130-kg)
- Frank Parks — 3 reps (130-kg) [Tied-Second]
- Josh Lancaster — 3 reps (130-kg) [Tied-Second]
- Dan Benson — 2 reps (130-kg)
- Connor Smith — 6 reps (110-kg) [Tied-Fifth]
- Jake Pacer Allen — 6 reps (110-kg) [Tied-Fifth]
Event Two — Deadlift
Similar to the first event, the second event tasked the athletes with performing as many reps as possible, but on the Deadlift instead. Once again, the athlete could choose between three different weights: 210-kg (463-lb), 250-kg (551.2-lb), and 290-kg (639.4-lb). The athletes were allowed to use deadlift suits as well as lifting straps.
There was only one clear favorite for the second event, and it was Dan Benson. The U90KG Deadlift World Record holder expectedly picked out the heaviest barbell and performed mind-blowing 14 repetitions with it. Not only was that enough to win, but also to serve as a statement of how much better he is than anyone else.
Richard Molnar placed second with 11 repetitions on the 290-kg (639.4-lb) barbell. He was the only man, apart from Benson, to get into double digits. Next, Matt Dymond placed third with a total of nine repetitions with the heaviest barbell.
- Dan Benson — 14 reps (290-kg)
- Richard Molnar — 11 reps (290-kg)
- Matt Dymond — 9 reps (290-kg)
- Mark Cummins — 8 reps (290-kg)
- Ollie Clarke — 6 reps (290-kg) [Tied-Fifth]
- Jake Pacer Allen — 6 reps (290-kg) [Tied-Fifth]
Event Three — Farmer’s Walk
Although the deadlifts from event two had left their toll on the grip strength of the competitors, they had to perform the Farmer’s Walk on the third event. They picked up and carried two 120-kilogram (264.6-pound) implements, with the goal being to cover the maximum distance possible. They were allowed to drop the implements and pick them back up, but had a 75-second time limit.
Dan Benson once again excelled, managing to carry the implements for an impressive distance of 84 meters. He seemed extremely fresh, despite performing the most reps on the deadlift slightly earlier. So, he managed to string together two even wins in a row.
Josh Lancaster was the only other man who managed to exceed 80 meters in the Farmer’s Walk, but he still fell 2.6 meters short of Benson. So, he had to settle for second place, which brought in a large number of points as well. Ollie Clarke wrapped up the top three with a result of 70.5 meters.
- Dan Benson — 84 meters
- Josh Lancaster — 81.4 meters
- Ollie Clarke — 70.5 meters
- Jake Pacer Allen — 70 meters
- Michael Sillis — 69.3 meters
Event Four — Bag Toss
The penultimate event of the 2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man was the Bag Toss. In this event, the athletes took on a series of five sandbags, which weighed from 16-kg (35.3-lb) to 24-kg (52.9-lb) The goal was to complete all of the sandbag tosses in the shortest time possible.
Ollie Clarke displayed a dominating performance on the Bag Toss, completing all five implements in just 16.92 seconds. That was nearly half the time that even his closest rival needed to complete the same task.
Dan Benson placed second, continuing his path to victory by securing a lot of points once again. He also completed all five of the implements, but did so in a time of 30.54 seconds. Connor Smith came in third as the only other athlete to complete all bag tosses. However, he was much slower than the first two, finishing the task in 56.58 seconds.
- Ollie Clarke — 5 in 16.92 s
- Dan Benson — 5 in 30.54 s
- Connor Smith — 5 in 56.58 s
- Josh Lancaster — 4 in 14.56 s
- Will Clarke — 4 in 17.05 s
Event Five — Sandbag Load
For the final event, the competitors faced humongous sandbags, which needed to be loaded over a beam for as many reps as possible. Following the format of the first two events, the athletes could choose between three sandbags of different weights: 100-kg (220.5-lb), 120-kg (264.6-lb), and 140-kg (308.6-lb).
Jake Pacer Allen won the final event of the competition, being the only man to complete seven repetitions with the heaviest sandbag. So, he boosted his overall placing at the very end of the competition.
Dan Benson left no room for anyone to overtake him in the final moments of the competition as he placed second in the Sandbag Load event. As expected, he chose to lift the heaviest sandbag and performed five reps with it. In turn, he was crowned as the 2024 U90KG England’s Strongest Man.
Dan Benson was not alone in second place, though, as three other men also completed five reps with the heaviest sandbag. So, they all had to share points.
- Jake Pacer Allen — 7 reps (140-kg)
- Dan Benson — 5 reps (140-kg) [Tied-Second]
- Mark Cummins — 5 reps (140-kg) [Tied-Second]
- Michael Sillis — 5 reps (140-kg) [Tied-Second]
- Will Clarke — 5 reps (140-kg) [Tied-Second]
Related: 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man Results — Gavin McNamee Victorious
Dan Benson is easily one of the best U90KG Strongman athletes that have ever competed, but he is only getting better with every new appearance he makes. He is often on top of the podium or breaking World Records, thus further solidifying his legacy in the sport.
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