The 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man competition took place on September 3rd, and consisted of five events. These events were carefully crafted to challenge every facet of the participants’ strength and overall physical fitness. However, one man did not leave much room for speculation, as he asserted himself as the overall leader at the start of the competition and made no mistakes throughout. It was Gavin McNamee who won the competition and was crowned the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man.
Gavin McNamee was by far the most consistent performer out of the bunch, as he never placed lower than second in either of the five events. Moreover, he won three events of the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man competition, each one in a dominant fashion. So, he is undoubtedly the best the UK has to offer currently.
2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man Results
- Gavin McNamee — 50 points
- Mark Cummins — 44 points
- Neil Anderson — 41.5 points
- Lewis Bolton — 37 points
- Michael Sillis — 34.5 points
- David Millett — 29.5 points
- Thumpa Todd — 22.5 points
- Luke Young — 21.5 points
- Bradley James — 18.5 points
- David Armstrong — 13.5 points
- Rob Nixon — 10.5 points
Max Log Lift
In order to determine who the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man was, the first test for the participants was to overhead press as much weight as possible with a Log. Each athlete was given 60 seconds to complete their rep.
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The winning weight turned out to be 130 kilograms, since only one man was capable of locking it out overhead. That was Neil Anderson from Scotland, which secured him 2.5 points more than his closest rivals, since multiple athletes tied for second place.
Four of the competitors Log Lifted 120 kilograms, but were not able to move up to the next weight increase. So, they had to share the runner-up position, each of them receiving 8.5 points.
- Neil Anderson — 130 kilograms
- Gavin McNamee — 120 kilograms (Tied-second)
- Mark Cummins — 120 kilograms (Tied-second)
- Lewis Bolton — 120 kilograms (Tied-second)
- Michael Sillis — 120 kilograms (Tied-second)
- David Millett — 100 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
- Thumpa Todd — 110 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
- Luke Young — 110 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
- Bradley James — 110 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
- David Armstrong — 110 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
- Rob Nixon — 110 kilograms (Tied-sixth)
Deadlift Ladder
The second event of the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man competition made athletes perform five deadlifts in a row. However, the weight increased as they advanced across the deadlifts. Moreover, the athletes were allowed to use both the deadlift suit and lifting straps.
First Weight: 240 kilograms
Second Weight: 260 kilograms
Third Weight: 280 kilograms
Fourth Weight: 300 kilograms
Fifth Weight: 320 kilograms
Gavin McNamee put in an extremely dominant performance and came out of this event as the winner and only man to finish all five deadlifts. So, he took over the leader’s jersey overall.
After tying for last place in the first event of the competition, Thumpa Todd managed to climb up the ranks and finish second on the Deadlift Ladder. He was one of multiple athletes who finished three deadlifts, but also the fastest among them.
David Millet finished his three deadlifts just two seconds after Thumpa Todd, but despite that, he found himself in third place.
- Gavin McNamee — Five in 48.7 seconds
- Thumpa Todd — Three in 16.34 seconds
- David Millett — Three in 18.26 seconds
- Neil Anderson — Three in 19.23 seconds
- Michael Sillis — Three in 21.31 seconds
- Mark Cummins — Three in 30.74 seconds
- Lewis Bolton — Three in 31.24 seconds
- Bradley James — Two in 17.65 seconds
- Rob Nixon — Two in 23.73 seconds
- Luke Young — Two in 27.87 seconds
- David Armstrong — Two in 31.47 seconds
Loading Race
For the third event, the athletes found themselves facing three separate implements and a course that was 10 meters long. They first had to carry the 180-kilogram Yoke on their forearms across the course and then repeat the task with a 125-kilogram sandbag and a 120-kilogram sandbag husafell.
Gavin McNamme solidified his place at the top with a second-consecutive event victory. He absolutely obliterated all three implements, as he managed to run across the course despite the humongous weight in his hands. His final time came out to 22.4 seconds.
With Gavin being fairly dominant, the rest of the athletes battled for second place in this event. However, the sub-maximal points went to Lawis Bolton, who finished all three implements in a time of 24.26 seconds.
The third place went to Mark Cummins, who managed to squeeze in with a time of 25.89 seconds. This was less than one second faster than two other competitors who were also hoping to place third.
- Gavin McNamee — Three in 22.4 seconds
- Lewis Bolton — Three in 24.26 seconds
- Mark Cummins — Three in 25.89 seconds
- Neil Anderson — Three in 26.82 seconds
- Luke Young — Three in 26.85 seconds
- David Millett — Three in 28.07 seconds
- Michael Sillis — Three in 30.04 seconds
- Bradley James —Three in 31.24 seconds
- Rob Nixon — Three in 31.61 seconds
- Thumpa Todd — Three in 31.79 seconds
- David Armstrong — Three in 41.97 seconds
Super Yoke
The super yoke weighed 360 kilograms, which was 4x heavier than the bodyweight of the competitors at the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man. So, it is clear how big of a challenge it was, especially since it had to be carried for a length of 20 meters.
Mark Cummins made easy work of the 360-kilogram Super Yoke by finishing the entire event in just 13.82 seconds. So, being the only man to clock in a time of under 15 seconds, Mark claimed the event win.
Gavin McNamee finished in second place with a time of 17.22 seconds. He had a great start, but dropped the Super Yoke twice during his performance, which made him slower than Mark.
Thumpa Todd finished in a very comfortable third place, since no one really challenged him. The next fastest man was over six seconds slower than him.
- Mark Cummins — 13.82 seconds
- Gavin McNamee — 17.22 seconds
- Thumpa Todd — 20.62 seconds
- David Millett — 26.69 seconds
- Michael Sillis — 29.44 seconds
- Bradley James — 29.72 seconds
- Neil Anderson — 43.53 seconds
- Lewis Bolton — 14.7 meters
- Luke Young — 14.2 meters
- David Armstrong — 11.2 meters
- Rob Nixon — withdrew
Sandbag Loading
Just one sandbag was used for the final event of the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man competition, but it weighed a mind-blowing 140 kilograms. However, the athletes attempted to lift it over a 1.27-meter high beam for as many reps as possible in the 60-second time limit.
A four-way tie for first place in the final event took place, as all of them completed four repetitions. Gavin McNamee was one of the four athletes who tied for first, which meant that he was crowned as the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man.
- Gavin McNamee — Four reps (Tied-first)
- Mark Cummins — Four reps (Tied-first)
- Neil Anderson — Four reps (Tied-first)
- Lewis Bolton — Four reps (Tied-first)
- Michael Sillis — Three reps
- David Millett — Two reps (Tied-sixth)
- Luke Young — Two reps (Tied-sixth)
- David Armstrong — Two reps (Tied-sixth)
- Thumpa Todd — No lift
- Bradley James — No lift
Watch all of Gavin McNamee’s performances across events here:
Related: Powerlifter John Haack (U90KG) Takes Bronze In His Strongman Debut at 2023 Kaos Classic
Gavin McNamee claimed third place at the 2022 U90KG World’s Strongest Man, which explains why he was almost untouchable at the 2023 U90KG UK’s Strongest Man. In addition, Gavin is also a 2x U95KG Ireland’s Strongest Man, as well as a podium finisher in many other elite Strongman competitions.
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