The 2023 UK’s Strongest Woman and Man competition turned out to be quite a unique strength festival. Apart from the incredible Strongman and Strongwoman contests, the event featured a number of world record attempts. Pavlo Kordiyaka, a Ukrainian strongman star, attempted to break the Husafell Stone Carry record, but came just four meters short. However, two Strongwoman athletes combined their power to put up one of the most interesting lifts of the season. Izzy Tait and Sam Taylor performed a 454-kilogram (1,000-pound) Tandem Deadlift and set a new Guinness World Record.
To perform the tandem deadlift, a pair of athletes must come together and coordinate their movements perfectly in order to avoid injury. In addition, both of the athletes have to be proficient in the individual deadlift as well. Luckily, Izzy Tait and Sam Taylor proved to be a perfect matchup for this event.
Both Izzy Tait and Sam Taylor utilized a lifting belt and lifting straps to complete the lift. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder, Izzy and Sam applied equal force and evenly lifted the barbell up. After they successfully completed the lift, the crowd cheered with excitement, while the two women embraced in a hug to celebrate.
Watch the tandem deadlift world record here:
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The tandem deadlift was not the only world record at the 2023 UK’s Strongest Woman and Man competition, as Lucy Underdown also set a record of her own. As a part of the Strongwoman competition, Lucy took part in a Max deadlift event. She ended up locking out 305 kilograms (672.4 pounds) on the Kratos barbell for a new World Record.
Speaking of Lucy Underdown, she played a key role in making the Strongwoman portion of the competition very interesting. Lucy, along with the ultimate winner, Rebecca Roberts, led the competition to a nail-biting final event. With these two women tied on points going into the Sack Throw, they only needed to outperform each other for the win. Rebecca dominated the event and won the competition, while Lucy stumbled on her final sack.
Izzy Tait also competed in the 2023 UK’s Strongest Woman competition, but her deadlift partner, Sam Taylor, did not. Izzy got off to a very bad start, but managed to jump up to fifth-place by the end of the competition.
The men’s division was not as tight as the women’s since Paul Smith took the lead in the first event and held onto it until the end. Thus, he defended his UK’s Strongest Man in 2022.
Izzy Tait and Sam Taylor now became the first pair of women to reach the 1,000-pound milestone in the Tandem Deadlift event. In addition, this achievement has been officially confirmed by Guinness, as both women received certificates validating their efforts.