Mitchell Hooper has heard the criticism before.
According to some fans, his dumbbell lockouts shouldn’t count. Others have questioned his log lift finishes. Some have even claimed he doesn’t squat to proper depth despite judges clearing the lift in competition.
Now, after more debate surrounding his deadlift lockouts, the reigning Strongman star has finally had enough.
Speaking candidly about the backlash following recent discussions around his deadlift technique, Hooper addressed the ongoing criticism head-on and made it clear he believes the issue says more about his critics than it does about him.
“My lockouts were unacceptable according to some people who saw an angle that the judge didn’t see,” Hooper explained.
The Canadian admitted he has become increasingly aware that no matter what he does in competition, sections of the Strongman community seem determined to pick holes in his performances.
He said: “Despite winning I think 16 professional shows, 10 major titles, the people who don’t want me to win have said that my dumbbell lockout shouldn’t count, that my log lockout shouldn’t count, that I don’t actually squat to depth even if I’m at the bottom of the machine, that now my deadlift lockouts don’t count.”
For Hooper, the repeated scrutiny has started to feel less like a genuine technical debate and more like an unwillingness from some fans to accept his success at the top of the sport.
“At a certain point, you got to look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Maybe I just really don’t want this guy to win, and I want to find reasons why he shouldn’t have won,’” Hooper said.
It’s a frustration that many elite athletes eventually encounter once they dominate their sport long enough. In Hooper’s case, every marginal lift and every replay angle now becomes a talking point online, particularly given how consistently he finds himself competing for major titles.
But Hooper believes the reality is much simpler.
“I’m either the best Strongman in the world who doesn’t know what he’s doing, or I’ve fit the criteria of whatever they’re asking me to do,” he said.
The deadlift clips in question have circulated heavily among fans, analysing replay angles frame by frame. Hooper acknowledged that from one perspective, there may have been questions surrounding the finish of the lift, but he insisted he never felt like he was exploiting the judging or intentionally avoiding a proper lockout.
“In this case, it’s that when you look at the angle from the front, it looks like a pretty normal deadlift. I haven’t seen anything from the side, and honestly, I didn’t feel in the moment I was getting away with anything,” Hooper said.
The 2026 World’s Strongest Man winner also suggested there may have been a physical reason why his lockout looked unusual during the lift.
Hooped noted: “The only thing I can think is maybe my knee was bugging me and I couldn’t lock it out very well.”
He continued: “So, my knee couldn’t lock out. My hip couldn’t come forward. Honestly, I don’t really know. I just know that I was told to put the bar down, so I put the bar down.”
That final point is central to Hooper’s argument. In elite strongman competition, the athlete performs until instructed otherwise by officials. If judges down the lift and award it, competitors move on. Hooper’s stance is essentially that responsibility lies with the officiating process — not retrospective internet analysis.
Still, he appeared visibly irritated by the continued discourse, particularly after years of similar complaints surrounding different events throughout his career.
And he closed his response with a line that will almost certainly fuel even more debate online.
“Maybe maybe this is more of a bitter you problem than a me problem,” he said. “It sounds like a you problem.”
Featured image credit: Mitchell Hooper / YouTube
