There are very few men in strength sports history who can speak about lifting 500kg with genuine confidence — but Brian Shaw has never been like most men.
The four-time World’s Strongest Man has spent his career proving he could do things others simply couldn’t. From dominating the biggest Strongman stages on earth to going head-to-head with some of the heaviest pullers the sport has ever seen, Shaw built his reputation on all-round power rather than specialising in one discipline.
But looking back on one particular moment in 2016, Shaw believes there was a very real opportunity for him to do something historic.
Speaking about his deadlift potential, Shaw revealed that during that period, he was actively preparing for the World Deadlift Championships and had every intention of stepping onto the platform to pull without the aid of a deadlift suit.
“I would say in 2016, I was actually training for the World Deadlift Championships,” he said.
At the time, the deadlift world record stood at 1,025lbs — a mark that represented the pinnacle of pulling power in strongman. But Shaw says his own numbers in training had him feeling extremely confident, to the point where breaking that record raw felt well within reach.
“I was going to pull raw in that competition, and I asked to have a weight that was north of 1,500, so 1,600ish pounds is what I was wanting to have.”
That request was strategic.
Rather than making an immediate jump to the mythical 500kg mark, Shaw wanted to build toward it in stages — first taking a weight beyond the standing record, then assessing the possibility of pushing even further.
At the time, that was no small ask.
The sport was entering a new era where 500kg had become the number every elite deadlifter wanted beside their name. It wasn’t just about winning — it was about rewriting what humans were capable of.
For Shaw, though, there was a problem.
“The world record at that time was 1,025,” he said. “So I was very confident I would pull that raw, and then I wanted to have a jump around that 1600.”
But according to Shaw, the event organisers had other ideas.
Instead of allowing him to build toward that number, the promoter wanted the jump to go straight to 500kg — an all-or-nothing leap that Shaw ultimately wasn’t willing to take under those circumstances.
He said:“The promoter said no. It was going straight to 500 kilos. So I didn’t participate.”
It’s one of those huge “what if?” moments in strength sport.
Had Shaw competed, and had the jumps been structured the way he wanted, fans may have seen one of the most iconic raw deadlifts ever attempted. And Shaw himself seems convinced that the ability was there.
“But at that point in time I was pretty confident that I could pull that raw,” Shaw said.
That confidence is significant when it comes from someone with Shaw’s track record. Unlike specialist deadlifters, Shaw spent the majority of his career balancing multiple events — log press, yoke, stones, carries and overhead work — all while managing the recovery demands that come with being one of the world’s strongest athletes.
Deadlift was just one piece of the puzzle.
That’s why his final admission may be the most fascinating part of all.
“I think if I specialised only in the deadlift, I firmly believe that 500 kilos raw was possible, but it would take some specialised training,” Shaw confirmed.
It’s a statement that adds another layer to the long-running debate over untapped potential in Strongman.
Because if one of the greatest all-round strength athletes ever believes 500kg raw was within reach, the natural question becomes unavoidable: what would a deadlift-only version of Brian Shaw have looked like?
We’ll never know.
But if Shaw’s own belief is anything to go by, the sport may have come dangerously close to witnessing one of its greatest-ever lifts.
Featured image credit: SHAWSTRENGTH / YouTube / Brian Shaw / Instagram
