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Glasgow could witness two very different pieces of strength history on the same night. Iron Biby will return to attack his own log lift world record, while 60-year-old British strongman Mark Felix will attempt to improve his Hercules Hold record. Both challenges will form part of the Giants Live World Tour Finals at the OVO Hydro on 17 October.
Iron Biby currently holds the official log lift record at 231kg, or just over 509lb. He set it in Birmingham in September 2024, improving a record he had already broken more than once. The challenge requires him to lift a huge wooden log-shaped weight from the floor, bring it to his chest and then press it above his head under control.
He will not be the only major overhead lifter in Glasgow. England’s Jack Osborn is the defending World Log Lift champion after setting a British record of 222kg last year. Czech strongman Ondřej Fojtů lifted 220kg for a junior world record and arrives after winning three consecutive contests during the 2026 season. Scotland’s Luke Stoltman, a former World Tour Finals winner with a personal best of 221kg, is also returning after not competing since February.
The second record story is very different. Mark Felix will return for a special appearance in the Hercules Hold, where an athlete stands between two falling pillars and grips one handle in each hand for as long as possible. Felix held the Giants Live pillars for 1 minute 32.37 seconds in 2020. Six years later, at the age of 60, he will try to extend that mark against competitors including Australian grip specialist Eddie Williams.
There is also a complete strongman contest happening around these attempts. Twelve athletes will face five events, including a deadlift ladder ending at 400kg, a Farmer’s Walk into Super Yoke, the Hercules Hold and Power Stairs. Tom Stoltman leads the Scottish challenge, while defending champion Luke Richardson must face Fojtů, Evan Singleton and several other international contenders. The top three finishers will earn places at the next World’s Strongest Man, whose field has been reduced to 25 athletes.
That creates an unusual night where the overall winner may not produce its most memorable moment. Biby could lift more weight overhead than anyone in recorded competition, while Felix could show that specialist strength can survive well beyond the usual age of an elite athlete. Should the greatest strongman moments be judged by all-round contest victories, or can one extraordinary record matter even more?
