<\/p>\n
\tAlthough he may be relatively new to the world of weightlifting, a Barrie man has his sights set on breaking a world record at his next competition.<\/p>\n
\tMitchell Hopper heads to Cardiff, Wales this week to compete against 11 other elite strongmen at the World Deadlift Championships. “We’re all looking to pick up a little over 1100 pounds and set a new world record,” Hopper said. “I’ve done 1050 in training so percentage-wise, I’m not far off, but yeah, we’ll see what happens on the day.”<\/p>\n
\tHopper is no stranger to weightlifting records. At 26, Hooper said he placed first in every Strongman and Powerlifting competition he entered and broke several national records, including a 475kg deadlift and a 232kg atlas stone.<\/p>\n
\tLast year, Hooper took gold at the Static Monsters world competition with a new world record total of 670kg.<\/p>\n
\tThis time, he said he is more focused than ever.<\/p>\n
\t“A couple of years ago, when I was running marathons, it was also completely out of my realm of possibility,” he added. “It’s about doing a little bit more every day and seeing where it takes you, there’s a lot of recovery, a lot of eating, just training.”<\/p>\n
\tHopper said he will leave on Thursday, Aug. 4 before next weekend’s competition. <\/p>\n