Stratford's Lee Hinton frustrated by shoulder injury at England's Strongest Man in Liverpool

THERE was disappointment for Lee Hinton at England’s Strongest Man in Liverpool as a shoulder injury meant he was forced to miss out a third of the competition.

However, the 28-year-old from Stratford did manage to take some positives from the event and is already looking forward to next year.

Hinton had high hopes for the tournament and was aiming for a top ten finish but when he injured his right shoulder in training following an axle clean and press, he was forced to sit out all of the press events at England’s Strongest Man.

Furthermore, when it came to lifting the dumbbell, Hinton had to use his weaker left hand.

In training he had struggled to lift 80kg with his left hand but in Liverpool he managed to rep 90kg twice and that was one of a few positives Hinton could take.

Overall he finished 16th and speaking to the Herald, the self-employed central heating engineer said the injury was just the nature of the sport and that he cannot get too downhearted by it.

“It was not my finest performance,” he said.

“Unfortunately I had a bit of a shoulder problem and it meant I had to sit out all of the press events.

“Going into the competition I could not use my right shoulder at all and doing some of the events was like trying to write with your weaker hand.

“The competition did not go as well as it could have but that’s the nature of the sport, you’ve just got to forget about it and move on.”

He added: “Despite the injury, it was a really good experience and it was quite good just to be able to get to England’s Strongest Man.

“Even though I missed one-third of the competition, I did not finish last which was a positive.

"It’s just a shame because I know I could have finished inside the top ten without the injury.”

Hinton is now awaiting a scan of his shoulder but has his eyes set on qualifying for the official Strongman Games in Florida later this year.

The qualifier takes place later this month but if Hinton has to miss out because of injury, his focus will be on next year’s England’s Strongest Man.