Pleasanton, California - First he won the World Hammer Championships and then he added the overall title . . . not a bad weekend for Eric Frasure.


Eric Frasure picked up two for the price of one at Pleasanton this weekend, winning both the World Hammer Championships and the overall title. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Proving the benefits of carbo-loading on some top local pasta, Eric Frasure showed no mercy today as he maintained his lead in both the World Hammer Championships and the overall competition, finishing the day with both titles. Larry Brock finished second in the World Hammer Championships and Sean Betz was third.

Here are the final places and points in the overall competition:

1. Eric Frasure 24 points
2. Sean Betz 29.5
3. Larry Brock 30
4. Harrison Bailey III 32
5. Ryan Vierra 37
6. Michael Pockoski 40.5
7. Bert Sorin 41.5
8. David Brown 53.5

Jessen Paulin flexed his muscles on the second day of the North America's Strongest Man contest, moving into first place.


Not content with merely doing the TV commentary and writing a contest report for the IronMind® online news column, Dr. Sam Dubè also managed to take this photo of "Jonathon Conner caught mid-clean during the log press." IronMind® | Sam Dubè photo.

North America's Strongest Man 2008: Day 2 Results by Sam Dube

The second day of the North Americans got off to a fantastic start with the power stairs event.  Each athlete had to scale five 16" stairs with three separate weights: two at 425 pounds, and the third at 475 pounds.  With the support of his vocal fans Corey St-Clair emerged late in the event as the man to beat, only missing the very last of the fifteen stairs after three heroic attempts to pull the implement to completion.  Corey can do no wrong in Quebec!

Inspired by his countryman's performance, Josh "The Natural" Thigpen became the first man to complete the event, doing so with roughly two seconds left in the 75-second time limit.  He celebrated by standing atop the stairs in victory, pulling off his belt and shirt and pointing to the sky, all with the adulation of the crowd.  Just when you thought it couldn't get any better than this, an absolutely possessed Christian Savoie shocked everyone by finishing the event in 44.55 seconds, destroying The Natural's time.  But there was one man left: Jessen Paulin, the reigning North American champion, on a mission to regain lost points from yesterday's events.  It was a valiant performance, and the seconds before his time was announced seemed a near eternity . . . 45.45 seconds, enough for second place, but not enough for the win.  It was an incredible beginning to an awesome day.

The log lift was contested next, and consisted of a 280-pound log lifted overhead from the ground for repetitions.  Ryan Bekke from Phoenix, Arizona managed 7 reps using beautiful push jerk technique, while Paulin muscled up the same number.  But the surprise was "Handsome" Pete Konradt, who practically strict-pressed 8 reps for the win.  After losing a rep due to jumping the referee's down signal, Thigpen let loose his grip on the log, ending his set, as is was stated that one hand must remain in contact with the log at all times.  The Natural took the disappointment in stride.  Unfortunately, strong Canadian presser and current Ontario's Strongest Man Jose Plante suffered a proximal tear of his right biceps during the clean of his fourth rep, and tearfully announced his retirement from the sport right after the event.

The last event of the day, the truck push and train wheel load, was a new event this year.  Each athlete had to push an 8,000-pound pickup along a 90' course, where train wheels weighing 250, 280, 320, 370, and 415 pounds had to be loaded vertically onto the flat bed at the 10-, 30-, 50-, 70-, and 90-foot marks respectively, all within 75 seconds.  Due to the scoring system, what emerged after the smoke cleared was a seven-way tie for first place in the event:  Higa, Savoie, Frame, Parkes, Bekke, Paulin, and Konradt all managed to load the fourth wheel.  The athletes generally liked the event, and with some scoring modifications, I'm certain we'll see it again in the future!

So at the end of Day 2 the standings and points are as follows:

1. Jessen Paulin 62.5 points
2. Christian Savoie 58.5
3. Ryan Bekke 45.5
4. Pete Konradt 44.5
5. Matty Parkes 43
6. Corey St-Clair 43
7. Josh Thigpen 41.5
8. Jonathon Conners 37.5
9. Danny Frame 29.5
10. Grant Connors 22.5
11. Grant Higa 21
12. Jose Plante 17

Stay tuned for Day 3 tomorrow!

The North America's Strongest Man contest began today and IronMind® has a report from Dr. Sam Dubé, who is on the scene.


Christian Savoie (left) won his heat with Jonathon Conner (right) in the farmer's walk. IronMind® | Sam Dubé photo.


North America's Strongest Man 2008 - Day 1 Results by Sam Dubé

Featuring beautiful weather and an opening crowd of about 5,000 eager spectators, this year's North America's Strongest Man contest got off to a great start.The tenth and latest incarnation of the world-class strongman show accompanying the annual Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, it features six top Canadian and six top American strength athletes competing in eight events spread over the three days of the Canadian Labour Day weekend.  Once again, it was an honour and a pleasure to host our friends from south of the forty-ninth parallel, and we look forward to many future continental competitions.  Hopefully it won't be long before competitors from Mexico participate!

The events for Day 1 consisted of the Arm-Over-Arm Truck Pull, the Farmer's Walk, and the Atlas Stones.  The first event required the athletes to pull a 15,000-lb. truck from a seated position a distance of 100'.  Christian "The World's Strongest Butcher" Savoie, the 2008 Quebec Cup winner, was the only man to finish the course within the 75-second time limit, thus winning the event.  Iowa's Strongest Man, 380-lb. Jonathon Conner, and honorary Quebecer Corey St-Clair placed second and third respectively.

The Farmer's Walk had the athletes carrying two 320-lb. implements a distance of 200' with one hairpin turn at the halfway mark.  Once again, Savoie blew through the track, winning in under 50 seconds, with defending North American champion Jessen Paulin earning a close second and St-Clair third.  Grant "Higa Monster" Higa tore his hand open near the beginning of the course and could not maintain a secure grip thereafter.

The five Atlas Stones weighed 265, 308, 331, 353, and 386 lb., and had to be placed onto 56" ring podiums.  In a startling act of revenge, Paulin was the first and only competitor to complete all five stones, doing it in 52.29 seconds.  (It should be noted that the only non-Canadian to succeed with this fifth stone was former World's Strongest Man Magnus Samuelsson himself at the North Bay World Super Series contest.) Savoie placed four stones in 27.77 seconds, and former WSM competitor Josh Thigpen of Houston, Texas did the same in 31.43 seconds.

After the three events of Day 1, the current standings and points are as follows:

1. Christian Savoie 35
2. Jessen Paulin 32
3. Corey St-Clair 29
4. Josh Thigpen 27
5. Jonathon Conner 24
6. Ryan Bekke 20
7. Matty Parkes 18
8. Pete Konradt 16
9. Grant Connors 11
10. Jose Plante 10
11. Daniel Frame 7
12. Grant Higa 5

Stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow!

Pleasanton, California - Eric Frasure won the 56-pound weight for distance, the light hammer, and the 56-pound weight for height today, putting himself strongly in the lead after the first day of competition.


It was Bert Sorin's debut as a professional at Pleasanton, so how's this for an opening? He won the first event, the Braemar stone. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Here are the aggregate points going into tomorrow:

1. Eric Frasure 14 points
2. Harrison Bailey III, Larry Brock (tie) 19 points
4. Ryan Vierra 21 points
5. Sean Betz 21.5 points
6. Michael Pockoski 27.5 points
7. Bert Sorin 28.5 points
8. David Brown 29.5 points

Picking up a coveted Strongman Champions League victory, Mikhail Koklyaev turned yesterday's lead into today's victory.

The weather was cold, but an estimated crowd of 10,000 people turned out today to watch some of the world's top strongmen compete for US$20,000 in prize money. Koklyaev's performance today included a world record in the deadlift for reps, as he notched 10 reps with 350 kg.

Here are the final points:

1. Mikhail Koklyaev 61 points
2. Zydrunas Savickas 57 points
3. Ervin Katona 48 points
4. Jarno Hams 48 points
5. Brad Dunn 35 points
6. Agris Kazelniks 33 points

After the first day of the Strongman Champions League competition in Kokkola, Finland, it's Misha Koklyaev leading the field.

Today's events were Atlas stones, truck pull (with harness), log medley and weight for height. After these four events, here are the top five places:

1. Mikhail Koklyaev 38 points
2. Ervin Katona 34 points
3. Zydrunas Savickas 31 points
4. Jarno Hams 27 points
5. Brad Dunn 24 points

The competition finishes tomorrow with three more events: ship pull (arm over arm), deadlift (for reps), medley (farmer's walk and box loading).

Straight from Scone Palace (Perth, Scotland), eight heavies have at it, battling for the title of Highlander Challenge World Champion - the Highlander Challenge is Dr. Douglas Edmunds' amalgam of strongman, Highland Games and history, all carefully blended for a television entertainment package that builds on his decades of experience in related enterprises.

The first show of the series is on the UK's Channel 4 at 07:55 a.m. this Sunday, and the next segments will follow each week at the same time. "This Sunday's segment will feature Gregor Edmunds, Sean Betz and Larry Brock," said Colin Bryce, who, along with Hamish Davidson, provides expert commentary.

The U.S. Postal Service is featuring 2006 World's Strongest Man winner Phil Pfister on a commemorative envelope, an honor that Pfister shares with fellow West Virginians Jerry West, Mary Lou Retton and Randy Moss.


The U.S. Postal Service is honoring 2006 WSM winner Phil Pfister with a commemorative stamp. IronMind® | Image courtesy of Kim Whittington, Retail Specialist, U.S. Postal Service.

Featuring photos of Pfister winning the 2006 WSM contest in Sanya, China, this commemorative envelope will be printed in limited numbers and will be for sale at a ceremony at the Capitol Complex Cultural Center in Charleston, West Virginia and at "several Appalachian District Post offices while supplies last. Envelopes will also be sold as souvenirs during the World's Strongest Man competition at Chesapeake Energy tents set up around the city. Pfister has promised to autograph one envelope for anyone who purchases five or more."

Strongmen - the two-meters tall, 150-kg guys who pull buses, lift stones and flip giant tires for a living - are favorites of . . . women and children, WSM Super Series founder Ulf Bengtsson told IronMind® today.


Lennart Blomberg, managing director of Eleiko (left), and Ulf Bengtsson (right), founder and president of World Class Enterprises, which organizes WSM Super Series, get ready to present the trophies at the 2008 Mohegan Sun Grand Prix. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

"Based on my marketing research," Bengtsson said, "strongman appeals to women and children." And applying this realization to the development of the sport makes Bengtsson committed to positioning strongman as family entertainment.

"That's the future of the sport," said the man whose organization has brought strongman to such prestigious locations as the Mohegan Sun Casino and Madison Square Garden, arguably producing the most visible one-day competitions ever held in strongman.

A couple of days before Bengtsson's Super Series competition played to a Saturday night crowd in Madison Square Garden's WaMu Theater in June, they literally stopped the traffic on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, by Central Park, and also on Seventh Avenue, in front of Madison Square Garden, for strongman demonstrations aimed at building interest in Saturday's contest. And how about the national television coverage on CBS's The Early Show?

Bengtsson is philosophical about the effort and commitment success requires, saying that "The race is won in the last five meters," noting that most people quit far too early. "At first, you do 80% of the work," Bengtsson said, "for 20% of the results." It's the people who hang in there for the next 20% of the work who will reap the final 80% of the rewards, Bengtsson said, and he is showing his commitment to success with the way his strongman series has ratcheted up year by year - and even bigger plans are being formed for 2009.

Quick to praise his hardworking team of people such as Colin Bryce, Andy Quinn, and Odd Haugen, and sponsors like Eleiko, Bengtsson told IronMind® that the Mohegan Sun and Madison Square Garden "are where strongman needs to be" if it is to appeal to the kinds of sponsors and grow the way he envisions. "It's not about returning to parking lots," Bengtsson said. And how can you argue that point after Super Series has brought strongman to world-class venues?

From Bengtsson's point of view, strongman is viable in ways that few others have considered, and given his years of commitment already, somehow it seems appropriate that to take the next stride, to really ring the bell, it should be mere kid's stuff.

Expanding the concept of live television coverage of strongman, the Strongman Champions League has just announced that it will be holding the 2008 Log Lift World Championships on October 18, with live TV.


If you can merely do 170 kg on the log lift, keep training and don't expect to be invited to the 2008 Strongman Champions League Log Lift World Championships, because 175 kg could well be the starting weight, and Zydrunas Savickas's 210-kg world record is not expected to survive the contest. IronMind® | Logo courtesy of Strongman Champions League.
 

The 2008 Strongman Champions League Log Lift World Championships will be broadcast live on Eurosport, IronMind® was told today, as well as on "a few other national channels in Europe." Featuring "12 - 14 of the best log lifters from all over the world, whatever organization they're working with," this contest will be held in Lithuania, the homeland of the current log lift world record-holder, Zydrunas Savickas. The starting weight is expected to be about 175 kg, and it doesn't seem likely that the 210-kg world record will survive what is expected to be a major assault.

In addition to the contest itself, this event might mark a turning point in the organization and presentation of strongman because the Strongman Champions League has told IronMind® that they have more live strongman events planned for 2009.

Whether you're a Highland Games veteran or just want to see your first Games, Pleasanton, California is where you'll want to be this weekend.


Field judges, move back! Photographers, grab longer lenses! Word has it that Ryan Vierra is bring some "real flyers" to Pleasanton, California this weekend for the 143rd Annual Scottish Highland Games, presented by the Caledonian Club of San Francisco. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

On the pro front, head judge Steve Conway told IronMind®, "Scott Rider is out with appendicitis and he was replaced by Dave Brown. Ryan Vierra is bringing in the hammers that were used in the 2008 World Championships." These hammers are "real flyers," Conway said, explaining that "the handles have been shaved for maximum flexibility, so I'm hoping for big throws."

There will be "plenty of competition in the men's amateur class: Greg Bell is making his first appearance in Pleasanton after winning at Enumclaw." Also featured will be: "Chad Gustin (second at the amateur Worlds last weekend), John Collins (2007 Pleasanton Champion), Sam Grammer (Connecticut), Rusty Price (2008 World Stone Champion), Mike Dickens (Virginia), Mike Susmark (Arizona), elite powerlifter Chad Aichs, and Drew Kirchen (from Virginia, Drew is a recently returned Iraq vet and he is a big threat to win it all at Pleasanton)," said Conway. "The women's class will be a battle between reigning World and U.S. champion Summer Pierson, Kate Mason, Mindy Pockoski, who is a threat to break most of the current records, and newcomer Kristina Price, Rusty's sister and also trained by Ryan Vierra."

For details, please visit the official Caledonian Club of San Francisco website.

Letting his own world record of 1111 pounds stand for two years, Ken Brown pushed it up a notch today, hitting 1125 pounds in the Silver Dollar Deadlift, a strongman staple.

Ken had gotten talked into taking a crack at a big lift because some of his training partners from Fresno were competing at the NAS North Bay Pain & Glory strongman contest in Petaluma, California today, where the Silver Dollar Deadlift was one of the events. "Three of our guys from Fresno - Eric Petersen, Ryan Carey and Rusty Kier - won their divisions," Ken told IronMind®, "so it was a pretty good day."

Rob Meulenburg was successful in breaking through the half-ton barrier, Ken Brown said, hitting 1055 pounds for a big new personal record. After breaking his own world record with the 1125-pound lift, Brown went for 1155 pounds and he got it about three-quarters of the way up before it stalled out.

Ken Brown, a former World's Strongest Man competitor, is known for his strong deadlift, and he told IronMind® that he had only been training on this lift for five weeks prior to today's successful record-breaking attempt, although heavy deadlifts are a regular part of his workouts.

"It sounds as if your basic strength is pretty high right now" Brown was asked. "Oh yeah," he said and his latest world record in the Silver Dollar Deadlift speaks for itself.

"The biggest strongman competition in Finland this year will take place next weekend in Kokkola," according to the official press release, which IronMind® has just received.


It might be set in a festival of light, but don't think the weights will be anything but heavy at the Strongman Champions League competition in Kokkola, Finland. Zydrunas Savickas, shown with a 210-kg log, is among the star-studded field. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Ilkka Kinnunen.
 

This competition is being organized by Fitness Media, along with the Strongman Champions League, and it is part of the Venetian Night Festival, which "will bring around 20,000 people to the town square to watch the competition and listen the top artists in Finland."

"The athlete list is looking good," according to Ilkka Kinnunen, with "Zydrunas Savickas, Ervin Katona, Misha Koyklajev, Bradley Dunn, Agris Kazelniks, Oleksandr Leshyn, Jarno Hams, Saimon Sulaiman, Sergii Koniushok, Farzad Mousakhani and a Finnish athlete [still to be named]," comprising the start list.

On Friday, the events will be:

Atlas stones (120 - 180 kg)
Truck pull (harness and rope)
Log medley (120, 140, 160 and 180 kg, for time)
Weight for height

Saturday's events are:

Ship pull (arm over arm)
Deadlift (for reps)
Medley (farmer's walk with 150 kg/hand, 15 meters + box loading, 3 x 100 kg)

 

"The season is long, the athletes are getting tired, and injuries are cleaning the Strongman Champions League train, but the very best fight until the end," reported Marcel Mostert, and the best in Constanta, Romania was Zydrunas Savickas.


Tobias Ide was among the competitors at the Strongman Champions League contest in Constanta, Romania. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Marcel Mostert.

Not that Zydrunas Savickas had an easy time of things: "Zydrunas and Ervin Katona were fighting for two days over eight events, with Ervin in second place overall, just one-half point behind the absolute champion this year, Zydrunas Savickas. Zydrunas was just 0.20 second faster in the last event, loading beer barrels, than Ervin and this saved his first-place position."

Constanta is a beautiful city on the Black Sea, said Mostert. "Although the crowd was skeptical the first day, they loved it on the second day because of direct broadcasting on the Romanian TV channels. It's a new sport in a new booming country, where two new Romanian athletes competed." These athletes were selected "from the first Romanian nationals, which we held in June," explained Mostert.  "They did a great performance, although it was very tough for them."

"The mayor of the city liked the event very much and agreed already for the next Strongman Champions League competition in 2009, with an even bigger budget, crowd and show, so we are very happy about this, of course!"

Here are the top ten:

1. Zydrunas Savickas (Lithuania), 83.5 points
2. Ervin Katona (Serbia), 83 points
3. Oleksandr Lashin (Ukraine), 61 points
4. Agris Kazelniks (Latvia), 59 points
5. Zsolt Szabo (Hungary), 53.5 points
6. Tobias Ide (Germany), 51.5 points
7. Zdravko Zanev (Bulgaria), 34.5 points
8. Jarno Hams (Holland), 34 points
9. Mircea Parjol (Romania), 25 points
10. Vladimir Mirtea (Romania), 11 points


Mircea Parjol was one of the two Romanian strongmen in this competition. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Marcel Mostert.

Beijing - Coming into the super heavyweight class in weightlifting at the Olymics, the feeling was that if Evgeny Chigishev (Russia) snatched 210 kg, the rest of the field would be in trouble; although the obvious favorite, Viktors Scerbatihs (Latvia) would miss a critical jerk; it could well come down to the final lift; and that Matthias Steiner (Germany) could well be the surprise winner.


Matthias Steiner had one shot to take the Olympic gold medal in the super heavyweight class back to Germany - all he had to do was clean and jerk 258 kg, and you know what? That's exactly what he did. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

And that's precisely what happened.

Of the big three, Steiner was the only one who missed a snatch: after making 198 kg and 203 kg, he got clocked on the back of the neck trying to get under 207 kg on his third attempt. Scerbatihs executed three picture perfect snatches in his trademark style, reminiscent of a well-lubed machine, ending with 206 kg. And Chigishev ran through 200, 205 and 210 kg, doing the preliminary damage he and his fans hoped for.

Chigishev put himself in gold medal position by jerking 240 kg on his first attempt, and Scerbatihs moved into silver medal position by making 242 kg on his first attempt. For whatever reason, Scerbatihs let the time run out on his second attempt, 244 kg, and then Steiner walked off the platform trying to control the jerk on his opener, 246 kg, which was not the start he wanted.

Chigishev made 247 kg on his second attempt, to extend his lead, and the lift was much better than his first attempt. Bouncing back from his missed opener, Steiner moved into silver medal position by making 248 kg on his second attempt, and then Chigishev made a very nice 250 kg on his third attempt, leaving Scerbatihs and Steiner with one attempt each to take away the Olympic gold medal that was nearly in Chigishev's pocket.

Scerbatihs took the 257 kg he needed to move from bronze medal position to up to the gold medal and after an easy clean, he rammed the bar overhead. For an instant, it appeared that he might have fixed the jerk, but then it came crashing down.

So there we were, with one attempt left and Matthias Steiner called for the weight, 258 kg, that would give him the gold medal, and defying all odds, he made the lift.

To Al Michaels, all we can say is "Yes!" and Matthias Steiner is 146 kg of living proof that there's always a good reason to believe in miracles.

"One month prior to the event, Louis-Philippe Jean had predicted that he would rock the field at FORTISSIMUS 2008," read the press release Fortissimus World Strength sent to IronMind® today.

"He did just that as he came within a fraction of a point of making the podium right behind Derek Poundstone and Zydrunas Savickas.

"That day, June 29, 2008, Louis-Philippe Jean went on, predicting that he would be at the 2008 WSM [World's Strongest Man]. He just earned that right by winning the 2008 Canada's Strongest Man title by a considerable margin.

"At age 24, the Quebecer became the youngest Canadian strongman ever to qualify for the World Strongest Man competition, and some experts see him shattering strongman records by the time he reaches 25.

"Given these outstanding accomplishments, FORTISSIMUS WORLD STRENGTH (CANADA) has elected Louis-Philippe Jean as CANADA's STRONGMAN OF THE YEAR, with second place going to Christian Savoie, the winner of the 2008 Quebec Strongman Cup."

Highland Games professional Gregor Edmunds is on a roll.


Scottish Professional Heavyweight Championships, Crieff, Perthshire by Francis Brebner

Gregor Edmunds may have had a bad start to the season with a herniated disc in his lower back, but he is making up for it by having a great ending to the season. Only last weekend Edmunds returned victorious from Fergus, Canada where he won the overall championships.

And this weekend in front of 9,000 spectators, Edmunds did it again, winning the Scottish Professional Heavyweight Championships at Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland, for a fourth time.

The 16-lb. shot put got off to a good start for Australia's Aaron Neighbour, who was in a league of his own, winning with a 55' 6" putt; the nearest to him was Bruce Aitken at a distance of 51' 5" for second, with Edmunds in third at 51' 3-1/2".

Again in the 22-lb. open shot, Aaron Neighbour triumphed with a 46' 7" putt for his second win of the championships; Edmunds was in second at 44' 9" and Bruce Robb in third at 44' 6-1/2".

Going into the third event of the day, the world record-holder in the 16-lb. hammer, Bruce Aitken, produced the goods with a mighty throw of 138' 2" for the win over the former record-holder Stephen King, who placed second at 132' 9", with Edmunds staying in the top three with a 128' 3-1/2" throw.

The 22-lb. hammer produced the same placings, one, two, three, with Aitken again dominating with a throw of 114' 6", King in second place again at 110' 7", and Edmunds in third at 106' 3-1/2".

Halfway through the competition, Bruce Aitken was leading in points overall, but that was all to change in the next event, the 28-lb. weight for distance. Edmunds took the win with a distance of 80' 2-1/2", with Bruce Robb in second at 77' 9", and Neighbour in third at 77' 7-1/2".

The 56-lb weight over the bar was a close competition, with Neighbour taking the win at 15' 6" over Edmunds and Canada's Darius Slowik, who tied at 15' 3" for second.

The final event of the championships was the open caber, 18.6 ft. long and 135 lb., which was dominated by Edmunds for first place; Aitken came in second and Robb third.

The overall placings were first Edmunds, 33.5 points; second Aitken at 28; and third Neighbour at 27.

The next major venue for Edmunds will be the Royal Braemar Gathering on 6 September, where he will be competing in front of the Queen and 20,000 adherent spectators. The field will include an international line-up of heavy athletes. It will be interesting to see if Edmunds can keep up his run of victories as the Royal Braemar Gathering draws near and duplicate the feat of his father, Douglas Edmunds, by winning both the Royal Braemar Games and the Norman Murray Braemar Caber Championships on the same day.

Beijing - The 105-kg class in weightlifting isn't short of entertaining lifters - whether it's Dimitry Klokov (Russia), and his primal screams, Ramunas Vysniauskas (Lithuania), who's one step shy of a pro-wrestling persona, or Dmitriy Lapikov (Russia), who looks likes he's ready for a casting call.


Andrei Aramnau quietly takes care of business: This 200-kg snatch was an Olympic record, a junior world record and a senior world record. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

But the 105s also have a competitor who says it all with his lifting - if you look closely, you might see some clenched teeth, or if he's really getting wild, there might be a quick fist pump, but the message from his lifts is deafening: Tonight, Andrei Armanau (Belarus) won the gold medal, breaking five Olympic records, five junior world records and three senior world records. And even if you knew that he went six for six, unless you were there to see it, you might never guess that Aramnau seemed to be lifting well within his capabilities.

Lapikov and Klokov both nailed their openers in the snatch, 185 kg for Klokov and 190 kg for Lapikov, the same weight that Klokov then made on his second attempt. Aramnau opened with an easy 193 kg, and Klokov made the same weight on his third attempt. Marcin Dolega (Poland), who held both the junior and the senior world records in the snatch, made 195 for his opener and Lapikov missed the same weight on his second. Lapikov is stronger in the snatch than in the clean and jerk, so he could ill afford this miss and things got worse for him when he missed, even if just barely, the same weight again on his third attempt.

Aramnau nailed 197 kg on his second attempt for his first Olympic record of the evening. Dolega took 200 kg on his second attempt, going for the Olympic record and the senior world record, and while he got the bar overhead and ran forward trying to save the lift, he couldn't. Aramnau nailed the 200 on his third attempt, so keep those record books open because that reset the Olympic record, the senior world record and the junior world record. Dolega jumped to 201, but he couldn't fix the bar overhead.

Klokov, very restrained, made 222 kg on his opening clean and jerk. Dolega made 225 kg on his opener, as did Aramnau, which moved him into the gold medal position he would never relinquish. Aramnau's lift was conspicuously easy, with a very quick jerk polishing things off, and it broke the junior world record in the total. Lapikov was making up ground in the clean and jerk and, having opened with a good 222 kg, he made a very nice 226 on his second attempt, to move into bronze medal position, but then Klokov made the same weight, bumping Lapikov.

Dolega missed the jerk on 228 on his second attempt, and then he did the same thing on his third attempt - a success would have put him in silver medal position. Aramnau stuck 230 kg on his second attempt, good for an Olympic record and a junior world record in the total, and then Lapikov made a great success with the same weight, good enough to put him in silver medal position. Lapikov didn't have long to savor what he'd just done, because, once again, Klokov had the same idea, made the same weight, and that gave him silver medal position.

Aramnau finished off his evening with a 236-kg clean and jerk - breaking the Olympic, senior and junior world records in both the jerk and the total, and the lift can be described in three words: easy, easy, easy.

Magnus Samuelsson won the final leg of the 2008 WSM Super Series, a six-event contest with ten competitors held in Sweden.

Tarmo Mitt edged Richard Skog for second place on countback. Derek Poundstone was fourth, one point out of second place, and Jimmy Marku was fifth.

The second day of Canada's Strongest Man did not start well for Hugo Girard, who was injured on the first event and tearfully announced his retirement.

Girard thanked everyone for "ten wonderful years," and he got a rousing ovation from the crowd.

Louis-Philippe Jean, who had impressed many with his performance at Fortissimus, turned in a strong performance, winning three of the four events, and he captured the Canada's Strongest Man title, which also earned him an invitation to this year's World's Strongest Man contest.

Louis-Philippe told IronMind®, "I'm Canada's Strongest Man . . . I am going to WSM . . . Yes!"

Here are the top five:

1. Louis-Philippe Jean, 82.5 points
2. Jean-Francois Caron, 75.5 points
3. Christian Savoie, 68 points
4. Matt Parks, 56 points
5. Jessen Paulin, 54 points

Beijing - The 94-kg class in weightlifting at the Olympics lived up to its pre-event hype as, among other things, the high water mark from the afternoon's B session remained in gold medal position with just a handful of attempts left in the A session this evening.


When Ilya Ilin made this 180-kg snatch, he put himself on track to the gold medal, even if he left the platform cradling his left arm. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

But don't think the excitement ended early: After Ilya Ilin cemented his lead on his third-attempt clean and jerk, two guys had a shot at overtaking him.

Khadzhimurat Akkaev (Russia) wasted no time putting a torch to things as he marched through six good lifts in the B session to end with a 185-kg snatch, a 217-kg clean and jerk, and a very formidable 402-kg total. Was this guy trying to pull a Smorchkov?

Szymon Kolecki (Poland) fans felt that if he were to win, he'd have to make two good snatches - he ended up making three (174, 177 and 179 kg), but it would not prove to be enough. Ilya Ilin (Kazakhstan) got his fans going by snatching 175 and then 180 kg, enough to make it look like Olympic gold was in his future, but he came off the platform holding his elbow and when he passed on his third attempt, the question of a possible injury arose. Nizami Pashaev (Azerbaijan) played with fire: after missing 180 kg twice in the snatch, he moved up to 181 and made it. Iran's Asghar Ebrahimi was going to need to put some money in the bank during the snatch if he wanted to show up on the podium, but he only made his 180-kg opener.

Until Ilin opened with 223 in the clean and jerk, the best anyone was shooting for was second place - underlining just what Akkaev had accomplished in the B session. Ilin roared up to the bar, barely got set, ripped the clean and barely paused before jerking it - and just as quickly, the bar came crashing down. Ilin, knowing that this had stunned a lot of people, quickly indicated not to worry, this was not a big deal. Nice to be this confident, especially when you've just missed your opener at the Olympics.

Arsen Kasabiev (Georgia) was next, hitting a solid 223 for second place and Ilin did a repeat of his high speed first attempt only this time he stuck the jerk and someone had finally wrested the lead from Akkaev.

At this point, there were only four attempts left: Kolecki nailed 224 kg for second place and when Ilin made a very nice 226 on his third attempt, to extend his lead, his coach, Alexei Ni, must have had a crystal ball because he ran out on the platform, jumped on Ilin and hugged him as if he'd just won the gold medal. A few minutes later, Alexei Ni was proven correct about this, because Kolecki couldn't stand up with 228 and Kasabiev couldn't get under 231, so the young Kazakh had cleaned house.

Kolecki won the silver medal, three kilos behind Ilin, and Akkaev's B session performance held up for the bronze medal, four kilos short of the winner.

At the end of the first day, Hugo Girard is leading Canada's Strongest Man.

Four events were contested today (arm-over-arm pull, deadlift, Atlas stones and power stairs): following are the places and points going into the second day of competition, tomorrow.

1. Hugo Girard 45 points
2. Christian Savoie 41
3. Jean-Francois Caron 39
4. Louis-Philippe Jean 36
5. Matt Parkes 28                                                                                                                                                                         
6. Jessen Paulin 28
7. Paul Vaillancourt 16
8. Scott Cummine 12
9. Jos Plante 11
10. Dany Frame 9
11. Grant Connors 8
12. Tyler Hildebrand 2

Beijing - It doesn't seem likely that they say "Cowboy up" in Korea, and it's improbable anyone told her to "Be a man," but after losing the 2004 Olympic gold medal on what many felt was a dubious decision, Jang Miran bit her tongue; kept training; and when the 2008 Olympics rolled around, word was that the powerhouse Chinese weightlifting team consciously chose not to have one of their lifters go head to head with her.


Jang Miran (Korea) hits the bottom with 186 kg on her third clean and jerk. Sure, Jang Miran won the Olympic gold medal and broke a bushel of records, but she also put the women's bar to its most severe test to date. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

"I think they are scared of the Korean lifter," an insider told IronMind® a few days ago, explaining why he felt the Chinese weightlifting team had not entered a lifter in this category and had chosen instead to give Jang Miran a wide berth.

It sounded nice, but perhaps it was more polite than accurate, and maybe it was a genteel way to eliminate one possible hurdle between Jang Miran and the Olympic gold medal. From her first attempt tonight, though, Jang Miran demonstrated that the Chinese assessment of her overwhelming dominance had been dead on the money.

And if anyone thought Jang Miran needed any breaks to win the gold medal tonight, consider that she broke five world records and seven Olympic records along the way - if you want to check the spelling of her name, just look next to any of the current Olympic or world records, because now she owns all of them.

Opening her six-for-six night, Jang Miran swept through 130, 136 and 140 kg in the snatch - the second attempt was good for an Olympic record and her third attempt broke the world record as well as the Olympic record (again).

Opening with 175 kg in the clean and jerk, Jang Miran broke the Olympic record in the total. On her second attempt, 183 kg, Jang Miran picked up the Olympic and world records in both the jerk and the total, and she must have liked that feeling because she did the same thing again with 186 kg on her third jerk.

So, even if it's not "Cowboy up," that's the message and the result was impossible to ignore: Not just an Olympic gold medal, but such a dominating performance that even reading the staggering numbers doesn't do it full justice.

World's Strongest Man fans, here you go: Although always subject to change, here's the official 2008 World's Strongest Man contest schedule and list of events.


The announcement strongman fans have been waiting for: Here's the official list of events and the schedule for the 2008 World's Strongest Man contest. IronMind® | Courtesy of IMG.
 

The qualifying round runs September 6 - 9 and following a two-day break, the finals are scheduled for September 12 - 14, so make your plans now to be in Charleston, West Virginia and see the show as it is being filmed.

Beijing - Talk about a class that had the tempo of a perfect lift: It started slowly, picked up steam, accelerated some more and finished with an explosion.


Lu Yong drives under this third attempt 214-kg jerk. He'd already done the lift once and had it passed with three white lights, only to have the jury reverse it. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Andrei Rybakou (Belarus) can snatch - coming into this contest, he held both the junior and the senior world records and by the end of the evening, he had added the Olympic record to his portfolio by sinking the putt with 185 kg on his third attempt. Lu Yong (China) and Vladimir Sedov (Kazakhstan) were next in line, at 180 kg, and Tigran Martirosyan (Armenia) was in fourth position with 177 kg.

Of the leaders, Rybakou opened first in the clean and jerk, making a good lift with 200 kg and moving into first place. Sedov kicked off the chase for second place by making 200 kg on his opener. Martirosyan had the same idea, but he deadlifted his 203-kg first attempt. Sedov tried to strengthen his position by taking 203 on his second attempt, but he missed the jerk behind. Martirosyan made the same weight on his second attempt, to take over second place, and you could read the relief on his face as he held the jerk overhead. Sedov repeated the weight and had the same result as on his second attempt - punching the bar up and over the back of his head. Rybakou made 204 kg on his second attempt and Marirosyan never came out for 206, so up to this point the top jerk from the B session, American Kendrick Farris's 202, was right in there, but there were still a few attempts left.

Lu Chong opened with 208 to become the latest guy to move into second place, and then Rybakou lit the fuse with 209 kg on his third attempt, good for the Olympic and the world record in the total. What had started slowly was building up speed and the rate of acceleration kept increasing: Lu Chong called for a big 214 kg on his second attempt, going for the gold medal and he made the lift, with three white lights, and the hometown crowd went wild. But wait - guess who got summoned over to the jury and guess whose lift was turned down, reversed by the jury? And now, guess how the crowd reacted.

But fear not for Lu Chong, because he was stoic throughout the replay, doing the lift again - only this time, the white lights stuck with him, and the Chinese weightlifting team earned yet another gold medal.

"The World's Strongest Nation was a great event," Marcel Mostert told IronMind®. "We did 22 events in three competition days!"


Team Lithuania on the three-man log. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Marcel Mostert.

Overall, there were eight teams, with 32 athletes in total.

"It was hot, 32 degrees Celsius (about 90 degrees Fahrenheit), and there was a great atmosphere in the stadium with 7,000 seats. The crowd really loved the competition and got outrageous.

"Team Lithuania won; they were one point behind Russia in the 22nd event, but they won the squat and came equal, but even though they had same points, Lithuania had more wins," so they got the overall victory.

Here are the overall results from the finals:

1. Lithuania 26 points
2. Russia  26 points
3. Ukraine 18 points
4. United States 8 points

As promised, here's Francis Brebner's report on the Fergus Highland Games.


Gregor Edmunds added another feather to his cap by winning the Fergus Highland Games. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Francis Brebner.

The Fergus Highland Games by Francis Brebner

The Fergus Highland Games saw an awesome assembly of international athletes with Gregor Edmunds and Larry Brock fighting it out over the two-day championships in torrential rain.

Scotland's Gregor Edmunds, along with Steve Aitkin and Stephen King, were flying the flag for the country; for Canada it was Greg Hadley, Jason Johnston, Christoph Wand and Markus Wand; and from the USA, Ryan Vierra, Larry Brock, Sean Betz, and Harrison Bailey III.

In the opening event with the 25-lb. open stone, Gregor Edmunds, with a crushing putt of 41' 7", claimed the first win of the competition, leaving Sean Betz in second place with a throw of 37' 11" and Ryan Vierra just behind in third place at a distance of 37' 1".

All eyes again were on Edmunds in the 56-lb. weight for distance, and with a throw 42' 1", he snatched the win over Larry Brock, who had to settle for second place in his favoured event with a throw of 41' 3"; Jason Johnston was in third with 40' 1".

The 28-lb. weight for distance was an exciting event between the top three, with the win finally going to Larry Brock with an 80' 9" throw; Edmunds was in second with 78' 11" and Harrison Bailey in third with 76' 9".

In the 22-lb. hammer, it was a truly great battle between Scotland's former hammer world record holder Stephen King and Larry Brock, with the win eventually going to Brock with a 112' 7" throw; King took second place with 111' 2" and Edmunds third with 106' 8".

Again in the 16-lb. hammer, Brock took the win with a throw of 133', with King in second at 130' for the top two.

In the open caber, which was 24' 8" and 103 lb., it was the former world caber tossing champion King with two 12:00 tosses who claimed another victory, with Edmunds in second with one 12:00 toss, and Bailey in third spot with a 9:30 toss.

The 56-lb. weight for height was won by big Dave Brown on countback with a toss 16', with Canadians Jason Johnston and Christoph Wand tying for second place with 16' also.

Overall top three:

1. Gregor Edmunds
2. Larry Brock
3. Sean Betz and Harrison Bailey III (tie)

Beijing - With six gold medals in weightlifting already, the Chinese team was looking nearly unstoppable, but the pattern was broken tonight when Korea's Sa Jaehyouk faced off with a talent-laden field in the 77-kg category and calmly delivered the big clean and jerk that put the Olympic gold medal around his neck.


The giant slayer celebrates: Korea's Sa Jaehyouk enjoys the moment after he knocked off the biggest names in the 77-kg class at the Olympics tonight. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

In this field, Sa Jaehyouk, a mere junior world champion, was almost a lifter who could be overlooked. Among the guys with big credits, this is who lined up to lift tonight: Li Hongli (Asian Games champion, junior and senior world champion), Gevorg Davtyan (junior world champion, European champion), Oleg Perepechenov (European champion, current world record-holder in the clean and jerk) and Taner Sagir (defending Olympic champion, junior and senior world champion, Olympic and junior world record-holder). If these guys threw their medals in a pile, they could practically have been used to load the bar with instead of plates.

Taner Sagir (Turkey) and Gevorg Davtyan (Armenia) were the last to open in the snatch, both calling for 165 kg, and it was a painful start for both of them. Sagir was reported to be in top shape, but three times he ripped the bar up and over his head, exploding off the front of the platform, and in three lifts he had propelled himself out of the competition. Gevorg Davtyan (Armenia) was also playing with fire and he missed the same weight twice, as it looked heavy and he seemed to be moving both the bar and himself none too quickly, but under extreme pressure, he made a good lift on this third attempt - being very cautious to control the bar after he had gotten it overhead. You could feel the collective sigh of relief from the Armenian contingent.

Li Hongli, who had opened with a silky smooth 163 kg, went on to make 168 kg before missing with 170.

Li Hongli has always been a huge snatcher, but more than once, his performances have been stung by an inconsistent jerk, so all eyes were on his opener, 195 kg, to see if it would signal whether he would be able to hold onto his lead. He stuck the lift. Davtyan missed the jerk on the same weight, and then made it, once again lifting very methodically. The Chinese team was not getting overly aggressive with Li Hongli's attempts and when he missed the jerk on 198, his lead suddenly appeared very vulnerable, but he came back to make it, increasing his lead.

Perepechenov, who had made 192 on his opener, missed 199 twice, unable to rack the bar, and by now almost everyone was done, but the two Korean lifters - Sa Jaehyouk and Kim Kwanghoon - hadn't even begun.

When Kim Kwanghoon stuck 200 on his opener, that said it all: the Koreans were for real and things were about to get extremely interesting.

Sa Jaehyouk opened with 201 kg, going for second place, and he nailed it. Davytan, who had been fighting back all night, took the same weight on his third attempt, going for first place, but he missed the jerk. The hall was filled to capacity, but it was quiet when Sa Jaehyouk came out for 203 on his second attempt - not tension-filled quiet, but the sort of quiet that suggested maybe not everyone understood that if Sa Jaehyouk made this lift, he would be the Olympic champion. The "if" quickly vanished in the rearview mirror because this was Sa Jaehyouk's night and he owned the weight. His teammate took 206 kg on his third attempt, going for the bronze medal, and he almost made it - only failing because he lost control of the jerk when the bar was overhead.

On his third attempt, Sa Jaehyouk called for 211, to break the Olympic and world record in the clean and jerk, but he missed the jerk. What he didn't miss was slaying an incredible field, and for his reward, Sa Jaehyouk will be returning home to Korea with an Olympic gold medal around his neck.

Beijing - It wasn't just that he won - keeping China's roll alive, with three men's classes and three gold medals - or that he won big; the kicker is that this was Liao Hui's second international competition, so if you've never heard of him, you have plenty of company.


You know what they say about gaining experience and making your openers: This was Liao Hui's second international meet and he missed both his openers, yet he ended the evening as the Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting's 69-kg category. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

China had a second lifter entered in this class - 2004 Olympic gold medalist Shi Zhiyong - but IronMind® was told just before tonight's competition began that Liao Hui was in better shape at the moment, which certainly proved to be true.

Shi Zhiyong, normally an incredible snatcher, missed his opener, 152 kg, a miss that signaled he might be in trouble. He was, because while he stuck it on his second attempt, he missed 157 on his third attempt and he looked worried - he might have known something the rest of us didn't, because that was the end of the contest for him.

Liao Hui seemingly gave his teammate a second chance because he, too, missed his opener, 153 kg, but he came back to make that weight and then he smoked 158 kg, to go into the cleans and jerks with a 5-kg lead over his closest rival. More than just the numbers, though, Liao Jui exuded confidence - it was as if he had already won the contest and going through the lifts was just a formality for him.

This class had a number of guys capable of pulling off big lifts, including Vencelas Dabaya (France) and Tigran Martirosyan (Armenia).

Not to be overlooked, either, was Lee Baeyoung (Korea), whose chances were looking especially promising after he made three good snatches - 150, 153 and 155 kg - but something went awry and he collapsed on his opening jerk (184 kg). People swarmed on the platform to assist him and just when it appeared that Lee Baeyoung was going to be carried off, he walked away under his own power. Martirosyan also flirted with danger, as he missed his first two power jerks, 183 and 185 kg, before making 185 on his third attempt after a big fight to control the jerk - good for the bronze medal.

Lee came out for 186 kg, but only gave the bar a little tug, and when he repeated with the weight on his third attempt, he racked the bar, but then went sprawling forward with it, so even after his strong start, his chances of a big night had vanished in an instant.

Everyone was assuming that Dabaya could make up some lost ground with his big clean and jerk, and the way he manhandled 187 kg on his first attempt certainly offered the promise of more to come. But after Liao Hui ended with a very solid 190 kg, Dabaya called for the winning weight - 197 kg - and with two shots at it, his attempts were more symbolic than real and he had to settle for the silver medal.

Liao Hui rocked the house with his win and here he was, the third Chinese gold medalist in as many men's classes in weightlifting at the 2008 Olympics . . . and you probably never heard of any of them before.

Mark Felix has been doing something of a Tour de France in the strongman world this season, and after one international competition followed by another this year, he headed off the to gym this past weekend and did a little deadlifting . . . just for the fun of it.


If it's not nailed down, chances are good that Mark Felix can deadlift it, and this weekend he pulled 405 kg on a whim. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of the Adlington Barbell Club.

"Felix pulled 405 kg on a standard bar without straps on Saturday," a source close to the action told IronMind®. "After 8 international comps he only went down to show his support, but the magic took over and he joined in with 405 kg." Saying that Mark Felix has been taking some flak on the forums about his recent placings, "This will put a spanner in the works before the World's [Strongest Man contest]."

Gregor Edmunds won the Fergus Highland Games and a full report will be following.

In the meantime, here are the top three:

1. Gregor Edmunds
2. Larry Brock
3. Sean Betz and Harrison Bailey III (tie)

Beijing - He was a bronze medalist at the 2000 Olympics and the 2002 junior world champion, but tonight, after a long break from international competition, Chinese weightlifter Zhang Xiangxiang returned with a bang and netted his country's fourth gold medal in the sport at the Beijing Olympics.


He said that being persistent is what it's all about, and that as long as you are alive, you have a chance to accomplish everything: It sounds good, but tonight Zhang Xiangxiang proved his point as he pocketed a very tangible reward - an Olympic gold medal. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Zhang led after the snatches, having made 143 kg, but he didn't have a lot of breathing room, as Ji Hunmin (Korea) was sitting pretty with 142, and both Diego Salazar (Columbia) and Im Yong Su (North Korea) had made 138.

The playing field changed rapidly in the clean and jerk, though, as Ji Hunmin missed 161 kg three times and Im Yong Su did the same thing with 168 kg. This left the door wide open for Zhang Xiangxiang, who moved into gold medal position with his first jerk, 169 kg, and from there on the only question was just how wide his winning margin would end up being.

After nailing 176 kg on his second jerk, Zhang Xiangxiang lit up the packed house by calling for 184 kg, which would be good for Olympic and world records in both the jerk and the total. He racked the bar, but that was as far as the lift went, as he had to dump it while trying to stand up. No matter though, because guess who came back in about the biggest way possible: He entered the meet as someone even most lifting fans would not have been able to recall and he left as the Olympic gold medalist.

Beijing - Eye-catching performances are to be expected from Chinese weightlifters and now Long Quingquan is an Olympic gold medalist at 17, handily winning the 56-kg category and breaking two Junior world records in the process.


It was the only lift he missed all night: After cleaning this 164 kg on his third attempt, Long Qingquan punched the jerk up and over the back of his head, but no matter, the 17-year-old won the 56-kg category at the Olympics today. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.
 

Long Quingquan looked as if he were loaded for bear as he ripped through three good snatches: 125, 130 and 132 kg, gaining a 2-kilo advantage over podium favorite Hoang Anh Tuan (Vietnam), plus he was the lighter man, and to frost the cake, his 132-kg snatch was a new junior world record. If his lifting wasn't enough to remind you of three-time Olympic gold medalist Halil Mutlu, Long also seems to have a penchant for celebrating successful lifts with his tongue dangling out of his mouth.

Not content to let Long be the only teenage star tonight, 19-year-old Eko Irawan (Indonesia) had also snatched 130 kg, and he was lighter than Hoang Anh Tuan.

Of the leaders after the snatch, Irawan opened first in the clean and jerk, making a nice 152-kg lift. Long Quinguan made a very strong 155 kg on his opener, and Hoang Anh Tuan also made a good lift with the same weight on his first attempt.

Irawan took 158 kg on his second attempt, going for the Junior world record in the total, but he missed the jerk after easily ramming the bar overhead. He took the same weight on his third attempt for a big success. Long followed with 160 kg, for a strong success - it put him back in the lead and it gave him the junior world record in the total. Hoang Anh Tuan took 160 kg on his second attempt, trying to move from fourth place to second, but he missed the jerk.

Hoang Anh Tuan has a pattern of going through the motions of the lift before he steps up to the bar, and he does the same thing after the lift when he misses, much to the crowd's amusement tonight. Cha Kum Choi (North Korea), who had been attacking the bar with the ferocity of a tiger all night, tried the same weight, but was blown out the back by the jerk. Hoang Anh Tuan repeated with 160 kg on his third attempt and he made the lift, fighting through a tough jerk.

Cuba's Sergio Alvarez took 161 kg on his second attempt, but missed the jerk, and Long Quingquan took 164 kg on his third attempt, looking to add a second junior world record in the total to the evening's haul, but he shot the bar up and over the back of his head. Alvarez racked 166 kg on his third attempt, trying to move from sixth place to fourth, but he couldn't stand up with the weight.

It was quite a class, and at 23 years old, silver medalist Hoang Anh Tuan was practically a senior citizen on the medal stand.

The New York Arm Wrestling Association (NYAWA) and Long Island Clan Mac Duff have joined forces to present the 30th Annual Long Island Golden Arm Wrestling Championships," said NYAWA president Gene Camp.

This competition is set for August 23 at the 48th Annual Long Island Scottish Games Festival. "Over 100 men and women are expected to compete for Long Island's Golden Arm Wrestling Championship titles and the overall male and female winners will be crowned Long Island's Strongest Arm. There are 12 weight classes in pro, amateur and novice categories, with classes available for men, women and teens. Contestants under 18 must have parent/guardian signed approval."

For full details, please check the official NYAWA website.

When IronMind® introduced what has been called "the credit card rule," it had a very straightforward purpose: In view of the shrinking starting position some guys were using before they closed grippers, IronMind® wanted to establish a definite minimum standard that was acceptable for certifying official closes with the hardest of the Captains of Crush® Grippers.

That minimum acceptable starting position was defined as the width of a credit/ATM card, since that had all the qualities we needed in a useful gauge that would define a legal starting position. As part of the rule, we also wrote that the gripster must show that he has a legal starting position by sliding the card between the ends of the handles before getting the go signal from the referee.

Unfortunately, as clearly as we thought these rules had been stated, some people persisted in thinking that for a legal start, the gripper first had to be crushed down to the width of a credit card, and more than one person has had the judge, rather than the gripster himself, take the measurement with the card.

Neither is what we would prefer, but just as not everyone has followed the exact directions we give for when and how to apply for certification, IronMind® feels it's most important to focus on the purpose of the rules, which in this case involves establishing that the starting position is legal, and that's the principle we follow when making our certification decisions.

Still, it's easy to understand why questions will arise when the exact letter of the procedures is not followed and IronMind® continues to urge people who are involved in certifications to take a few minutes to read the rules, asking us questions if something is unclear, and then follow them exactly as they are written.

Beijing - The powerhouse Chinese weightlifting team opened its 2008 Olympic appearance with a golden performance, as Chen Xiexia went six for six in the women's 48-kg class.


On the homestretch, Chen Xiexia (China) cranks on her 117-kg third attempt clean and jerk. Chen stuck with the game plan and netted China's first gold medal in weightlifting today. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Chen sailed through a perfect meet, ending with 95 kg in the snatch and 117 kg in the clean and jerk, good for new Olympic records in the clean and jerk, and the total. As much as Chen appeared to be lifting well within her capabilities, she finished 13 kg ahead of Sibel Ozkan (Turkey). Chen Wei-Ling (Taipei) won the bronze medal with a total of 196 kg.

The defending Olympic champion, Nurcan Taylan (Turkey), bombed in the snatch - missing 84 kg three times.

Beijing - China "dreamed of opening its doors to the world," IOC president Jacques Rogge said, and last night, that dream came true as the top athletes from all corners of the globe gathered in Beijing for the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games."


Where the world was last night: The Olympic cauldron was lit for a packed house of nearly 100,000 people, but that was only a fraction of the global audience watching spellbound as Chinese gymnast Li Ning danced along the upper rim of the stadium before lighting the Olympic cauldron. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Chinese president Hu Jintao officially opened the Games, and Jacques Rogge said "the Olympics are not about performance alone," as he reminded all to uphold the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. The ceremony lasted over five hours in what were sauna-like conditions, but the mood was festive, as befits a human celebration on a scale seen nowhere else.

He's the man who showed that excuses for not closing a Captains of Crush No. 3 Gripper per the official rules were just that - excuses - and now he's upped the ante again, by becoming the first person to certify on the No. 3.5 Captains of Crush® Gripper: Tex Henderson has just produced the top mark in the gripper world this year.


Tex Henderson produced the top gripper performance in the world so far this year at Sorinex yesterday, becoming the first man to officially close the No. 3.5 Captains of Crush® Gripper. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Sorinex
 

Where better to take his shot at this than at Sorinex, with Richard Sorin doing the honors as the official referee. Sorinex is where Tex Henderson officially destroyed a Captains of Crush® No. 3 Gripper in 2006 - it was the perfect setting, with the Diesel Crew's Global Grip Challenge being hosted by Richard Sorin, and Tex nonchalantly doing what some keyboard warriors were saying was impossible.

Yesterday, Tex was pretty beat up, coming off a weekend strongman contest, and after five close misses, he rested while Richard Sorin was hard at work in his corner. On the sixth attempt, the sliver of daylight that had been showing between the handles disappeared, and as Richard Sorin described it for IronMind®, it was "The close heard 'round the world."

Many thanks to Richard Sorin and everyone else at Sorinex who supported Tex Henderson's effort, and for the man, himself, "Congratulations, Tex - you've just been certified on the Captains of Crush® No. 3.5 Gripper. You are the first, and that's forever!"

While IronMind® was not lucky enough to be in Minehead, England, in person for this year's Britain's Strongest Man contest, from everything we heard, it was a tremendous contest and tonight, lucky Channel 5 viewers in the UK will have a chance to see some of the action that was so intense that one fan told IronMind®, "If it had been a boxing match, they'd have stopped it."


That's Jimmy Marku on the left and Terry Hollands on the right, wrestling at this year's Britain's Strongest Man (BSM) contest. Colin Bryce (far right) is supposed to merely be the referee, but to us, it looks as if he's one lick from jumping in and knocking heads himself. The contest begins airing tonight at 8:00 p.m. on Channel 5 in the UK. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of IMG Sports Media.

"Tonight is the first of five weekly shows," Colin Bryce told IronMind®, and this evening's episode includes Jimmy Marku, Darren Sadler, Lewis MacLean, Dean Slater and Gary Gardner. The events are medley, safe press, barrel and sack load, deadlift, stones, and - how's this for your inner gladiator? - wrestling, "for the first time ever in BSM!"

Show time is 8:00 p.m., so pass the word along and don't miss the action tonight. Also, remember that BSM is something of a run-up to the World's Strongest Man contest, so that's another huge reason to tune in tonight if you are a strongman fan.

Keep your eye on the official World's Strongest Man website for details on both contests, including broadcast schedules.

Even though he was "very tired" after competing in Poland the day before, "Maruisz [Pudzianowski] was great," WSF founder Vlad Redkin told IronMind®. "I think he will be five-time World's Strongest Man."


Bill Kazmaier has said that strongman is lucky that Mariusz Pudzianowski didn't decide to be a bodybuilder instead. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Vlad Redkin.
 

Tired or not, Mariusz Pudzianowski won four of the six events in this last weekend's WSF contest, and he came in second place in the other two. "New Latvian athlete Artis Plivda beat Mariusz in the Conan's wheel," Redkin told IronMind®, and Dave Ostlund, who "showed great speed in the stones," reigned supreme in the court of Atlas. Also turning in an impressive performance at the World Strongman Federation (WSF) competition in Belarus was Elbrus Nigmatullin: "Elbrus . . . step by step preparing for World's Strongest Man and he will show great results," Redkin said.

But, returning to the strongman star from Poland, Mariusz Pudzianowski still had Vlad Redkin's vote for winning WSM '08: "He can do it!"

Larry Brock continued produce top throws on his way to winning the British Heavyweight (Highland Games) Championships.


Larry Brock gets his minerals after winning the the British Heavyweight (Highland Games) Championships. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Francis Brebner.

Bridge of Allan Highland Games - British Heavyweight Championship by Francis Brebner

"It was a fantastic competition at the Bridge of Allan Games in Stirlingshire, Scotland," said Larry Brock, "with a packed crowed of 10,000 spectators watching us throw as well as superb weather, which made it spot-on for throwing."

The British Heavyweight Championship got off to a good start with the 16-lb. open shot, and Aaron Neighbour from Melbourne, Australia, took the first event win with a putt of 50' 3"; in second was Scotland's Bruce Robb at 49' 6" and in third, Scotland's David Dowson at 49' 2".

In the 22-lb. open shot, Robb, with a putt 41' 7", went ahead of Neighbour for the win, leaving the Australian in second place with a putt of 40' 1" and Dowson in third at 39' 4".

But in the 16-lb. hammer, Larry Brock, with no pressure, won the event with a throw 142' 5"; Neighbour was second at 129' 9", and Robb just made it into third place at 126' 6".

Again in the 22-lb. hammer, Brock showed his masterful technique with a winning throw of 110' 3", with Robb in second at 97' 5" and Dowson in third at 96' 2".

For the British Championship title in the 56-lb. weight over the bar it was a fierce battle that was finally won by Neighbour with a toss of 15' 6"; Brock was second and Robb was third.

In the British Championship 56-lb. weight for distance event, this time Brock claimed the title with a throw of 41' 3", with Robb in second at 38' 9" and Neighbour in third with 31' 4".

In the final event, the open caber, which was 21 ft. long and 127 lb., it was a very close competition, with Brock just claiming victory over his rivals with a 12:00 toss; Robb was second with a 12:03 toss, and Neighbour third with 12:05.

After all the points were tallied, it was confirmed that Brock had indeed won the British Heavyweight Championship, with only one point separating the top three athletes, adding another title to Brock's very fast-growing collection.


Overall 2008 British Championships

1. Larry Brock, USA 35 points
2. Bruce Robb, Scotland, 34 points
3. Aaron Neighbour, Australia, 33 points

Larry Brock added, "One of the highlights of my trip to Scotland was the Aboyne Games and Bridge of Allan, but nothing can compare to the chance to go to Bill Anderson's house and visit with him for a little while after the Aboyne Games.  He is one of the greatest guys in the Games.  I really enjoyed the Northern Hotel and all they did for us, sponsoring us while we were on tour of the Scottish Games.

"I am very happy to be bringing back the British Heavyweight Championship title. Now I am looking forward to Pleasanton and the IHGF World Hammer Championships and will try and hold onto my world title that I won last year."

Canadian heavy events fans had a lot to cheer about this past weekend, as reported by Francis Brebner.


The Glengarry Highland Games by Francis Brebner

It was another big weekend for Canadian heavy events, with major competitions held at the Glengarry Highland Games in Maxville, Ontario, on Saturday and the Montreal Highland Games on Sunday.

In Maxville, in front of Canada's largest heavy events crowd of 20,000 people, Greg Hadley bested a field of 11 competitors to win the overall title. Four-time world masters champion Dirk Bishop, from Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, settled for second, with Markus Wand of Ontario, third.

Events at Glengarry began with the 22-lb. open stone putt. The Glengarry stone is known around the world for its difficulty, but there were still good distances thrown. Hadley won the event with a toss of 39' 11", about a foot and a half under his field record. Christoph Wand from Ontario sat at second with a throw of 36' 2", and Markus Wand came in third.

After the stone, rain clouds began to slide in and a downpour ensued. That didn't stop the athletes as they moved into the hammers. Hadley took first place honors in the 22-lb. hammer with a throw of 106' 4". Bishop was second at 102' 1".

Hadley also won the 16-lb. hammer with a best mark of 133' 2". Bishop hit 125', which was good for a seasonal best.

The weight for distance saw Hadley throw 41' 2" in the heavy weight for first place, and Dirk Bishop at 36' 7", mere inches under his personal best for second place.

The light weight, thrown in heavy rain, was won by Markus Wand, who hit a personal best distance of 73' 4". Hadley and Bishop followed in second and third, respectively.

Christoph Wand won the 56-lb. weight for height, clearing 15'.

The 16-lb. sheaf toss was a real show. Markus Wand won the event, hitting a massive 37'. He then took attempts at the world record of 39' 9" and was mere inches short.

The caber saw Bishop, Wand and Hadley go one, two, three. The caber was 21' and 100 lb.

The overall placings were Greg Hadley, first; Dirk Bishop, second; Markus Wand, third; and Christoph Wand, fourth.

The Montreal Highland Games, held the following day and also in heavy rain, were won by Greg Hadley. Markus Wand turned in a big performance to finish second, while Dirk Bishop came third.

Congratulations to Mark Vogels, who has just proven his mastery of the IronMind® Red Nail™, a benchmark short bend.

Mark lives in the Netherlands and he started bending last year, saying that he, "got hooked immediately." Next, Mark is going to be turning more of his attention to grippers and pinch gripping, he said, in his quest to "become a better all-around grip strength athlete."

IronMind would like to thank Dr. Stephen Stheeman for serving as Mark's official witness, and to Mark, we say, "Way to go! Your name has been to the Red Nail™ Roster®, the official list of men who have succeeded on this benchmark short bend."

"This weekend at the UK Tribute Team strongman championships, Laurence Shahleai and Rob Frampton set a record, we believe, in the two-man deadlift," Tom Jones reported to IronMind® yesterday.


Laurence Shahleai (left) and Rob Frampton (right) pulled 740-kg in the two-man deadlift. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Team Strongman.
 

"It's a big number," was Ken Brown's reaction, when IronMind® asked him whether or not he knew of an official world record. Ken is a world record-holder in the [one-man] Silver Dollar Deadlift, so considering the source, kudos were in order. And Colin Bryce - who is immersed in World's Strongest Man Super Series, Britain's Strongest Man, and World's Strongest Man - told IronMind®, "I am not sure if it's a world record or not, but I will say two things: it's very very impressive, and secondly, they are two very strong, good guys! Laurence is going to the Worlds [as in the World's Strongest Man contest] and finished fourth at BSM [Britain's Strongest Man]. Rob is also a massive deadlifter and runs a strongman gym."

Sounds like another thumbs up to us.

Back to Tom Jones's original report, here's how he called the action: "Lifting using a solid 2-inch bar, Big Loz (building up for his appearance at the World's Strongest Man competition) and Rob (a UK Strongest Man finalist) pulled 740 kg for the win in the event. With the solid bar you have no flex, so the men feel the full weight from the very start of the lift. What's even more amazing is that Rob pulled this weight with a fractured arm!"

Congratulations, guys - do we hear 750?

The Detroit Highland Games featured some of the top American Highland Games athletes competing in top form and Eric Frasure took top honors.

Francis Brebner has filed this report.


The Detroit Highland Game by Francis Brebner

This weekend at the Detroit Highland Games, a record crowd of 25,000 spectators saw records tumble and fierce competition between some of America's finest athletes, including Kerry Overfelt, Will Baron, Ryan Vierra, Dave Baron, Eric Frasure, Mark Valenti, Kurt Pauli, Lannie Pullon, and Doug Steiger.

In the 18-lb. open stone, Craig Smith showed top form, blasting out a putt of 51' 3" for a new field record, marginally breaking the ground record held by Ryan Vierra at 51' 1".

The 28-lb. weight for distance was won by Kerry Overfelt with a worthy distance of 85' 7".

In the 22-lb. hammer, Eric Frasure, who has been having a great season so far, kept up his winning form and did not let us down with a gigantic throw of 119' 6", establishing a new field record, breaking the previous ground record of 119' 1" held also by Vierra.

In the open caber, which was 19.6 ft. and 130 lb., it was Frasure with a perfect 12 o'clock toss that captured the win over his rivals.

In the 56-lb. weight over the bar, the records did not stop there, with Kerry Overfelt and Harrison Bailey III tying at 18' 6" to share the win, and joining Smith and Frasure in setting a new field record.

The next Games for Frasure will be in Portland, Maine, in two weeks time. The following week, "I will be in Pleasanton for the IHGF World Hammer Championships, which will be a very tough championships looking at the athletes who will be competing there, but I am looking forward to it," said Frasure.

Overall placings were Eric Frasure, first; Kerry Overfelt, second; and Harrison Bailey III, third.

It's my best show in 12 years!," exclaimed World Strongman Federation founder Vlad Redkin, describing his contest in Silichy, Belarus.


World Strongman Federation (WSF) president Vlad Redkin (middle left) and the winner of the WSF Belarus stage, Mariusz Pudzianowski (middle right). IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Vlad Redkin.
 

"We had 4,000 people and the weather was very good," Redkin told IronMind®. And he also had a competitor named Mariusz Pudzianowski, who more than left his mark on the field at Silichy, Belarus.

Here are the final places and points, officially:

1. Mariusz Pudzianowski (Poland) 82 points
2. Elbrus Nigmatullin (Russia) 63 points
3. Janne Virtanen (Finland) 62.5 points
4. Tarmo Mitt (Estonia) 57 points
5. Dave Ostlund (USA) 56 points
6. Stojan Todorchev (Bulgaria) 55 points
7. Artis Plivda (Latvia) 51 points
8. Christian Savoie (Canada) 45.5 points
9. Mark Felix (UK) 38 points
10. Sergei Rjumin (Belarus) 36 points
11. Mikhail Sidorichev (Russia) 32.5 points
12. Rolands Gulbis (Latvia) 22 points
13. Gregor Stegnar (Slovenia) 21.5 points
14. Alex Lapirev (Belarus) 3 points (injured)

"We had a major [strongman] competition this past weekend, with the highlight of Derek Boyer breaking an IFSA world record," Bill Lyndon told IronMind®.


Derek Boyer on his way to breaking the IFSA world record in the farmer's walk. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Bill Lyndon.
 

"Derek Boyer broke the world record for the 160-kg farmer's walk at the Northern Hercules Strongman Championships this weekend," said Bill Lyndon. " This record was held by Andrus Murumets with a time of 43.6 seconds for 50 meters (one turn on grass). Derek completed the distance in 32.5 seconds, breaking the record by more than 11 seconds. The record was officiated by three officials from our federation, the FASC."

Larry Brock won the Aboyne Highland Games in Scotland and Francis Brebner has reported on the action for IronMind®.


"Larry Brock is presented with the overall trophy by the Chieftain of the Games." IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Francis Brebner.

The Aboyne Highland Games by Francis Brebner

It was a great day of competition at the Aboyne Highland Games this weekend, in the heart of Royal Deeside in the north of Scotland.

More than 12,000 spectators turned out for the Games, which is part of the Glenffidich Championships League. Scotland's Bruce Robb, Steve Aitken, Bruce Aitken, Alistair Gunn, Murray Gunn, and Craig Sinclair shared top billing along with the international competitors, USA's Larry Brock, Australia's Aaron Neighbour, and Poland's Darius Slowik.

In the opening event, the 22-lb. open stone, Scotland's big Bruce Robb, with a putt of 43' 5", won the event, with Bruce Aitken in second at 40' and Australia's Aaron Neighbour in the third spot on 39'.

In the second event in the competition, the 16-lb. open stone, Robb again took a first place win, with a putt of 50' 5"; in second place was Bruce Aitken at 50' and third was Brock at 49' 10".

Going into the 56-lb. weight for distance, all eyes were on Brock, but to everyone's surprise, Robb took the win over Brock with a throw of 44' 5"; in second was Brock at 43' 10" and in third, Bruce Aitken at 37' 7".

In the 28-lb. weight for distance, Brock dominated his mastered event with a clutch throw of 81' 8" for a first-place win, with Robb having to settle for second at 78' 5" and Bruce Aitken in third at 76' 5".

The 24-lb. hammer was an excellent competition between the top three, with Bruce Aitken finally taking the win with a throw of 114' 5", with Brock in second at 108' and Bruce Aitken's brother, Steve Aitken, squeezing into third at 99' 9".
 

Once again in the 16-lb. hammer, it was Aitken with a throw of 134' 8" who marginally took the win over Brock, who placed second with 133' 6"; Steve Aiken was third with 124' 4".

Up until the hammers, Bruce Robb had been leading the competition, but he lost valuable points in the hammer events. In the caber, which was 21 ft. long and 145 lb., Robb reasserted himself with a toss of 2:30 to win the event, leaving both Brock and Aitken tied for second place with 85-degree attempts.

Now in the last event, the 56-lb. weight over the bar, this is where Robb needed the win if he stood any chance of taking the competition and going ahead of Brock. It was not to be as Brock nailed a winning throw of 15' 6", with Australia's Neighbour in second at 15' on countback, and Robb also at 15' for third.

The overall was placings were: Larry Brock, first; Bruce Robb, second; and Bruce Aitken, third.

Larry Brock said that he had a great time competing at Aboyne Games: "I was very happy with winning both the Aboyne and Glenffidich Championship Games, which is one in a series of Games leading to the great Royal Braemar Gathering, which is the final for the Glenffidich League."

"Now, I am looking forward to competing at the Bridge of Allan," Brock added, where he will be competing for the British Championships in the 56-lb. weight-for-distance and weight-over-the-bar titles.

Brock said, "I am feeling good at this point with my throwing; we will just have to see what happens on the day of competition for the British Championships events."