Sebastian Wenta won the Callander Highlander Challenge last weekend and Colin Bryce called the action for IronMind®.

Here’s the lineup for 2009 Callendar Highlander Challenge.  IronMind® | Photo courtesy of Gregor Edmunds.

 

2009 Callander Highlander Challenge

Reported by Colin Bryce



Entering its 25th year, the two-day event at Callander, Scotland is regarded as one of the most prestigious Highland Games on the circuit.  Callander, known as the Gateway to the Highlands, sported stunning blue skies on day one and that was enough to secure a six thousand strong crowd.  The people of the Trossachs are used to amazing athletes competing in both strongman and Highland Games, and since the introduction of the Highlander Challenge, Dr. Douglas Edmunds made the 2009 Callander Highlander Challenge perhaps the most star-studded lineup yet, including the seemingly unbeatable Pole Sebastian Wenta, who is now the three-time Highlander Challenge world champion.  With the addition of 3 Olympians, Edmunds produced a mouth-watering display of talent. 


The first day kicked off with the light stone put, and with 5 of the 10 men being 60’ shot putters, it was a real battle.  Emeka Udechuku, British Olympic discus thrower, adapted to the grass surface with relative ease, although another battle was apparent between the English Highland Games champion Scott Rider and the Wenta brothers.

All three men peppered the 58’ mark, but it was Sebastian who took the win with a put just shy of 59’.

In the 28-lb. weight for distance, the fans had a multitude of 80’ throwers fighting it out. The current Scottish Highland Games champion Gregor Edmunds started to show a bit of form. Just three months ago he had had surgery on his elbow, but here he started to find his rhythm. Sadly some monster warm-up throws didn’t appear in the competition itself; instead it was the Braemar champion Scott Rider who won with a throw just short of 84’.



Another highlight on day one was big Mike Zolkiewicz in the 20-lb. sheaf toss, taking the all-comers Scottish record to a staggering 33’.  With Stefan Solvi Pettursson and Udechuku hot on his heels, he pulled out a tremendous throw to be the only man clear at 32’.  The crowd could hardly believe their eyes when he went for the full height of the stands and nailed the 33’ throw. 



Day one ended with the pole push, and it was the two heavyweights, Kyrylo Chuprynin and Sebastian Wenta, who really got the crowd going. The Ukrainian Olympic discus thrower took advantage of Wenta’s fatigue from previous rounds, getting under the 360-lb. pole and driving him out of the circle after a good minute of deadlock. 
In day two, the world-class throwing continued with the recent world record-holder on the 56-lb. weight for height, Zolkiewicz, doing 17’ 9” on a fairly dour weight.  His attempts at 18’ all came down on the bar and sadly on the wrong side.  Callander, of course, has an amazing legacy of 56-lb. weight throws, with the likes of Mikhail Koklyaev, Wout Zjilstra, and Vasil Virastyuk throwing over 18’.  The combination of traditional heavy events and ancient strength contests was hailed as a triumph by the fans and athletes present.

In day two, the world-class throwing continued with the recent world record-holder on the 56-lb. weight for height, Zolkiewicz, doing 17’ 9” on a fairly dour weight.  His attempts at 18’ all came down on the bar and sadly on the wrong side.  Callander, of course, has an amazing legacy of 56-lb. weight throws, with the likes of Mikhail Koklyaev, Wout Zjilstra, and Vasil Virastyuk throwing over 18’.

The combination of traditional heavy events and ancient strength contests was hailed as a triumph by the fans and athletes present.