Promoted by Roman Zagoruiko and Dmitro Ionov, the Open Bars Challenge armlifting and armwrestling tournament in Kiev drew athletes from around Ukraine and featured three grip strength favorites:

• Rolling Thunder
• Captains of Crush (CoC) Silver Bullet Hold

• Little Big Horn



The competitors included:


• Lidia Gynko - strongwoman # 2 rank in the world
• Olga Lyashchuk - strongwoman # 3 rank in the world
• Artem Ushenko – strongman, bronze medalist of Ukrainian team championship, 2015
• Dmytro Ionov - armwrestler, Champion of Ukraine in 110 weight class, winner of the Cup of Ukraine in 110+ weight class, Master of Sports of Ukraine, 6th place in the World Championships,110 kg weight class, 2016
• Roman Zagoruiko – record-holder of Ukrainian Federation of Armlifting on Rolling Thunder
• Igor Kupinsky: a past world record holder on the CoC Silver Bullet Hold




Here are the top three places by event, for the men. 



Rolling Thunder

1. Roman Zagoruiko - 103 kg

2. Artem Ushenko - 100 kg
3. Dmitry Ionov - 93 kg



CoC Silver Bullet Hold
• 80 kg weight class (CoC No. 1.5)

1. Shcherbachov Volodymyr - 36.6 seconds 

2. Lapin Olexiy - 35.43 seconds 

3. Martinenko Mykola - 26 seconds 



• 100 kg weight class (CoC No. 2) 

1. Zagoruiko Roman - 41.09 seconds

2. Grunsky Dmytro - 34.57 seconds 

3. Lapin Olexiy - 33.07 seconds 



• 100+ kg weight class - СoC No. 2.5 

1. Semenov Dmitro - 31.15 seconds 

2. Ushenko Artem - 27.43 seconds 

3. Grunsky Dmitro - 23.43 seconds 



Little Big Horn

1. Igor Kupinsky - 111.2 kg 

2. Grunsky Dimitro - 75 kg 

3. Semenov Dmytro – 65 kg 



APL director Dmitriy Suhovarov noted that developmental contests such as the APL Kiev Armlifting Championships are a vital tool for “increasing the popularity of the sport, preparing each region of the country for national championship, and beyond. They provide a platform for identifying and developing athletes who can go on to compete at the APL World Championships and I look forward to welcoming some of these athletes to St. Petersburg next year.”

    
                                                        ###



You can also follow IronMind on Twitter, Instagram and on Facebook.                        



Want to talk grip, strongman, weightlifting . . . everything strength? Visit the IronMind Forum.