Making a clean sweep of things this weekend, Bruce Robb won the Aberdeen Highland Games.

Francis Brebner filed this report for IronMind®.
 

2009 Aberdeen Highland Games
by Francis Brebner

Yesterday’s Aberdeen Highland Games were blessed with splendid weather conditions, which brought out more than 15,000 spectators.
 
Gregor Edmunds joined the star-studded lineup fresh from his victory last week in Bressuire, France, where he won the European Highland Games Championships.
 
Other big-name athletes, such as Bruce Robb, Craig Sinclair, and Stephen Aitkin, were also in the lineup.
 
Athletes began with the 22-lb. open stone, with a very strong fight between Edmunds and Robb, with Robb finally taking the win with a put of 45’ 4" .  Second was Edmunds with 43' 5", and third was Sinclair with 41'.
 
In the 16-lb. open stone, again Robb dominated with a winning distance of 53' 3"; second was England's David Dawson with 50' 5" and third and just a few inches behind was Aitkin with 50' 3".
 
The 28-lb. weight for distance was a close competition between Edmunds, Robb and Sinclair.  Edmunds snatched the win with a noble throw of 79' 5"; second was Robb at 78' 8" and third was Sinclair at 77' 9".
 
With the 22-lb. hammer, Sinclair let fly with the winning throw of 104' 6", with Robb in second with 100' 8".  Edmunds was in third with 100' 4", which was well below par for him.  Edmunds was suffering from an elbow injury but was coping quite well despite this setback to his performance.
 
In the next event, the 16-lb. hammer, Sinclair was going all out, giving no ground to his rivals, and he won this event with a distance of 125' 3".  Second was Edmunds with 121' 7" and third was Aitkin with 118' 4".
 
The caber was an interesting event indeed with Edmunds showing us his full power, being the only athlete to toss this mighty 19' 130-lb. caber, which had no taper at all, making it that much harder to judge the timing of the toss. And toss this mighty stick he did for a 12:12, for which Edmunds received a wave of thundering applause and cheers from the many thousands of spectators who had come to watch this mighty Highland Games super star in action.
 
In the last event, the 56-lb. weight over the bar, it was Robb who took the final win at a height of 15' 6"; second equal were Edmunds and Sinclair at 15'.
 
Overall top three for the Aberdeen Highland Games:

1. Bruce Robb
2. Gregor Edmunds
3. Craig Sinclair
 
Top four overall in the Glenffidich Open Championship League after three events:

1. Bruce Robb      106 points 
2. Craig Sinclair    89 
3. Stephen Aitken 84.5
4. David Dowson  53
 
Top four in the Junior Qualifying League (18-25 years old):
 
1. Sinclair Patience 86.5 points
2. John McLeod      71 
3. Lorne Colthart     45 
4. Dale Walker        44
 
The next event in the Glenffidich League will be at Drumtochty Highland Games on June 27.