Giants Live 5 – Leeds
Had a break for christmas, but now WSM is back! Last time we had the Deaflift event, which was the first event for the Europe’s Strongest Man competition, which will be continued here! Our athletes are:
Stefan Solvi Petersson – Iceland
Hafhor Bjornsson – Iceland (2x reigning Europe’s Strongest Man)
Terry Hollands – Great Britain
Mark Felix – Great Britain
Laurence Shahlaei – Great Britain
Marius Lalas – Lithuania
Adam Bishop – Great Britain
Dimitar Savatinov – Bulgaria
Johannes Arsjo – Sweeden
Mateusz Kieliszkowski – Poland
Eddie Hall has retired from the competition following his epic 500kg deadlift. He’s resting up for the World’s Strongest Man.
A quick reminder of how everyone did in the Deadlift Championships
Event 2 – Frame Carry
Over 400kg picked up and run down a 20m course! Hopefully the guys aren’t all too tired from the deadlift!
Dimitar against Arsjo kicked things off, with Arsjo winning in 11.05 ahead of the already impressive time set by Lalas! Can the 50 year old Felix do better? And can he beat Laurence? Felix goes down half way, but is able to recover in a decent time. Laurence though? 10.10! Terry Hollands gets the fun task of going head to head with THOR! Neither beat Laurence, but still get good times under 12 seconds. Sadly, Lalas injured his biceps in this event, and Petterson tore his achilles tendon.
Event 3 – Log Lift
Most reps in 75 seconds wins! Oh, and its 160kg!
Mark Felix is unable to get a single rep at this weight, especially after the deadlift and frame carry no doubt tiring him out. Adam Bishop managed 1, which I think it a pretty good result considering the circumstances!
Poland’s Kieliszkowski gets to face the world log lift champion Dimitar Savatinov! ‘Kowski is going very well, getting 8 reps compared to Dimitar’s 4! Dimitar likely able to beat him with max weight, but reps isn’t his strongest event. Poland are usually always excellent at pressing for reps though! Hollands and THOR going at it again in what is neither man’s best event. 3 for Terry and 5 for Thor. Shahlaei and Arsjo next, and they finish with 3 and 5 reps respectively. This is shaping up to be one of the toughest log press for reps events I’ve seen!
Event 4 – Car Walk
450kg car to be lifted and run down a course. Simple!
Felix and Bishop up first. They should both finish, but I don’t see them having a winning time. Hollands and Shahlaei going head to head next! Laurence is the world record holder, but Hollands also loves this event and will want to beat him. Wow, Hollands is left in the wind while Shahlaei wins in 11.05 seconds to break his own world record!!! And this is heavier than the previous car! I don’t think even the might Thor can top that! Savatinov and Thor now know exactly what needs to be done, but I don’t think it can be done. Thor is actually behind, and really struggles! Both finish, but neither come close to that record. Mateusz and Arsjo go last, and both beat out Thor, putting a bigger points gap between the reigning champ and Laurence!
With only one more event to go, and with Thor taking LAST place in the car walk, lets have a look at those scores:
Laurence is now 3 and a half points ahead of the reigning champion, but he’s still going to have to work VERY hard to beat Thor in the stones. Meanwhile Hollands, Arsjo and Kielsiszkowski all have a chance for that podium finish, and could even upset Thor is something goes wrong for the Icelander!
Event 5- The Atlas Stones
Felix went first, only managing 4 stones. Bishop on the other hand for all 5 in 45.73, which won’t be a winning time. Dimitar does it slightly faster, and Mateusz faster still. Thor and Hollands once again going head to head. Hollands makes a mistake and drops the first stone, while Thor finishes all 5 in 18.16 seconds! That time may very well help him retain his title. A bad event for Terry means he won’t get a podium finish, and unless Arsjo messes up too, Mateusz won’t get that 3rd place either. It’s all really down to what Shahlaei can do! Shahlaei and Arsjo are last, and we could see something special for English strongmen! 5 stones for Laurence in 30.80 seconds and that means… THAT MEANS LAURENCE SHAHLAEI IS THE NEW EUROPE’S STRONGEST MAN!!!
The overall scores are:
A new world record and the first Britain to win Europe’s Strongest Man since 1989!!! On top of that, he beat out THOR, one of the top strongmen in the entire world! PLUS, Laurence almost retired due to injures but has come back and gotten better than ever! Awesome!
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