World’s Strongest Man 2016 – Heat 3


 

Heat 3

 

4 men have already qualified for the WSM Final, and now 6 more athletes will be fighting for another 2 places! They are:

 

Terry Hollands – Great Britain

Hafthor Bjornsson – Iceland

Colm Woulfe – New Zealand

Konstantine Janashia – Georgia

Derek Devaughan – USA

Johnny Hansson – Sweeden

 

Hollands and Thor are the odds on favourites, but can Hollands make another final after a year in retirement?

 

Event 1 – Loading Race

 

Its those big barrels again that need to be lifted, run down a course and loaded into a platform! Woulfe and Janashia are totally new to me, while Devaughan I remember from Giants Live. He had some good events, so he could do well here. Most men try to grip the lip of the barrel lids in this event to pick them up and carry the, but Devaughan BEAR HUGS them onto the platform and is the only man of the 3 to finish! Hansson, Thor and Hollands are the next to take on this event. Thor wastes no time lifting these heavy barrels up and running them down the course. Hollands is struggling, dropping the second barrel and letting Hansson overtake him. Thor wins with ease, while Hollands leaves the third barrel and Hansson JUST finishes with less than a second to spare.

 

 

Event 2 – Fingal’s Fingers

 

This event suits the tall men, and well, pretty much everyone in this heat is a giant! I expect Thor to run through these like they were nothing, while hopefully Hollands can get some points back following a disappointing 4th place in the first heat.

Woulfe and Janashia go first and both get 4 fingers! Hansson and Hollands are the first to go for us to see. Hollands looks very slow on the first finger, allowing Hansson to charge ahead of him. Both get 4, and Hansson even manages to power over that 5th! He’ll get some good points with that result. Hollands currently in third. THOR and Devaughan time! Hansson’s time for 5 was 50.52. Thor does it 6 seconds quicker, but could have done it faster had he not show boated so much. Devaughan does 4, but in a slow time and takes 5th.

 

 

Event 3 – Keg Toss

 

The bar starts at 5.5 metres, and keeps going up!

2 men have been and are eliminated from the competition, as we now get to the 7 metre mark! Janashia is the first to try out the near world record height, but fails to get a barrel over. Hollands is up next to give it a go. His first try gets nowhere near, so it will be a surprise if he makes it. Sadly he doesn’t. Hansson’s first barrel clips the bar but falls the wrong way. His second smacks into the bar too. His third doesn’t get the height either, and he too is out. Now its time for THOR, the world record holder in this event to give it a go! His record is 7.10 metres, so he SHOULD be able to get 7 here. Yep. First time, over with ease. Will he attempt a new world record though? Yes he is! 7.15 metres! And in a surprise to nobody, the barrel flies over! Thor is coming for that WSM title!

 

 

3 events down and a new world record, lets see the overall points:

 

 

Thor is in firm control of the group, with 3 event wins out of 3 so fat. Hansson is looking good in 2nd place, while Hollands is slowly climbing his way back up after 2 bad events at the start. If he makes it to the final again this year, it will be his 10th!

 

Event 4 – Deadlift

 

This event will hopefully get some points back for Terry, and Thor will be doing well again no doubt as he’s one of the best in the world when it comes to a single weight.

Woulfe and Devaughan have done, with 4 for Devaughan and 5 for Wolfe. Hollands goes head to head with Janashia, who according to Magnusson, is a great deadlifter. Those 5 reps are easily beaten by both men, with Hollands getting 9 and looking to maybe have hurt himself, and 10 for Janashia! So how many will Thor do? Not so much how many CAN he do, but simply will he do, as he’s already way in front in the group. Hansson struggles to get just 2, while Thor gets to 6 and decides he doesn’t need any more. A 3rd place for him is just fine.

 

 

Event 5 – Dumbbell Press

 

A very difficult event, so its anyone’s guess who will do well here.

Woulfe and Devaughan have been and gone with 4 reps each. A good result for both men in this hard event tbh. Hollands and Janashia are head to head again. Hollands doesn’t look too good after the first rep, but his second is much better. Janashia is faster by 1 rep and doing well, already reaching 4 reps with 30 seconds to go. Hollands only just gets a third rep, with Janashia on 5 for the current first place. This is NOT good for Hollands in his attempt to make another final. Again I think this is going to be a case of how many WILL Thor do rather than what CAN he do. Hansson did poorly in the deadlift, so will he redeem himself here? It doesn’t seem like it as he can’t even manage a single rep right now. Thor takes his time, gets 6 for the win and calls it a day.

 

 

One event to go, here are the scores:

 

 

Thor continues his domination of the group, and is basically guaranteed a spot in the final now. Hollands’ chance of a 10th final is looking iffy atm, but if he can do well in the stones, and Janashia not so well, the double points could work well in his favour.

 

Event 6 – The Atlas Stones

 

As always, it all comes down to the stones!

Woulfe and Devaughan have gone first, as they had no chance of qualifying. Both men got 3 stones, so they can be happy with that regardless of not making it to the final. Once more, Hollands Vs Janashia is taking place. Hollands NEEDS to do very well here. He needs to beat Janashia and have at least one of the other 2 men place between them. Both are tied on 4 points, and Janashia almost gets it but makes a huge mistake. Hollands almost has it too but also drops it, and now both men have finished on 4th. Hollands did beat Janashia, but they were very close so having either Thor or Hansson getting in between those times will be a miracle tbh. Thor isn’t putting any effort here and still gets all 5 in 23 seconds. Insane! Now, where will HANSSON place? below Hollands AND Janashia. Damn.

 

 

The final scores are:

 

 

Thor easily won, no surprise there, but the shocker is that a newcomer in Janashia is through, while Terry Hollands fails to make the final for the first time since 2005!

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