Europe’s Strongest Man 2023
Yesterday we crowned Britain’s Strongest Man, so now to find out the strongest in EUROPE!!!
Oleksii Novikov – Ukraine – World’s Strongest Man 2020 & Europe’s Strongest Man 2022
Konstantine Janashia – Georgia – 3rd at Europe’s Strongest Man 2022
Adam Bishop – England – Britain’s Strongest Man 2023
Gavin Bilton – Wales – 2nd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2023
Graham Hicks – England – 3rd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2023
Dennis Kohlruss – Germany
Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf – France
Shane Flowers – England
Pavlo Kordiyaka – Ukraine – World Open 2022 Winner
Pa O’Dwyer – Ireland – 5x Ireland’s Strongest Man
Eythor Melsted – Iceland
Paul Smith – England – UK’s Strongest Man 2022
Aivars Smaukstelis – 2nd at World Tour Finals 2022
A similar line up to last year, but with Luke Stoltman not participating after winning in 2021 and finishing second in 2022. However, the addition of Graham Hicks and Paul Smith, and a much improved and healthier Gavin Bilton, and of course the reigning Britain’s Strongest Man with all the momentum in Adam Bishop means that the chance of a Brit doing well is very good! That said, Novikov will be extremely difficult to beat!
Event 1 – Log Lift Ladder
5 massive logs weighing between 120kg and 180kg must be lifted in order in the fastest time possible! 180kg wouldn’t normally be an issue for the majority of these athletes, but lifting 4 other logs right before it with no rest in between means that it will feel like 280kg to them! However, this should be a good event for a number of strongmen such as Novikov, Janashia, Bishop, Hicks, Kordiyaka and Melsted. Hell probably a few others too! This might very well come down to times rather than number of lifts. Kohlruss was first with 3 lifts in 30.66 seconds, followed by Shane Flowers who was only able to lift 2 in 12.2 seconds. Coraboeuf managed 3 but in a slower time than Kohlruss. We join the action with Bishop taking on Kordiyaka. Bishop should do well but I see the Ukrainian beating him with relative ease. Kordiyaka manages 3 in a faster time than anyone so far, then continues onto 4, placing him in the current lead, but ensures he’ll definitely stay high in the points by lifting the 5th! Bish didn’t do as well as expected with only 2 lifts. Bilton against Melsted next, and I’d expect them both to at least lift 3. Melsted is making the first couple look easy, while Bilton is having no issues either but taking things a little slower to make sure he doesn’t make any mistakes. This pays off for him on the 3rd lift where he struggles, but he gave himself the time to balance himself and get it. He then gives the 4th lift an incredible attempt, very, very nearly lifting it. Melsted currently in second place with 4 in the fastest time. Pa O’Dwyer gets his chance next along with Janashia. Neither are breaking speed records, but get through the first 2 easy enough. The third lift causes problems for O’Dwyer who doesn’t get his balance and misses the lift. Janashia struggles but is given it despite his right arm not quite fully locked out, though he CAN’T fully lock it out due to an injury a few years ago. Not the best of performances from either man in all honesty. Hicks and Novikov now, and Novikov is off like a rocket. Only 3 for Hicks who could normally press a bus over his head, but he doesn’t seem to be on top form here. Novikov “only” manages 4 for a second place finish. For some reason they didn’t even show us a glimpse of Smith and Smaukstelis doing their lifts, so we don’t find out how they did until the results at the end. Which is odd because they both did very well! Bish on the other hand is in LAST PLACE, not the start the newly crowned Britain’s Strongest Man will have wanted.
Event 2 – Load & Push
120kg anvil,120kg sack and 100kg tyre must be loaded into the skip, and then pushed over the finish line in the quickest time possible! Fitness and speed will play the biggest part in this as everyone will have no real issues loading the objects into the skip. Should favour the likes of Kordiyaka, Novikov, and hopefully Bishop! 6 men have already gone, and Bishop sits on top at the moment in a time of 49.80 second. Smaukstelis, Smith, Janashia, Melsted and Kohlruss sit behind him. Can that time stand up against the rest? We’ll soon find out as Coraboeuf takes on Bilton! Bilton, despite his immense size has great speed and his fitness as improved each year. He makes light work of the loading, but with only 10 seconds to push the skip down the course I don’t see him beating Bish. He doesn’t, but gets a good time of around 52 seconds. 55ish for Coraboeuf. O’Dwyer and Flowers get their shot now. Flowers is just ahead loading the tyre, and he’s a few seconds quicker than Bilton starting to push the skip. Just over 50 seconds for him which puts him in 3rd, ahead of Bilton but still behind Bish and Smaukstelis! O’Dwyer a little slower than that. Novikov and Kordiyaka now and Kordiyaka should make mincemeat out of this course, and he does! Just over 44 seconds for him, while Novikov is just behind him but still ahead of Bish! Can anyone stop the Ukrainians? Much better result for Bishop, but he still has a lot of work to do in order to make up all the lost points from the first event.
Event 3 – Deadlift for Reps
First up, Graham Hicks is sadly out of the competition due to injury. He didn’t look right in the first event and it seems we know why. Now then, event 3! 350kg on the bar to be deadlifted as many times in 60 seconds. With Hicks out, that opens things up a little as he is a fantastic deadlifter. However Bishop is one of the best on the planet, both for reps and max weight, so there will still be a big fight for top spot with the likes of Novikov and Janashia. This could be a poor event for Kordiyaka though based on some previous competitions. Again, 6 men have already been and gone. Flowers and Melsted tie for current first with 6 reps, then Janashia surprising everyone with only 3 reps. Kohlruss and Bilton below that with only 2, and Coraboeuf on 1. Would have expected more from both Janashia and Bilton! First up for us to see are Smith and O’Dwyer. Not sure I’d expect them to reach 6, but then again I do always get surprised. And surprised I did as O’Dwyer gets to 7, while poor Smith only manages 1. Bishop and Smaukstelis are up next and I don’t expect the reps to stop too quickly here. 9 reps for Bish, while Smaukstelis equals with O’Dwyer with 7! Great lifting from both me. Finally its Novikov and Kordiyaka, and this might be the event that pushes Kordiyaka down the table and brings Bishop up. Novikov refuses to get anything less than 1st place, though he does have to tie with Bish. Kordiyaka gets 3 reps, which isn’t that good however does place him ahead of a few athletes to ensure he still gets points.
3 events down, so lets have a look at the overall scores!
That event definitely changed things up as Novikov is now on top, with Kordiyaka dropping 4 points down to second. Bishop has done well to climb up to 4th place, so he is still in with a shot at the podium if he can continue doing well. Sadly we lose another athlete as Gavin Bilton is out with an injury, which likely explains his poor showing in the deadlift.
Event 4 – Conan’s Wheel
A brutal event that, like the power stairs in Britain’s Strongest Man I talked about yesterday, could completely change up the leaderboard. Sometimes the most unexpected athletes can win and the guys at the top can fail spectacularly. However, the names at the top on this show so far are probably better suited to it than a lot of other guys. SO what do the strongmen have to do? Pick up around 300kg of weight on a big thick bar, hold it up to their chest, then walk for as long as possible around in a circle! Darren Sadler, one of the smallest WSM competitors is the current record holder at a massive 835 degrees, which has been untouched and unobtainable for anyone since 2016. Is today going to be the day? 6 men have been, with Bishop again leading the way with a fantastic 731 degrees, and Smaukstelis again just behind him with 710. Kohlruss, Flowers, Smith and Coraboeuf all behind those men. Up first then is Janashia who hasn’t been having the best competition so far, so he’ll want to get some big points here. Sadly he only manages 363 degrees. Kordiyaka now, and he should be very good at this. Easily passes Janashia’s mark and continues on to beat even Bishop! How much further can he go?!?! A NEW WORLD RECORD IS HOW FAR!!! 1009 degrees and the old world record has been SHATTERED! Poor Melsted has to try and follow that, but I don’t see anyone matching it except for Novikov, and even that is a maybe. Melsted has a great run, finishing at 760 degrees to knock Bishop down a place! He’s showing why he’s made the WSM Finals multiple times. O’Dwyer up next and he really, really wants this. He said in the video package he cares more about doing well in this event than the actual competition itself. 733 degrees is a great result, again knocking Bishop down a place! Finally we have Novikov. He knows what he has to beat, but can he do it? He beats the old world record, but cannot defeat his fellow countryman. A great result still!
That event doesn’t change too much at the top as Novikov and Kordiyaka are still taking up those top 2 places, with Smaukstelis currently in 3rd still as well. However it does mean Bish has been pushed down to 5th, making it much harder now for him to secure a podium finish, while Melsted has a slightly better chance at it.
Event 5 – Castle Stones
Time to finish off Europe’s Strongest Man with the classic Stones event! 5 of them weighing between 100kg and 180kg, all to be placed on platforms in the quickest time. 7 men have been and gone, with 5 of them lifting all 5 stones. On top though is Shane Flowers in a great time of 22.73 seconds. Janashia follows with 23.69 seconds, then Bishop at 26.32 seconds. Sadly that probably won’t be enough to see him on the podium. The final four are left to go, so we join the action with Melsted against Smaukstelis for third place! Smaukstelis is about a second ahead of Melsted on all stones and takes the win right now in just over 20 seconds. Melsted right behind him for current 2nd, pretty much solidifying 3rd place for Smaukstelis. Now its Novikov Vs Kordiyaka, with Novikov in the lead the entire time until the final stone where Kordiyaka takes it. Not only that, but Novikov is struggling with the final stone, unable to get it up, and that points difference means he drops into second place, and we have a NEW Europe’s Strongest Man!!!
There we have it. Kordiyaka is Europe’s Strongest Man, with Novikov 2nd, and Smaukstelis in 3rd. Great result for Shane Flowers too in 6th place ahead of some great strongmen!
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