A short look back from the strongman world championship from Lithuania by Jirka Vytiska!
Author: AUTHOR:Jiří Vytiska
When the best strongman Zydrunas ,, Big Z" Savicka sends you an invitation mail directly to the next World Log Lift Championship and again to the Open Pro category, you can't say no to it.
Although I must admit that I had such thoughts. This year has been a bit of a bummer for me, with a biceps injury and lack of funds to go to these races since the beginning of the season.
When I was able to defend my National Championship title at Loglift this year, I figured I would go after all. The World Log Lift Championship was held on Saturday , September 7, 2019 in Panevezys, Lithuania. This year's event was, compared to the previous ones, expanded with several amateur categories and it was rumored that several competitors from the Czech Republic were coming.
On Thursday, the day before my departure, Big Z texted me that I would be competing on Sunday, when the Savickas Classic strongman competition is held. No...... what I should have said to him. Friday morning my wife and I got in the car and headed to Lithuania. The hotel was beautiful, the breakfast delicious and lunch as it should be. They just take good care of their riders.
Shortly after lunch we moved on to the local square where the races were held. Here I met the guys from the Czech Republic, Honza Gruzska,Tomas Sikora and Filip Vasa. The amateurs raced until the morning and did not do badly at all. Two 3rd places and one 5th place in their categories. Hats off to the boys.
Honza Gruzska - Loglift 167,5kg
At 3pm it was our turn. A short and quick warm-up, actually as always, and off we go.
Everyone had only 3 attempts and the weight is up to each person. I put my starting weight at 170 kg and what happens next, we'll just have to see. I'm going to go for my turn. Every time I pick up a log for the first time and start repositioning, it's already telling me if it's going to work or if it's heavy as hell. 170kg was fine, repositioning was easy......no, and my right calf pulled in when I looked over my head. It didn't snap, it didn't pinch, it just pulled. Valid attempt and moving on. I put on another 180kg weight. The calf started to strike and in fact the whole leg. I couldn't lean on it at all. I tried stretching it, massaging it, same thing.
On the second attempt, where the weight was 180kg, I totally crashed and was unable to punch it out. And believe me, I was pretty pissed. What are you gonna do... just don't shit yourself.
So 3rd attempt and still 180kg. Shit, I'm just gonna pick it up and be done with it. And since I couldn't do it with my legs, I just pushed it in with my legs. So at least that's it. I lifted my max this year. And tied my record. That's a 9th place finish, but I'm still happy with that. It's important to remember that where I left off, some people started. The winner was Rongo Keene from Australia, lifting 207.5 kg. And I have to mention Fero Piros from Slovakia who finished 3rd with 200kg.
Jirka Vytiska - loglift third attempt 180kg
Frantisek Piros -loglift 200kg
When I woke up in the morning, I couldn't get out of bed. My calf was sore. So some stretching, a massage, and then we're starting after lunch. I walked to the square where the race was being held. I thought for a minute I was gonna go for it, but .......... just no way. I'm gonna fight, I'm not a pussy. 7 disciplines, 10 competitors. Long story short. My calf was limiting me, I couldn't move anything, let alone lift it. To pull off a 400kg Super Yoke and a 180kg Atlas for reps was the universe. Oh, and 300kg on squats for reps not to mention. The only thing I could sort of do was tire, sled pulls and forearm holds.
In the end it was back to 9th place, but I didn't give up.
It was a great day among amazing people who are on the same level. It was an amazing weekend with my wife Mishicka. Thank you for everything, love. Even coming all this way for a race. We could have gone to the sea.I also want to thank Petr Zámiškov and Prášilský Ráj, Venc Mráz and Bcross Gym České Budějovice and especially Kulturistika.com!
Without them it would not have been possible.
Keep up the good work and see you later.
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