Strongman's Games Aš 2023 | Results and reportage

On May 20, 2023 in Aš Sady Míru a feast of all strongmen took place. One of the best Czech strongmen, if not the best, organized with his team the twelfth edition of Strongman's Games Aš. Čestmír himself has not been competing for two years, but he actively organizes and prepares the competition, so it is always a perfect spectacle.

This year the competitors competed in five tough events, in most cases inspired by this year's edition of one of the great and famous 2023 Britain's Strongest Man competitions.

• Deadlift ladder
• Super Yoke
• Axle lift
• Loading race
• Power stairs

On that day, besides the top show of professional strongmen, also amateur fighters presented themselves. So there were two competitions. The composition of the disciplines was the same for all of them, only the weight of individual equipment differed. Leoš Kubeš, a well-known voice of Czech strongman competitions, accompanied the competition with his voice and informed the enthusiastic spectators about everything.

Amateur strongmen were the first to present themselves in the competition, there were 20 of them. How did they do in individual disciplines? Let's see.

Amateur competition

Deadlift Ladder

I've already described in detail the successive deadlift lifting of dumbbells. A huge crowd favorite, the deadlift is one of the basic strength exercises that tests the brute strength every strongman needs. The amateur competitors lifted 260, 280, 300, 320 and 340 kg in succession. Note again, these are amateur competitors and yes, they really did lift brutal weights like this. There was only one zero in the discipline, meaning that 19 fighters managed at least 260 kg, a fantastic feat. On the other hand, none of the fighters managed 340 kg. As the intermediate time was still being measured on the individual attempts, the determination of the winner was clear. Third place for 300 kg went to Petr Klich, second place to Jan Lacina, for the same weight but faster time. Jakub Navratil was the only competitor who lifted 320 kg in the time limit and took the gold in the discipline.

Super Yoke

The first of the running disciplines, the super yoke tests primarily the middle of the body and in a way also speed with a loaded load. Amateur competitors carried 380 kg over a distance of 20 meters. Most of the competitors managed the entire distance. Ondrej Batelka took third place in the event, he completed the course in a time of 14.16 seconds. The second place was taken by Jan Lacina, who was very well prepared, in 13.51 seconds. Fanda Nový won the discipline by a few tenths, i.e. in 13.23 seconds.

Axle press

Thick axle axle loaded to 120 kg. The competitor's goal is the maximum number of repetitions within the time limit of 60 seconds. The spectacle of the duel between the iron weight and the competitor was simply luxurious. A total of 5 competitors took the bronze with their four repetitions. They were Vojtěch Halma, Lukáš Tesar, Marek Kubis, Adam Kostura and Fanda Nový. Patrik Navara took the silver with one more repetition, i.e. five. The gold in the six repetitions discipline was deservedly taken by Jan Lacina.

Loading Race

The discipline of carrying different objects over different distances, this time it was a medley, i.e. several activities combined into one discipline. The competitors had to carry a 100 kg tyre for 20 metres, then a 120 kg barrel for 20 metres, then a 120 kg suitcase in each hand for 10 metres and last a metal cross weighing 160 kg again for 10 metres. The aim of the discipline was to completely exhaust the competitors and also to test their lungs. I think it was successful. The third place went to Fanda Nový, who completed the whole course in 49.45 seconds. Second place Jan Lacina in 48,06. First place Jakub Navrátil, who flew through the track just faster, in 47,93.

Power Stairs

Power Stairs, a standard discipline in Aš, is particularly difficult because it is ranked last. Picking up weights of 200 kg, 240 kg and 280 kg each for a total of 4 stairs is a treat in itself. The movement is a combination of deadlift and duck-walking. Here again I can point out that none of the competitors gave 280 weights, but all of them fought with the last remnants of their strength. Since the intermediate times were not counted here, many competitors got the same result, so I will single out only the three best fighters. Michal Širůčka managed a great 240 kg on the second step. Fanda Nový and Patrik Rada managed to get the same weight, 240 kg on the last, fourth step and took the first place.

The amateur competition was very interesting, the spectators definitely came into their own. Jan Lacina won with his steady performance and comprehensive strength, congratulations.

Professional race

The highlight of the whole day, without in any way wanting to disparage the performances and results of the amateur competitors, was the professional strongman competition. Here we could see a comparison of the strength of the best of the best that our little republic can have. At the same time it was very interesting to see the intergenerational change of competitors that we are going through. On one stage stood the "Brno beasts" who literally dominated last year's professional strongman league, yes I am talking about Lukáš Pepř and Ondřej Fojtů from the Brno SPC gym. And against them stood the matadors of Czech strongman sport and winners of the Czech professional league in the past years Pavel Zadražil and Lukáš Svoboda. Together with the Czech strongman top team, the competition was also joined by a European competitor, Polish fighter Robert Cyrwus. In total, twelve strongmen presented themselves on the pro stage.

Deadlift Ladder

The first discipline started and with a loud roar of spectators everything went exactly on time and according to plan. The professional competitors had the bar a little higher, so they successively lifted 300 kg, 320 kg, 340 kg, 360 kg and 380 kg. The vast majority had no problem with the base weight, but again, as with the amateurs, the heaviest loaded barbell remained unbeaten. Right at the beginning of the competition, Lukas Pepř took the third place with the best time of 340 kg. Two other strongmen surpassed him and both lifted 360 kg. The one slightly slower and therefore taking second place in the discipline was Robert Cyrwus. Ondrej Fojtů took the initial first place for himself, also with 360 kg, but with about five seconds faster time. Great job. Unfortunately, strongman sport has its share of injuries and this time the Black Peter was drawn by Tomáš Sikora from Brno, who injured his hamstring. Tomáš didn't deny the soul of a fighter and finished the race, but it was obvious that he did it with great self-denial and unfortunately it affected his overall result...

Super Yoke

This year's Super Yoke was definitely not the hardest in Aš, it was already 650 kg. This time, however, the goal was speed. Half of the competitors did not get over the whole distance of 20 meters, but the other half literally flew through the yoke. The third place went to the giant Luboš Kliencký, who managed to cross the track in 17.58 seconds. Second place with a time of 15.74 went to Lukáš Pepř, who had been struggling with back problems over the winter, but no hesitation was visible here. However, the Polish Robert Cyrwus literally ran away from everyone by a steamer, leaving everyone behind, and I must say that even the dust behind his trail managed to fall back to earth, with a time of 10.29 seconds he took the clear first place, more than 5.5 seconds faster than Lukáš.

Axle Press

It's halfway through the race and already the provisional result is starting to take shape. The Strongmen had to get 150 kg on the 5 cm thick axle by any means. That it was not easy at all and that the body is already tired proves the fact that five competitors failed to do it even once and unfortunately had to add a zero to their point total. I know that training weight is not such a big problem for them. You could see how Tomas Sikora fights unbelievably, but unfortunately it didn't go to the full, Tomas managed 2 reps. Štěpán Bystřinec, Luboš Kliencký and Matyáš Funiok managed one more, i.e. 3 reps. I would like to mention Matyáš here, he did a really great performance, because he is only 17 years old. The first place was shared by three competitors, all excellent pushers Ondřej Fojtů, Lukáš Pepř and Robert Cyrwus. But if points should be given for effect, Robert deserves extra points as he literally tore the first two reps. Nice.

Loading Race

Let's warm up again, the professional strongmen in this discipline got properly loaded. They were tasked with carrying a 140 kg tyre for 20 metres, a 120 kg barrel for 20 metres, then continued with the farmer's walk, i.e. 150 kg suitcases in each hand for 10 metres and finishing with a 160 kg cross for 10 metres. I would compare the cross to a Husafell stone, or Africa stone, only made of metal just in the shape of a cross, whether it is better for grip or not is for the competitors to say, either way its weight is certainly not negligible, more so having done it all before. The fourth discipline has just begun. Ondra Fojtů took bronze with a time of 59.91 seconds and carried all the weights in the discipline. The silver place went to Lukáš Pepř, who did everything in a great 53.64 seconds. The gold in the discipline was won by Robert Cyrwus, who competed well and was very well prepared, and there was neither fatigue nor the fact that he was even out of breath. He ran the whole course in 40.45 seconds and with absolute ease and grace.

Power stairs

Again the Axis power stairs, this time exactly the same as the amateur strongmen had. Even the pros lifted 200 kg, 240 kg and 280 kg weights, each for four stairs. Although it may not seem like it at first glance, this is a very technical discipline. It's experience that can make the difference here. The third place was shared by Lukáš Pepř, Ondřej Fojtů and Matyáš Funiok, who all managed to get the lighter weights to the top and the heaviest 280 kg to the first step. When I mentioned the experience, I was referring mainly to the performance of the second place, where both fighters managed to put the heaviest weight one step higher, i.e. on the second step. Lukáš Svoboda and Pavel Zadražil did it. The winner of the discipline was again Robert Cyrwus, who gave a huge and exemplary show. He managed to get 280 kg on the third step, one step below the complete completion of the discipline, but it was enough to win.

It's the end of the competition, the results are counting and a moment of suspense arises, but the attentive spectator or reader is clear. The whole day spent in Aš was an amazing event for the spectators, which, as usual, had no fault in terms of organization. Čestmír knows exactly what the race should have to be enjoyed by both the spectators and the competitors themselves. The spectators cheered wildly and certainly came into their own, even during the spectator and children's competitions that filled the time between each discipline. The competitors had great service and attitude, moreover, as usual, Čestmír and his team provided the competitors with literally above-standard reward in the form of prizes. And once again I will come back to Čestmír, that the heart of a strongman still beats in him was not only seen in the great competitions, but also in the fact that he let himself get heated and just showed to the spectators and other competitors that he can still stair his strength and that his brutal strength has not diminished so much after his racing career. In fact, he managed the same performance as Robert Cyrwus, i.e. one step below completing the discipline. And that's even with the fact that he's become an accomplished bodybuilder. At least in physique. I also have a small thanks to Pepa Zahora, whom I thank for his great photos.

Overall, everyone did great in the competition, unfortunately for Tomas Sikora, who could not show his best results, for which he had trained. But the top three competitors are as follows. Ondra Fojtů, great third place with a score of 50 points. Lukáš Pepř is one point ahead of him and takes home the silver place to his home SPC gym. The overall win goes to Poland together with Robert Cyrwus, a European, if not world-class competitor. Congratulations.