Agromex - Fendt Strongman Brno 2023 | Results and reportage

Up to the Moravian capital, that's exactly how I started last weekend. On Saturday, August 19, 2023, the 8th edition of the great Strongman competitions took place there, which are interesting for the competitors because of the often novel disciplines and great preparation, but also very attractive for the spectators. The races are held in the parking lot at the Olympia Brno, so there is plenty of space everywhere.

This year's edition is marked by two races in the morning with the beginners, and in the afternoon with the amateur league.

The organizers are the people around SPC Gym from Brno, which we can safely say has become such a strongman hatchery of Czech record holders, especially Ondra Zadžora, a retired professional strongman and thanks to whom the competitions look like they do. Also Tomáš Sikora, another professional strongman and other people from their team. Jaroslav Svoboda, a professional strongman and also the guitarist of Pepek the Sailor's band Biceps, was the voice at the microphone and accompanied the whole race.

Both competitions have common disciplines, they differ only in the weight of individual tools.
This year the competitors will compete in:

• Tractor pull
• Loglift for repeats
• Sandpags medley
• Super Yoke + Axle lift
• Atlas stone

Beginner race

A total of 23 novice or unregistered strongmen entered first thing in the morning at 9am. And they threw themselves into the race like an avalanche, i.e. hard.

Tractor Pull

Tractor pull is such a classic in Brno, why not, it looks great and at the same time tests the strength of individual fighters. The beginners were pulling a tractor weighing 3 tons. Only 4 fighters managed to pull it on the track about 20 meters to the finish. Third place went to Jaroslav Mandík with a time of 45,04. Second place went to Tomas Stoupa, who completed the course in 39 seconds. The first victory in the discipline was won by Martin Máša in 38.16 seconds.

Loglift

A weight of almost 100 kg, until recently a weight that was lifted by amateur fighters, today by beginners and even by the performances it can be seen that it is not so much. 4 competitors managed 5 repetitions - Lukáš Sedláček, Matěj Fidler, Eda Školoud, Jaroslav Mandík and Martin Onderka. However, two competitors managed to set 8 reps. They were Daniel Doležal and Ondřej Šoukal.

Sandbag medley

A bag weighing 90 kg was carried + at the end smaller bags were then thrown 2 times over a bar at a height of 4.2 metres. 16 kg and 20 kg were thrown. Which proved to be a very difficult discipline. Everyone really hit rock bottom here. Only 2 competitors managed to finish the discipline. Tomas Stoupa with a time of 55.11 seconds. And the winner of the discipline Martin Masha, who with a time of 30.3 seconds showed that he really has the strength.

Super Yoke + Axle lift

If the competitors still had any strength left after the previous disciplines, this was the final one. The combination of the 240 kg Super Yoke 2x 10m and the Axle lift 2x overhead weighing 100 kg was downright killer. Anyway, about half of the starting field made it through the entire discipline. Martin Onderka took bronze, Ondřej Šoukal silver and Daniel Doležel was the winner of the discipline.

Atlas Stones

A popular discipline, I have written about it several times, most of the world races end with it, so why not here in Brno. The competitors had the task to toss a goat with an atlas stone within the time limit, they had a choice of 104 kg or 120 kg, and again the rule was that one toss with a heavier stone is more than all tosses with a lighter one. That is why most of the competitors chose the heavier stone and frankly, they had no problem with it. 7 valid attempts were made by Jiří Feyrer and Vojta Slavík, 8 valid attempts were made by Tomáš Stoupa and Martin Máša.

After adding up the results, which was absolutely smooth and correct, it came out that Martin Máša took the bronze, Martin Onderka the silver and Vojta Slavík the gold trophy and the title of the strongest beginner from Brno.

Amateur race

Shortly after lunch, i.e. at 1 pm, the amateur racers presented themselves to the audience. They had the same disciplines as the beginners in the morning, but they got more loaded.

Tractor Pull

The tractor pull this time was a seven-tonne pull, although the weight may seem less than at other events, it should be noted here that a tractor is usually a vehicle that pulls itself and is not towed, so its gearing and tyre frictional resistance made the first discipline very uncomfortable for the competitors. The third place in the discipline went to Dominik Ponocný, who towed the tractor in a time of 40.34 seconds. The second place belongs to Tomáš Zemi Zeman, who towed the tractor in 38.9 seconds. The first place in the first discipline went to Matěj Svoboda, who pulled the tractor through the finish line in 37.57 seconds.

Loglift

125 kg, that was exactly the weight that each competitor had to get above his head to get any points in the discipline. At least one valid attempt was made by half of the starting field, four competitors managed 4 repetitions - Bedrich Jochim, Matej Brabec, Petr Binder and Vojta Halma, the full number of points with five repetitions and the victory in the discipline went to Dominik Ponocný.

Sandbag medley

In the afternoon session, competitors carried a 113 kg sandbag and threw the same bags over a 4.2 bar, i.e. 16 and 20 kg. Once again the discipline proved to be very challenging, as only two strongmen managed to fully complete it, Emil Barták in second position in a time of 44.05 seconds and Dominik Ponocný winning by a narrow margin in 43.98.

Super Yoke - Axle lift

Somehow the scenario of the competitions from the morning was repeated, just like in the previous discipline, most of the starting field broke their teeth on the 340 kg Super Yoke on 2x 10m + 125 kg Axle lift, which was supposed to be for 2 repetitions. Most carried the Super Yoke, but after such a strenuous load to still get the 125 kg Axle overhead was beyond the capabilities of all but three. The bronze on the discipline was won by Bedrich Jochim in 1,21,98, the second place was won by Dominik Ponocny in 1,19,01 and the gold went to Emil Barták, who did everything in a great 1,10,52.

Atlas stones

If you wanted to throw a concrete ball over a goat, what weight would you choose? The amateurs had a choice of 142 kg or 160 kg. Same rules as in the morning, 1x 160 kg is more than 1000x 142 kg. But be careful, it takes a bit of tactics, with a lighter ball there is less chance of a high score, but 0x 160 kg, so if the competitor does not put the heavier ball, he will not score any points. The heavier concrete ball was chosen by only 3 competitors and all of them scored points, so they took the leading positions in the discipline. Third place Emil Barták with one repetition. Second place Tomáš Zemi Zeman with three repetitions. The gold on the discipline was again well prepared Dominik Ponocny, who managed 4 repetitions, it was obvious that he had more, but he didn't need them.

The results must be clear after reading them, but I'll be sure to mention them and here they are: third place and a total score of 67.5 points was won by Bedrich Jochim. Second place and total points 83 Emil Barták. And now a fanfare for the winner, who lost only 3 points almost start-finish style, so in total he collected an admirable 97 points and was won by Dominik Ponocny, the ward of the Czech professional Lukáš Pepr. Huge congratulations, but not only to the winners, simply and clearly to everyone who went through the race today. It's not bad not to have a day and get the highest score, the race is to be enjoyed. So to all of you who raced in Brno, congratulations to you too, to the winners of course...

Finally I would like to thank the whole team from SPC Gym, Ondra Zadzor, Tomáš Sikora and everyone else who participated in organizing a great race, we will definitely meet again next year.