Europe's Strongest Man 2024 - Full results and report

Last weekend was marked by strength sports. On Saturday 13 April 2024, a total of twelve of Europe's strongest men descended on Leeds, UK, at the First Direct Arena to find out who was the strongest. The arena was sold out to the last seat and the hungry spectators were eager to see what the strongmen would show this time. Among the competitors were all the big names like Luke Stolman, Oleksii Novikov, Gavin Bilton and last year's champion Pavlo Kordiyaka. For the Czech fan the race was even more interesting because the Czech flag was flying on the start list and in the starting field. Ondra Fojtů has definitely made his way among the world's top riders, how did he do? Find out in the following report.

As I already mentioned, twelve fighters from Europe stood on the starting line, five difficult disciplines awaited them, which will determine the champion for this year.
The competitors competed in the following disciplines:

• Nicol stones
• Car walk
• Deadlift ladder
• Wiking press
• Atlas stones

And we go to the detailed description

Nicol stones

Strongman sport is kind of unpredictable, organizers can come up with all sorts of lifting heavy objects, carrying, lifting, pushing, pulling. But this discipline is much older than anyone who walks this earth. Nicol stones are two stones with an eye-shaped metal grip. The literal carnage is that each stone weighs differently. One weighs 138kg, the other 114kg. For imbalances or injuries. Nicol stones are worn for maximum distance and were originally inspired by the Dinnie stones found in Potarch bridge.

A split third place at the 20m mark brought the stones to two fighters, Aivars Šmaukstelis and Luke Stoltman. Second place went to Shane Flowers, who brought the stones to a distance of 22.62 metres. The winner of the discipline - and now a big applause - was Ondrej Fojtů, who was still described by the organizers as a newcomer, even though he has already put on a professional show. Ondřej brought the stones to a distance of 24.15 metres. The world record in this discipline was set last year by Eddie Williams with a length of 31.66 meters.

Car walk

An amazing discipline for the audience, or how to make a super yoke more interesting, build a car around it. In a 15-meter route, it was necessary to carry a 450 kg car. The competitors had it all very tight. There was only 0.6 seconds between the top 4 competitors. That's very short and the judges had to be really precise. However, Oleksii Novikov, who is very good at running events, took third place with a time of 16.67 seconds. Second place with a time of 16.57 seconds went to Nikolas Cambi, an Italian fighter who has the winner's trophy from the Arnold Amateur Strongman 2021 from the U105 category at home. Luke stoltman was the fastest of the entire starting field, taking the car in a time of 16.13 seconds. Ondra Fojtů finished 7th in the discipline with a time of 26.09.

Deadlift ladder

Five dumbbells starting at 300 kg, each one heavier and the last one finishing at 380 kg. It is "enough" for the competitor to do 5 repetitions of the deadlift. This was self-consciously said with a lot of hyperbole. But for the competitors, it is a task that they must master in the shortest possible time. The top four fighters did all five lifts. In third place was Frederik Johansson from Sweden with a time of 50.6 seconds. Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine and the World's Strongest Man in 2020, he completed the discipline in 47.91 seconds.

The discipline was then won by Estonian deadlift specialist Rauno Heinla in a time of 41.28 seconds. A little background, Rauno is 41 years old. Ondra Fojtů placed ninth in the discipline, completing 4 deadlifts in a time of 35.23 seconds. During this discipline, unfortunately Konstantine Janashia withdrew after two lifts, having injured his hand while gripping Nicole Stones in the very first discipline. So the race is over for Konstantine. Hopefully he will be fine soon.

Viking press

A controversial discipline that has aroused a lot of emotions in the past, a discipline that is very strict in terms of rules but very difficult and unrewarding for the judges to decide. A beautifully executed viking press with wooden logs. For a Czech fan it was a great spectacle, because Ondra Fojtů went up against Luke Stoltman. Apart from Frederik Johansson, no one in the starting field had any problem with the presses.

The third place was split and was taken by Luke Sotltman, Aivars Šmaukstelis and Nicolas Cambi, who all managed a great 13 reps. Oleksiy Novikov only needed one more repetition to take second place, 14 stunts. And again I add - a huge applause - Ondra Fojtů humbled the whole starting field with his 16 reps, missing the 17th one by a bit. Huge congratulations. Before the last discipline Ondra was fighting for the box.

Atlas Stones

I always write this when they finish with Atlas Stones in the UK, as most of their competitors do, and if Stoltman's name is on the start list, there's no question. But Tom isn't here today, although Luke certainly didn't disgrace him. A total of 5 concrete balls weighing 120 - 180 kg for time on different sized pedestals, the heavier the stone, the lower the pedestal. Such a classic of Giant's live racing. Nothing more, nothing less. I like the stones, you race in pairs, two opponents... but against the entire starting field.

The crowd roars, the race goes to the final. Third place Rauno Heinl, 5 stones in 24.6 seconds. Second place is again shared by Luke Stoltman and Aivars Šmaukstelis - both five stones in exactly the same time of 18.58 seconds. That's pretty cool... The winner, however, is Shane Flowers, who was only a hundredth of a second faster, who managed all the stones in 18.53 seconds.

This year's European Strongest Man competition is over. This year spiced with Czech participation and with a promise that Ondra will definitely make an even bigger impact in the next years. At least from my side it means more cheering. I certainly wish Ondra good health and some more strength. Unfortunately, after the results were added up, Ondra didn't make it into the top 3, even if it's really close, next time I hope it will work out. Oleksii Novikov took the overall bronze with 40 points, Aivars Šmaukstelis took the silver with 43 points. Luke Stoltman took the top spot again this year with 44 points after his 2021 title. Congratulations. Ondra came out on top this year with 38 points. Ondra, fingers crossed for your next race, I'm sure it'll be a blast...