Giants Live World Tour Open 2024 - Results and coverage

Racing in England, that is Great Britain, has its own charm. They are more like a theatrical performance, or an interactive circus show comes to mind. A large, usually sold out, hall where around ten thousand spectators crowd in and down on the stage or manege, if you like, a show takes place where you can cheer, shout or otherwise support your favourites. For the Czech spectator this is a dream, unfortunately our races are attended by hundreds of spectators on a good day. This would be interesting to change. But the problem in our country is that spectators usually don't pay or don't want to pay for the race, so we are doomed to show off in parking lots, squares, etc. But that's another song.

On September 7, in Birmigham, England, in a huge arena, there was exactly the kind of racing I envy the English. A great atmosphere, a roaring crowd and twelve to thirteen fighters in the centre of the action. Fighters from six or seven countries were in the arena that day. I'll explain that number right now. There were 12 competitors for the whole race and they were from six countries. They were joined for the first event, the Loglift, by Iron Biby from Burkina Faso, who was here to attempt to break the world record.

Loglift

A beautiful Slater log, similar to the one from the Arnold Classic, the Austrian Oak, was waiting to be climbed by all competitors in the 170kg base weight. It didn't happen. Two fighters failed to get it above their heads in the prescribed way. As I normally name the first three finishers here, I will make an exception now, I would have to name most of the starting field, because 5 competitors shared third place with their 185 kg performance.

Only two got above them, and once again, it's a nice sight for the Czech Republic... The best performance of 210 kg was done by Ondrej Fojtů from SPC Gym in Brno and he set the Junior World Record. Mitchell Hooper, the strongest man in the world 2023, and this year's second, who comes from Canada, got the same over his head. Nathan Goltry retired after his attempt with a minor injury.

Arm over arm pull

This is exactly the name for pulling objects or vehicles on a rope. In Birmingham it was a pairs event and an 8.5 tonne tractor was pulled. What can I say, brand new, shiny machines were literally whizzing back and forth. Nothing too difficult for the competitors. All the participants made it on the 20 meter course. The fastest was Maxime Boudreault, third in 26.23. Second place went to Mitchell Hooper, who really just "handled" and hardly used his back 25.57 seconds. The fastest was Luke Richardson, who completed the course in 23.03 seconds.

Deadlift

350kg axle axle, again I appeal to all those who mention this implement Axel was a Beverly Hills Cop, this fat axle is called "AXLE" derived from the English word which translates to axle (from car). I'd rather not mention other abbreviations, but there are many variants to be seen.

Although, who among us is infallible that... So the competitors had a fat axle loaded to 350 kg and had to do as many reps as possible. At least one rep was done by everyone, and most did five. The best was Paddy Haunes with seven and the winner was Mitchell Hooper with eight reps. Gavin The Bull Bilton also had to withdraw after a deadlift.

Sandbag toss

We have seen sandbag throwing at domestic competitions in the past years. There are not so many of these disciplines and so they are often repeated. Anyway, in Birmingham there were 6 sandbag throws ranging in weight from 18 to 28 kg. The heaviest bag was fatal for about half of the field. The bronze went to Evan Singleton - T-rex with a time of 20.65 seconds for throwing all the bags. Silver Mitchel Hooper, 17.3 seconds. Maxime Boudreault of Canada took the event win with a time of 16.48 seconds.

Power stair

Power stairs, a discipline quite often seen in our country. The goal of the competitors is to unload weights of large weights on the stairs, usually 4 - 5 steps per weight, depending on how the stairs are designed. At Giants Live this time 5 weights ranging from 200 to 250 kg were lifted, each for 3 steps. In a way, hell froze over here because it doesn't end with satin stones. But change is life. Third place went to Aivars Šmaukstelis who unloaded everything he could in 40.11 barrels. Second place T-rex Signleton with a time of 37.37 seconds. The winner of the next discipline was Maxime Boudreault with a time of 36.71, just narrowly.

A beautiful and well prepared race full of big names is over. It is a pity that after a great first discipline Ondra Fojtů did not manage to take higher places, but the competition was huge and the motivation of all, after all, they are professionals. Anyway, I wish Ondra the best. Bronze place Luke Richardson from Great Britain, 43 points overall. The second place belongs to Canadian Maxi Boudreault, who collected 44.5 points. The win and the title went to another Canadian fighter Mitchel Hooper with 48.5 points and who rode the last event - the spectator-only Power Stairs. Congratulations.

Results: