Rogue Invitational Strongman 2023 | Results and reportage

A country where (nowadays very controversially) not only men, but also women and children carry guns. Where the baby food is a half-pound steak. Where a hat on your head and a cigar in your mouth is the mark of standard. So it was in this very place, in Round Rock, Texas, USA, at Dell Diamond Stadium, that the next edition of the 2023 Rogue Invitational Strongman was held on October 28, when the Czech man was mourning the national holiday weekend.

A total of 10 of the world's top strongmen descended on Round Rock. Among the favorites were Oleksii Novikov, who defended last year's title here, as well as Mitchell Hooper and Tom Stoltman, while Mateusz Kieliszkowski came here to enjoy another comeback. And of course others. How did they fare in the five difficult disciplines?

• Deadlift
• Sled pull
• Rogue-a-Coaster
• Log lift
• The duel

The names are in English on purpose, but I will always try to describe what each discipline was about. The organizers of strongman sport have started to have a huge imagination and year after year a new, great or completely innovative discipline is added.

Deadlift

OK, so the first discipline is not so original, but it is one of the main pillars, who is weak on deadlift is just unlucky, with a few exceptions... The first discipline is simple to explain, 60 second time limit, standard deadlift axle and discs, all weighing 408 kg (900 lbs). The target? As many reps as possible. Getting almost 410 kg off the ground is no problem for most competitors, even multiple times. Third place Mitchell Hooper, who performed a valid 7 reps. The 2 fighters ahead of him who did the same 8 reps were Trey Mitchell and Bobby Thompson.

The pull sequence

Now this one is also easy, it translates to a snatch pull. However, this was no ordinary sled, the competitors were pulling a huge bull statue that weighed approximately 454 kg (1000 lbs). No wheels, like pulling a truck, constant resistance. All of this meant that only one competitor made it the entire distance. It was none other than Mateusz Kielizskowski from Poland, who has always excelled in similar disciplines.

And since Mateusz made a zero on the previous discipline, he needed the points badly. He did it all in a time of 42.54 seconds. The other competitors didn't reach the finish line within 60 seconds, 15.5 metres away, so it counted how far they got. Mitchell Hooper was second in 11.15 meters and Evan Singleton was third in 10.92 meters. Unfortunately Trey Mitchell had to withdraw after this event due to an unspecified injury.

Rogue-a-Coaster

Imagine a classic roller coaster, please not the one from the Matya Fair, but the big one, either from overseas or from the big theme parks or from TV. If you have it in your head, imagine the first row of seats or a container. And then further, imagine the roller coaster going up the first incline at the beginning, powered by a motor on a chain. That's exactly the phase that was simulated in the third discipline.

For my part, I would liken the discipline to pulling a car or truck on a rope. You just have to replace the car on the flat with a container weighing 272 kg (600 lbs) up the hill. Evan Singleton repeated his third place finish in the discipline with a time of 35.40 seconds. Second place went to Tom Stoltman in a time of 33.08. The win went to the excellent Mateusz Kieliszkowski with the only time under half a minute, namely 27.95 seconds.

Log lift

Traditional discipline of log lifting for time and repetition. Since the Rogue Invitational is primarily a CrossFit competition, the weight was not too high here either, by the standards of the world's top strongman. It was 163.5 kg (360 lbs) in a time limit of 90 seconds.

So let's see, how many reps do you predict for the winner? I can honestly say the minimum was 5, but I'll skip it and say straight up that Luke Stoltman, Bobby Thompson and Thomas Evans managed 8 reps, taking bronze. Mitchell Thompson was the only one to do 10 reps and therefore take the highest score - Tom Stoltman, who has really improved a lot in the push-ups.

The Duel

Has become another name for the Loading Race, or if you want to carry bags for 15 meters. A total of 3 sacks weighing 148.5, 159 and 170 kg (325, 350 and 375 lbs) paired event that always featured 2 competitors against each other, probably hence the duel. Third place went to Maxime Boudreault with a time of 18.83 seconds. His compatriot Mitchell Hooper finished a close second with a time of 17.84 seconds. But his joy and celebration was fantastic... The fastest of all was Tom Stoltman, who finished in 17.57 seconds.

It is over, a very precisely prepared and fantastically cast race is over. It's a pity that there had to be an injury here, but unfortunately that happens. On the other hand, Maxime Boudreault has performed much better in the past and this time it was rather average. Who remained completely at all expectations is Oleksii Novikov, who seemed to have no strength to race... On the other hand, the situation he's experiencing at home certainly doesn't add to his peace and sleep.

Who surprised again was Mateusz Kieliszkowski, for the last 5 years this really strong fighter has had bad luck, either he gets injured or something comes up. Mateusz has always had weaker deadlifts, and here they paid off, he finished third overall, which is normally a great result, but I know he deserves to stand higher. Second place went to one of the strongest men in the world at the moment, last week's winner, this time second Tom Stoltman. Swapping first place with him from last week for second was Mitchell Hooper. It was great to watch these two compete.

Results: