Strongman Energy Vrdy 2024 - Results and reportage

Saturday, June 15, 2024, approaching early in the morning. The weather forecast promises clear, warm, but not necessarily hot and scorching. The journey is passing and the closer I get, the more I look forward to today's experience. Although preparations on site have been underway since Thursday, by Friday afternoon everything was almost ready. Zdeněk Vávra's team, led by the experienced loader Tomáš Kleman, knows exactly what needs to be done to make sure that the competitors are taken care of with all the pomp and circumstance and that the spectators are treated to a great show.

Today, Saturday, there will be a lot of that. First, the beginners will be there to warm up the crowd. Around noon, the strong girls and women will perform, and then in the afternoon, the strongest of the strong. Today's professional competition will be part of the Czech Strongman Professional League, so every point counts. There will be also foreign competitors, although their representation will not be as rich as last year. Apart from the races, however, everyone can enjoy the rich accompanying program.

Nine o'clock has struck and the start of the race is imminent, I'm taking the microphone and it's on. Yes, this time I am also trying to convey all the action on the racing area to the spectators so that everyone knows what is happening and at the same time to encourage them to cheer as much as possible.

Beginners race

I know I write this every time, but the beginner's league needs to be introduced. This is for anyone who enjoys strength sports and would like to measure their strength, no special registration is needed, anyone can come. Of course it is up to the organizer to assess the capabilities and readiness of the people applying. After all, even this league has moved on and the weights are being lifted here, which not so long ago were lifted by amateur strongmen, i.e. one step higher. The only condition for beginners is not to participate in any higher competitions of Czech strongman sport.

A total of 29 competitors who gathered at the start competed in four disciplines.

• Loglift 100 kg for repetitions in 60 seconds
• Super Yoke - 250 kg 2 x 20 meters
• Sandbag throw over 4m bar, 10kg, 13kg and 16kg
• Loading medley (carrying objects onto a table, pneu 70kg, bag 90kg, barrel 80kg, metal block 115kg)

Loglift

The royal strongman discipline was the starter in Vrdy. 100 kg is not a small amount, and apart from a few competitors, an interesting number of reps fell. The maximum one stopped at 8 and was managed by a total of 3 competitors who shared the first place. Michal Zikmunda, Tomas Vorisek and Matej Fidler. Michal Říha and Peter Klukavy managed seven stunts. The discipline was run in parallel, so there were always 2 competitors against each other.

Super Yoke

A beautiful piece of equipment, which, to be honest, is one of the most beautiful in Vrdy in terms of design. Zdeněk, following the example of foreign competitions, attached cubic water tanks to the Super Yoke. Moreover, the total weight can be easily regulated by the amount of water. However, since the competitors were carrying 250 kg for 2 x 20 meters, there was no need for filling the tanks. Even so, the discipline made the novice strongmen struggle. Roughly three-quarters carried Yoke to the finish. Unfortunately, one of the oldest competitors in the field, Pepa Balog, had to withdraw after this discipline because of an older back injury. Even so, he deserved a loud applause. The third place went to Zbyněk Zachař with a time of 32,56 seconds. Second place went to Tomáš Voříšek, who completed the course in 30.13. The winner of the discipline and the only one who broke half a minute was Martin Roubíček with a time of 27.37 seconds. Super Yoke was run in parallel as well as log

Bag throwing

Simple, 3 bags and a construction with a bar... The goal of the competitor was to throw all the bags in the shortest time. The organizers chose a more precise monitoring of the competitors and so everyone was counted extra time in between to make it easier to decide the order. 3 sandbags weighing 10 kg, 13 kg and 16 kg were not such a problem for the competitors, it was also a matter of technique where to stand and where to throw. Those who have experience from training had a clear suggestion. Karel Patýř took the bronze place in the discipline, Michal Říha took the silver and Michal Zikmunda took the gold by throwing the bags in 7.5 seconds.

Loading medley

Lifting various weights onto a table or mat, one of the stalwarts of world competitions. Competitors had to unload 4 objects from different distances - zero to five meters. The first and furthest was a truck tyre weighing about 70 kg, the second object was a barrel weighing about 80 kg about 3 metres away, followed by a 90 kg sandbag. The fourth object should have been a natural stone weighing about 110 kg, but during the morning warm-up one of the competitors destroyed it, it broke exactly in half. So as a substitute, the competitors brought out a metal block from Metal Guys loaded to about 115 kg. And this one was a real nut to crack, because there was nothing to hold on to...

The most daring attempt was probably the one by Ales Kršňák, who managed all the parts but threw the block over the table, but the rules said that everything had to stay on the table. The first unlucky block was broken by Jan Dostál and he took the third place with the time of 51,53 seconds, he was overtaken only by two competitors Karel Pastýř in the second place, who stacked all the components in 45,65 seconds and the winner of the discipline Karel Zikmunda, who had the time of 41 seconds.

Results

The first part of the day is over, except for the back of Pepča Balog and Martin Roubíček's leg that got stuck on the last discipline, fortunately nothing serious happened, although the leg didn't look too good at the beginning... Judging by the feedback, the competitors enjoyed the event perfectly and the spectators had a great time. As there was a short time delay, the results were announced without delay. Third place went to Michal Říha with a total of 93.5 points. Second place went to Karel Pastýř with a total of 98 points. The winner of the race was Michal Zikmunda, who received 102 points.

Strongwoman race

For the women's and girls' race I would start off a bit reproachful, whenever I talk to any of the ladies about the strongman sport I always hear that there are not enough opportunities, not enough races, not enough interest and so on and so forth. It's just that whenever I come across a strongwoman race, there are always female competitors that can be counted on one hand. Girls, I know how many times the calendar is full, but when the opportunity is there, most of you don't take it. Unfortunately this was not the case in Vrdy, there were a total of 4 female competitors on the start list, one of whom, after injuring her knee, only arrived to announce that she would not be taking part. On the other hand, she let herself be broken by the atmosphere, and promised to do a couple of events. In the end, she went the whole race and with grace. Well done Iveta!

The ladies also competed in four events:

• Loglift
• Super Yoke
• Tyre flip
• Loading medley

Loglift

The girls threw themselves into the race with all their strength, so there was no shortage of repetitions with the 50 kg loglift. The discipline was won by Jana Habánová, who set 5 valid repetitions, followed by Nikola Supáková, who came from Bratislava, with four, Zuzka Tomanová with two valid repetitions and Iveta Mádlová, who likes to be called aunt from Kolín, took the fourth place.

Super Yoke

The girls carried a little lighter equipment than the beginner guys for half the distance, i.e. 1 x 20 meters. Jana Habánová added full points, she ran about one meter per second, her time was 20.65 seconds. The second place was again taken by Nikola Supáková, she brought the yoke in a time of 53.41. The third place was taken by Iveta Mádlová, who despite a knee injury reached 10.80 metres. Fourth place went to Zuzana Tomanova, who brought the yoke 7.85 meters.

Tyre flip

I like the 200 kg tyre flip as a discipline. It was a pleasure to watch the girls and women perform it. The best technique and the victory in the discipline was won by Nikola Supakova, 6 repetitions. The second place went to Jana Habánová, who managed to spin the tire 4 times. Third place Iveta Mádlová, 2 valid attempts. Fourth place Zuzana Tomanová, one valid attempt.

Loading medley

The last discipline, similarly to the beginners men, was loading on the table. For the ladies, the disadvantage was that the table was designed more for men. For example Zuzka Tomanová had the table at the height of her shoulders. However, the girls unloaded a total of 3 objects with measured time in between. The first was a 35 kg atlas, a concrete ball. The second was an anvil weighing about 70 kg and the last was a 68 kg sandbag. The first place was again taken by Jana Habánová, who stacked everything in an incredible 19.62 seconds. Zuzana Tomanová fought for the second place and managed to do everything in 27.12 seconds. The third place went to Nikola Supáková, who completed everything in 28.19 seconds. Iveta Mádlová unfortunately did not get the last item on the table and took 4th place.

Results

Girls, ladies, women, they ran through the race terribly fast and with a huge commitment. None of them scored a zero in any discipline and that's perfect. Even though the breaks had to be artificially stretched out with spectator and children's competitions to give the girls some rest, everything was done in record time. For the organisers this meant that the afternoon part of the programme would be on time. The girls were presented with their prize by Baroness Katerina Dačická from Kutná Hora and so the girls had it with all honours. The fourth place with a total of 6.5 points went to Iveta Mádlová, an aunt from Kolín. Thanks to the last discipline Zuzana Tomanová took the bronze place, she won a total of 7 points. Second and silver place went to Nikola Supáková with a total of 12 points. Jana Habánová took the victory and the title from the Vrd, collecting a total of 14.5 points. Girls, what a great race...

Race of professionals

The last race of the day featured the strongest athletes our country has to offer. Initially it was planned to have a big foreign participation, but unfortunately the international season is in full swing all over Europe and so the only guest who came was Tommi Honka from Finland. Well, since I picked him up at the airport, we had a lot of time and space to talk. But we'll get to that. At 3 pm the Czech National Anthem was played and the race could slowly start, a race that was part of the Czech Professional Strongman League, so all points earned by Czech competitors count towards the total of the league season.

The competitors competed in five very difficult disciplines:

• Pressure medley - 90 kg single arm, 110 kg block, log lift 140 kg, all one time overhead.
• Super Yoke 420 kg 20 m
• Truck pull - kaminon pull over 20 metres
• Fingal finger 200 kg - 4 turns
• Vandal medley - tyre flip 450 kg, barrel to side 1200 kg, truck to side

Pressure medley

It started right from the start, not so long ago the Czech national record in the single arm deadlift was 95 kg and at pro competitions it was around 70 kg, then Lukáš Patera came along and everything was different. Today, to warm up, we did 90 kg single-handed at the beginning. Unfortunately half of the old field didn't get over it. And even so, the other parts of the medley like block or log the competitors could definitely manage. The third place went to Pavel Zadražil, who thanks to his experience overcame the one-arm perfectly, unfortunately he did not manage with the block, the dimensions and the fit were very specific, Pavel was missing a little bit. The second place went to Zdeněk Vávra, who managed all three parts in a time of 25.95 seconds. Just a little bit faster and the winner of the discipline was Jan Lacina, who did everything in 23.84 seconds.

Super Yoke

Right at the beginning of the discipline, Tommi Honka was the first to go, but after about 4.5 meters he stopped and gesticulated about the pain in his knee, unfortunately it turned out that he tore a tendon from his quadriceps, this very painful matter was solved first with the hospital in Čáslav, then with the ambulance in Cologne. After the examination Tommi returned to the hotel and on Sunday he flew home to Finland, where he is still waiting for the surgery that will return his knee to its proper condition. However, Tommi has already let it be known that he will definitely come back stronger and faster. We will be looking forward to Tommi. The other riders were fortunately uninjured. The third place in the discipline went to the giant - Czech Brian Shaw - Luboš Klinecký, who flew through the course in 20.44 seconds. Matěj Svoboda came in second place with a time of 19.7. Zdeněk Vávra won the discipline with a time of 18.41.

Truck Pull

Pulling a truck, a great thing for spectators, the competitor's lower back, arms and legs are on fire. In addition, in Vrdy, the track surface was not completely flat and so the various potholes and potholes affected the overall result. But all the conditions were the same. It has to be said that no one made it to the finish, but it was close. Third place Jan Lacina, managed 13 meters. Second place Zdenek Vávra, he got the truck to the mark of 14.8 meters. Lubos Klinecky using his weight and size got the truck to 16.5 meters and won the discipline.

Fingal Finger

A beautiful discipline, which is not often seen, if I am not mistaken, there are only a few in the country, all the more nice experience to see it live. The competitors had to turn the phallic finger 4 times. The third place went to Lukáš Kadlec, who did the fourth turn in 53.69 seconds. The second place was won by the well prepared Pavel Zadražil, who turned 4 times in 40 seconds. The fastest was Zdeněk Vávra, who completed 4 turns in 37.41 seconds. Unfortunately, Lukáš Svoboda got injured here too, he tore or ruptured his triceps and ended the race prematurely.

Vandal medley

The name of this medley was invented on the fly by Lubos Klinecky, and because everyone liked the name so much, it was used officially. It was one of the less traditional disciplines, which consisted of turning a tire weighing 450 kg, then a cubic barrel full of water weighing 1200 kg had to be turned on its side and the last part consisted of turning a car on its side. It certainly wasn't easy, but the spectators certainly had their way. Third place went to Lubos Klinecky for all 3 parts turned in 29,86 seconds, Jan Lacina also made it in 26,45 seconds, taking second place. The fastest was the home team's Zdenek Vávra, who turned everything in just 22.42 seconds.

Results

It's over again, definitely for today. It was a great race, very attractive for the spectators, unfortunately the only downside was the injuries that happened here, and I could quote the paramedic who treated Tommi Honka: "Wow, you guys are hilarious today!" Injuries are to be expected, unfortunately. But I like to say, "If it were easy, everyone would do it!" Luboš Klinecký took the bronze with 35 points. The title of champion and winner of today's races was defended by Zdeněk Vávra, who collected 43 points.

And I would just like to add that although only a week after the races, but already now the debates about the next year are slowly starting. So I ask, will you come to support the competitors and the whole organizing team of Zdeněk Vávra and his wife Denisa? I will definitely recommend you to answer YES.