Europe's Strongest Man Under 105kg - Event Report
Saturday 23rd November at the GameOn 3G Indoor Arena in Randallstown was exciting, dramatic, tense, surprising,
joyful and more - what was it caused all these mixed emotions within one weekend?
None other than the finals of Europe's Strongest Man Under 90kg and Under 105kg. 12 competitors did battle in
each ESM Final. There were competitors from 10 different Countries taking part.
Here we will focus on the Under 105kg Competition.
The events contested for the Under 105kg Strongmen were:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Dead lift for maximum weight.
Super Yoke 370kg - 20m
Monster Dumbbell - 80kg for reps
Frame carry - 310kg - 40m
Atlas Stones - 110kg to 180kg
The event was organised by Dave Warner of Renegade Strongman (World Strongest Man Competitor) and Darren
Sadler (Under 105kg IFSA World Champion 2005)
The 12 strongmen competing were:
Simon Thomas - Wales
Erwin Geisler - Austria
Nicholas Foxhall - Scotland
Joe Wills - England
Gavin Redmond - Republic of Ireland
Sebastian Iwaniak - Poland
Rob McGee - England
Maurizio Paizza - Italy
Mindaugas Brazauskas - Lithuania
Neville Bamford - Northern Ireland
Robert Clarke - Northern Ireland
John Rudgard - England
The GameOn 3G Indoor arena is perfect for a strongman event. Renegade Strongman had laid it out very well. All 5
events were set up within the arena and the crowd had a clear view of the whole area at all times.
The athletes started in the running order as listed above and from then on it works that the person who finished last
in that event, is the first to start the following event.
Event 1 - Deadlift for Maximum Weight
This was a good and tough opening event for the athletes as the weight started at 260kg.
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

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260kg - Demonstrating the standard all athletes lifted this with relative ease.
280kg - John Rudgard and Joe Wills narrowly missed out with the remaining 10 athletes lifting with ease.
300kg - Maurizio Paizza failed with this weight but the other 9 athletes all succeeded with this weight.
320kg - A massive weight for the athletes - Nicholas Foxhall was successful but alas none of the other
managed to do it. Gavin and Mindaugas both had the weight off the floor but not to be today.
Well done Nicholas Foxhall on winning the 1st event!
Event 2 - 370kg Super Yoke for 20m
What is a Yoke? Well it is a frame and what makes a Yoke a Super Yoke? When it weighs 370kg! To put 370kg in
perspective it is equivalent to 4 Brian O' Driscoll's!
In this event the athletes race in pairs.
John Ruggard and Joe Wills were the first pair out and Joe did a very respectable time of 1m09.16 seconds but
steady on John did the 20m in a good time of 22.69 seconds.
The second pairing to take to the field was Maurizio and Simon Thomas - Simon flew down the course with the
370kg Super Yoke in a time of 18.94 seconds with Maurizio managing a distance of 7.51m.
The third pair to take to the field to do battle with the super yoke was Erwin Geisler and Gavin Redmond. Erwin did
an incredible 11.66 seconds for the 20m with the Super Yoke whilst Gavin powered on to complete the 20m course
in a time of 17.43 seconds.
Sebastian and Rob McGee went next and this was nip and tuck the whole way with Rob just edging out Sebastian
with a time of 19.94 seconds versus 20.33 seconds!
Mindaugas and Neville were next to do battle and as above another very close fought heat with Neville just securing
the points with a time of 19.60 seconds versus Mindi's 20.69 seconds.
Last out into the arena was our winner from event 1 Nicholas Foxhall and Robert Clarke - this was another close heat
with Robert edging the win in a time of 27.03 seconds versus Nicholas's time of 28.23 seconds.
Event 3 - Monster aka Circus Dumbbell Weighing 80kgs for Maximum Reps.
The rules here are simple - pick the 80kg Dumbbell from floor and press overhead using just one arm and do the
maximum number of repetitions as you can within the 75 second time limit.
Once again everybody was paired up.
1st pairing was Maurizio vs Joe Wills - Joe managed 1 rep whilst Maurizio failed to get a lift.
2nd pair was Nicholas and Robert Clarke - Rob was so close on a few but never managed a full lift whilst Nicholas got
4 repititions.
3rd pair was Mindaugas and John Rudgard - John failed to get a rep but Mindi set the arena on fire with 7 reps and a
new world record in this event. Amazing display of strength with technique and sheer grit and determination!
4th pair was big Sebastian and Rob McGee - Sebastian managed 1 rep whilst Rob was unlucky.
5th pair out was Neville and Simon and once again the sheer size of the dumbbell proved too much for them and
they did not manage a rep.
6th pair our final pairing was Gavin and Erwin - Erwin displayed flawless technique and hammered home why in the
Tirol region of Austria he is known as 'King Of Overhead' - he equalled Mindi's new world record of 7 reps and Gavin
displayed great power and determination to get 5 good reps.
The top 3 after 3 events was as follows:
1st Erwin Geisler - 31 points
2nd Gavin Redmond - 28.5 points.
3rd Mindaugas Brazauskas - 25 points.
2 more events to go what could change would it stay the same only time would tell...
Event 4 - 310kg Frame Carry for 40m
It should be noted that these events take place within a 3 hour time frame so it is very fast paced with little rest for
the athletes.
Fully rested and fresh most of our athletes would complete the course but they are neither so we will see what
happens.
1st pair out was Maurizio and Robert Clarke - Maurizio did a respectable 21.5m and Rob completed the 40m course
in 37.55 seconds. Would this be beaten today?
2nd pair to do battle was John Rudgard and Rob McGee - Rob managed 5.4m and John did 20m.
3rd pair into the arena was Neville and Simon - Neville did 15.6m with Simon managing 6m.
4th pair out was Sebastian and Joe Wills - this proved too much for Joe but Sebastian almost completed the course
managing 38.3m.
5th pair into the arena was Nicholas and Gavin - both did well with Nicholas managing 25.3m and Gavin powering on
to 33.4m.
6th and final pair was Mindaugas and Erwin - unfortunately for Mindi this was not his event and he failed to move
the frame and Erwin battered and sore managed 11m.
Gavin Redmond was now in the lead with one event left to go.
Event 5 - Atlas Stones - 110kg - 180kg
The final event and a real strongman favourite. The task is simple (in theory) pick up five large stone and place them
onto a staggered platform. The lightest stone goes onto the highest plinth and so on. The weight of the stones:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
110kg
120kg
140kg
160kg
180kg
With 12 points on offer for the winner of this event and none should one fail to lift one stone - there were 5 athletes
in contention for the coveted title:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Gavin Redmond
Erwin Geisler
Nicholas Foxhall
Sebastian Iwaniak
Robert Clarke
- 38.5
- 36
- 33
- 33
- 27
points
points
points
points
points
In the likely event that the athletes lift the same number of stones - split timing is used so that their time for each
stone is noted as well.
1st pairing into the arena was Maurizio and Joe Wills - Maurizio did not manage a stone whilst Joe did 3 stones in a
time of 42.86 seconds.
2nd pair out to do battle was John Rudgard and Rob McGee - John did the 2nd stone in 19.70 seconds and Rob
managed the 3rd in a time of 24.68 seconds.
3rd pairing out to attack the atlas stones was Simon Thomas and Neville Bamford - Neville having picked up an injury
opted not to lift the stones but lend his support to Simon's efforts - Simon with Neville's encouragement managed
the 4th stone in a time of 46.59 seconds.
4th pair out to do battle was Mindi and Robert Clarke - Mindi hit 3 stones in 24.28 seconds and Robert managed the
4th stone in a time of 31.06 seconds.
5th pairing out to take on the stones was Se'beast'ian and Nicholas - Nicholas did the 2nd stone in 39.76 seconds
whilst Sebastian did the 3rd in 36.06 seconds.
6th and final pairing was Gavin and Erwin this was for the title. Erwin hit the 2nd stone in 18.95 seconds but Gavin
had the 3rd stone done in 19.20 seconds. Both men were totally drained but in a great comedic moment Erwin
beckoned for Gavin to join him and give the crowd a little bit more as Gavin went for the 4th stone and Erwin the
3rd.
We had a winner and it was Gavin Redmond. Well done Gavin - a fantastic display over all 5 events.
The results of the Under 105kg Final:
1st - Gavin Redmond - Republic of Ireland
2nd - Erwin Geisler - Austria
3rd - Sebastian Iwaniak - Poland
4th - Robert Clarke - Northern Ireland
5th - Nicholas Foxhall - Scotland
6th - Simon Thomas - Wales
7th - Mindaugas Brazauskas - Lithuania
8th - Rob McGee - England
9th - Neville Bamford - Northern Ireland
10th - John Rudgard - England
11th - Joe Wills - England
12th Maurizio Paizza - Italy
All pictures are here - if you wish to see them all please browse the album:
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Renegade Strongman - would like to thank all our sponsors who made Saturday's Europe's Strongest Man possible :Avenches Biotech
HSS Hire Ballymena
McDonalds Auto Repairs Ballymoney
NI Supplements Belfast,
Better Bedrooms Ballymoney
Fitness Machines Ballymoney
SM Motors Ballymoney
Peak Physique Gym Ballymena
Not forgetting our fabulous venue Game On Indoor 3g Arena.
Big thanks to all our team of helpers - it's a tough job but you all did the athletes proud.
Special Thanks to the original ' Pocket Rocket' Darren Sadler Representing Europe's Strongest Man & Giants Live putting his weight behind these events & doing a professional job as head referee.