Martin Wildauer was second at MHP Strongman Champions League–Estonia, which was good enough for him to maintain his lead in the race for the 2014 season title. IronMind® | Photo courtesy of SCL
Staged in front of a large audience, MHP Strongman Champions League brought 10 top strongman competitors to Estonia this past weekend and then put them through their paces with six challenging events.
Hometown hero Rauno Heinla won the competition and Ilkka Kinnunen told IronMind, “Rauno Heinla is in excellent shape. He won the Lithuanian stage of SCL two weeks ago and now he has his second victory in a row.
“The events were tough. The first event was a medley where the athletes carried a 385-kg Yoke for 10 m, continuing with a 150-kg Farmer’s Walk for 10 m and then ending by carrying a 125-kg IronMind sack [sandbag] for 20 m. Top three: Kryzsztof Radzikowski 27.10sec, Martin Wildauer 28.31 sec, Markus Mannik 29.10 sec.
“Next was the Overhead Medley with five different objects: Block (100 kg), Log (130 kg), Log (150 kg), Circus Dumbbell (95 kg) and Apollon’s Axle (170 kg). There were only two athletes who succeeded on all five: the two Estonian strongmen, Rauno Heinla and Lauri Nami. Rauno Heinla did a really fast time of 31.49 sec, followed by Lauri Nami at 49.99sec and third was Vidas Blekaitis with 4 objects in 27.33 sec.
The third event was the Conan’s Circle: 1) Rauno Heinla 57.31m 2) Lauri Nami 56.92m, 3) Vidas Blekaitis 48.71m
The Forward Hold with the original SPX cylinders, 25 kg total and leaning against a pole, was the fourth event. Björn Solvang did the best time (66.82 sec), then Vidas Blekaitis (56.60 sec) and Kryzsztof Radzikowski (53.88 sec).
“The Atlas Stones were next: Starting from 120 kg and ending with 215 kg, with a total of 6 stones. The platform height started from 180 cm. Rauno Heinla did all 6 stones in a very fast time of 32.98 sec, Martin Wildauer was second with 46.76 sec and third was Lauri Nami with 5 stones in a time of 29.26 sec.
“The last event was the Power Stairs (225 kg, 250 kg and 275 kg, with five steps). Martin Wildauer came up fastest with all 3 blocks in a time of 39.44 sec. Rauno Heinla was second (41.32sec) and Lauri Nami was third (45 sec).
Final Places
- Rauno Heinla 49
- Martin Wildauer 44
- Krzysztof Radzikowski 41
- Lauri Nami 41
- Vidas Blekaitis 40
- Marku Mannik 30
- Dainis Zageris 28
- J.F. Caron 27
- Bjorn Andre Solvang 18
- Arto Niemi Nikkola 12
“By taking second place in the competition, Martin Wildauer kept the yellow Leader shirt, although Kryzsztof Radzikowski, third place, is closing the gap. The organizers Rammumees Marek Tobi, Janek Tobi and Elviira Eessaar and their crew did an excellent job and also big thanks to Andrus Murumets to helping during the competition.
“Next to come is the MHP SCL Malaysia. The Final gives athletes double points, so everything is still open—who will be crowned at the end for MHP SCL Champion 2014?” asked Kinnunen.
MHP SCL Ranking: Top 10
- Martin Wildauer – Austria 190
- Krzysztof Radzikowski – Poland 165
- Ervin Katona – Serbia 163
- Dainis Zageris – Latvia 116
- Lauri Nämi – Estonia 103
- Hafthor Julius Bjornson – Iceland 75
- Rauno Heinla – Estonia 73
- Matjaz Belsak – Slovenia 62
- Vidas Blekaitas – Lithuania 61
- Alex Moonen – Holland 50
Emphasizing the importance of the battle that is shaping up for the season championships, Marcel Mostert said, “Keep in mind here that Martin Wildauer is in first place for the 2014 SCL World Championships title in Malaysia, leading Krzysztof Radzikowski by 25 point and Ervin Katona by 27 points, but the Malaysia is double points, so the winner gets 50 points. All is possible.”
Also up for SCL is the first broadcast of SCL Zambia this coming Thursday, October 23, at 22.00 hours on Eurosport.
by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2014 IronMind
