Ukrainians are the strongest in Europe
Strongman Games’ fans meet in Truskavets
The recently opened Zheneva hotel complex in Truskavets became the site of a Herculean competition between the five strongest men in Ukraine and Europe.
This time Ukrainians participated without the famous strongman Vasyl Virastiuk, who was the referee of this tournament. But the absence of one of the strongest men on the planet didn’t prevent our compatriots from winning with a score of 5:2.
The captain of the Ukrainian team was the 28yearold athlete Oleksandr Lashyn from Mariupol. The team also included: Viktor Yurchenko from Cherkasy, Volodymyr Muravliov from Mariupol, Oleksandr Pekanov from Chernihiv, and Serhii Koniushok from Kyiv.
The composition of the European team was as follows: the sixtime champion of Estonia and winner of the Strongman Team Cup Tarmo Mitt; sixtime champion of Russia in weightlifting, the strongest junior in Europe, and twotime prizewinner of the tournament “The strongest nation of the planet” Alexander Klyushev of Russia; last year’s strongest man of Denmark Mykola Hansen; the winner of a lap in the Poland Cup and leading Polish strongman Sebastian Kurek, and the strongest man of Iceland Haftor Julius Bjornsson. The competitors were eminent, but our athletes proved to be better!
Ukrainians won in five laps: in the relay race “timbercarry” (four athletes carry, in turns, a piece of wood weighting 300 kg over a distance of 20 meters), “Vikingpress” (two pairs of athletes in turn lift a quadricycle weighting 250 kg), “deadlift” (lifting a car from a platform), “dumble” (lifting barbells weighting 90 kg), and “pullpush” – sportsmen pushing the other team out of a ring.
The relays of “tierflip” (turning a wheel over – five turns for each participant) and “manhoodstones” (a ball weighting 180 kg should be thrown over a pipe installed at the height of 130 centimeters) were won by the Europeans.
Our team got not just a big tournament cup and small personal prizes, but also a pig! Fans said jokingly that it was this pig, and not trophies, that motivated our sportsmen and confidently led them to their victory. However, after the competition the pig was cooked in aromatic spices and the winners, together with their rivals, voraciously ate it at a party organized to honor these strong men.
