Some of the world’s strongest men to compete at the Rand Show
Athletes have a strenuous task ahead of them, tackling five Herculean events each day
The SA Strongman Union has scooped a major strongman event for South Africa and the Rand Show.
The Rand Show will be the venue for a mighty clash of modern-day Samsons at a prestigious MLO Strongman Champions League (SCL) qualifier event, only the second time ever that an SCL event has been held on South African soil.
The SCL is the biggest strongman league in the world. It holds 16 stages or competitions throughout the year in 16 countries, broadcasting its events in over 95 countries.
The event taking place at the Rand Show on April 15 and 16 April is a qualifier for the U/105kg World Championship 2017, which will be held in Finland in September. The winner of the SA event will guarantee himself a place in this top event and a shot at the title of SCL World’s Strongest Man U/105kg.
Five top U/105kg international athletes will join a number of South Africa’s strongest men to compete in this highly anticipated event.
US strongman athlete, Gary Piotrowski (32), flies in from South Carolina to compete. Gary has been competing in strongman competitions for the past five years and is the current US Strongman Middleweight National Champ.
England has cracked two invitations to this event: Londoner James Turner (35) placed fourth in UK’s Strongest Man 2016 U/95kg and third in Wales Strongest Novice U/90kg in 2015, while Portmouth-based John Richardson (34) placed third in the Newbury Strongest Man 2016.
Jimmy Bo Kjell Johansson (28) from Sweden was the runner-up in Sweden’s Strongest Man 2016. And from Iran is Alireza Ostadhaji (38), who placed second in his National Strongman competition and seventh in the Arnold Classic in 2016.
Several local strongmen will also be competing. Confirmed are Frikkie Page, who has been crowned three times as SA’s Strongest Man in the U/105kg class, and David Bezuidenhout, who recently placed first in the U/105kg division of the Arnold Classic qualifier in Boksburg.
Kreson Pillay, an U/105kg elite athlete whose titles include third place in SA’s Strongest Man 2015 and fourth in the Arnold Classic 2016 in Melbourne, will be there, as will Leon le Roux, a warrant officer in the SA Air Force, who recently placed first in the masters division of the Arnold Classics qualifier in Boksburg.
Athletes have a strenuous task ahead of them, tackling five Herculean events each day as they vie for a podium finish and a shot at that coveted place in the world finals.
