Well, I’m back home and more or less recovered from the long weekend in Scotland. First off, I need to say “thanks” to the Edmunds family for putting us up and organizing the whole event. Running an entire Games and coordinating with 16 athletes form various countries/languages can't be easy, but it came through really well.
The entire event was filmed for Channel 4 (UK) television, so in addition to the ever-present cameras we had to take time out to set up shots, re-film interviews, organize crowds, march around the field multiple times and generally be available to look pretty at a moment’s notice. This obviously made it harder to focus on competing, as there was a lot of down time between events. I was actually trying to grab a nap between events, as I had flown in the day before and was feeling pretty jet lagged.
Colin Bryce was actually a great announcer - you've probably seen/heard him on WSM, and he's competed in the games in the past, so he knows his stuff. Unfortunately we had to do without two of our star attractions – Terry Hollands pulled out with injury a week beforehand, and Janne Virtannen was a no-show at the airport. But here’s how some of the other guys did.
Sean: He put on a clinic, winning the hammer and throwing the stone over 53’. He was great all weekend, and only some unfamiliarity with the strongmen events kept him from placing higher. He impressed a lot of the other guys who had never seen him before, and damn right.
Scott Rider: For my money though the performance of the weekend belonged to him. He won the stone, hitting over 60 feet, and followed that up with a 138’ light hammer throw, and even won the caber for good measure. Scott is an incredible athlete, especially for his size (maybe 250 lbs, but with a 400 lb. clean). He’s come a long way in the last two years, and should be a very serious contender for the World Championships title next year.
Gregor: He looked tired and worn out from all the promoting he’s done for the games and from setting up the entire competition almost single-handedly. Still, he did what he needed to do to get into the final, then had a stellar performance in the manhood stones to jump onto the podium at the last minute.
Wout: won the caber, tied for first in the WOB, and is still an all-around beast. Even at 42 he put a bunch of us to shame. Every time I feel like I’m getting old I look up at him and say “maybe a little longer…”
Mike Z was the only non-strongman stuck into heat two, but he showed he could hang with the best of them. Only some bad luck and questionable judging in the wrestling kept him from the finals.
Brock: I don’t think Larry was too disappointed at not qualifying for day 2 – he’s been on a tear in Scotland, setting field records and winning games left and right.
All in all this was a fantastic competition, and I think will bring a lot of exposure to the sport(s) in the next year or so. I was happy to make the final, and can’t wait for the games at loon Mountain, New Hampshire to do it all again.
