The qualifiers for Ireland’s Strongest Man and the journey to the UK’s Strongest Man is set to hit Kilkenny this weekend.
Davy Jones Fitness is the spot to be this Saturday as 25 strongmen compete in some of the toughest competitions in the world. From pulling 18 ton arctic trucks to lifting boulders, the men competing will no doubt be aiming to put on a show for all the spectators.
This will be the second year running the competition has hit the medieval city after last years qualifiers went down a storm.
Even though they are still qualifiers, there will be a Republic and Northern Irish champions confirmed on the day. Then top seven guys will end up going through to the All Ireland final
Even though they are still qualifiers, there will be a Republic and Northern Irish champions confirmed on the day. Then top seven guys will end up going through to the All Ireland final with that event taking place at Markets Field on Garryowen Road on August 14th.
See: Irelands Strongest Man qualifiers are coming to Kilkenny next month
We caught up with Davy Jones, who has won this competition before, and his facilities are holding it once again this year. Jones put a call out for fans to show up for a show that promises to impress;
“We are just trying to get as many people as we can and expose the sport. What I found in the UK is that there was a serious amount of kids there. What kids would not want to see such amazing feats of strength! For any body, kids, adults it is just an amazing thing to see. We need to build the sport in this country up more and get as many people involved as we can”
“You can rock up on the day, we will have loads of space for anyone, food vans and will try get the kids involved aswel. The more spectators we have will really amp up the crowd.”
Breaking down what everyone can expect on the day, Davy outlined the gruelling nature of the competitions.
“Event one will be the truck and we will pull that over the 20 metres course. Event two will be a massive tyre flip, 400kg. Event three is a dumbbell press at 80kg with one hand overhead as many reps as possible. Then we have the atlas stone, which is a brutal event! Then we have a dead-lift hold, holding a car up for as long as possible.”
You can listen to the full interview on Scoreline extra :
