ChasingKaz - June 24, 2007
Special Guest Contest Report: Dave Ostlund from WSM Super Series Venice Beach Grand Prix
First off I just want to thank all my training partners, especially Karl Gillingham who has been a mentor to me for the last three years, my support staff that came with me, my father, wife, and the rest of my family. Without these people I wouldn't have been able to perform at the level I did last Saturday (6/15).
I arrived in LA on Friday morning with Karl and some of my friends and family. In the weeks leading up to this contest I had about the best training I could have hoped for, and I was very fortunate not to get any little injuries that so often plague athletes before contests at this level of the sport.
We had the rules meeting at 8pm, and there were a few minor changes to some of the events, nothing out of the ordinary. For those wondering, this is the section of scoring that we received via e-mail before the contest and then reviewed for 10-15 minutes at the meeting:
Scoring:Timed Disciplines shall be scored by electronic timing whenever possible, and distances shall be measured by standard measuring tapes. The score in a Discipline shall be determined by placement and based on the number of Athletes starting in the first Discipline of the specific Grand Prix (i.e. if there are 14 Athletes starting, the winner of a Discipline receives 14 points, and 2nd place 13 points etc.). If an Athlete pass or fail to get a measurable result in a Discipline, he will receive zero (0) points (i.e. fails to get one repetition in a Discipline for maximum repetitions, fails to lift the opening weight in a max lift, etc.). The score for a placement shall be reduced to the number of participants in given discipline with the exception the last/final discipline that will have double points awarded. For example, if the score for 1st place is 14 points in the first Discipline, it will remain 14 points in subsequent Disciplines, but reduce to 10 in the 4th discipline and to 8 in the 5th discipline. In the final discipline the winner will receive 16 points (based on 8 participants), second place get 14 point, third gets 12 points etc.."
We were told this was to make the TV production more exciting. I made it clear that I disagreed with this scoring format, and I still disagree with it. Anyways, the scoring stayed the same, and I stopped worrying about it after the meeting since it was out of my hands. This is also the same scoring format that was used two months ago at the Mohegan Sun.
I went back to my room after the meeting, watched the movie 300, and went to bed. I must have woken up a half dozen times in a panic thinking I overslept, I was so nervous for this show.
The first event was the Farmer's Walk, 385/hand for 25 meters with multiple set-downs allowed. I was paired against Kevin (Nee) and knew if I didn't perform at 100% he was going to make me look silly. I had so much adrenaline coursing through me that the pick-up felt like nothing. My speed felt great, but about halfway down the course, my grip started getting questionable. I made it 23 meters before I had a set-down. Kevin almost caught up to me and then had his first set-down. I thought I'd rest another couple seconds and go, but Kevin picked his up again almost immediately and passed me.
I finished two seconds behind him. I got 3rd here, which was good start. St. Clair was the only athlete to not drop the iimplements, and he got the win.
Press medley was next. My pressing has been my biggest weakness since I started this sport, but I have trained it very hard and it has come along quite a bit in the last year. The order I chose for this event was log, axle, rock, dumbbell. The log was very easy, the axle wasn't too bad but the continental took a lot out of me. I was really sucking wind when I got to the rock. The rock has always been a fairly easy press for me, but I barely got it and was actually quite lucky that Svend gave me a good lift. The judging for the rock was quite lenient, because I would not have counted my lift in training. In fact, the only athlete who really lifted the rock well was Gillingham. I ran to the DB and had to take another 15-20 seconds of rest but made that as well.
I ended up 6th of 14 on this event. I am very happy with the progress I've made so far on this discipline. I have to give credit to Matt Wanat since a lot of my press training comes from ideas he has given me.
The third event was a 950lbs yoke walk for 20 meters. Not much to say on this except I was not at all pleased with my run. It felt very slow and uncoordinated. My split-stance start didn't really give me a faster start like it usually does. I still ended up in 2nd somehow, with a time of 15 seconds and change.
Tombstone carry was next. It was originally supposed to be for 40 meters with a turn at 20, but was changed to 25 meters with no turns. It turned out to be a perfect distance since only 30% of the field finished it. Coming into the contest I felt that, along with yoke, I had the best chance of winning this event. The first strongman equipment I ever had were field stones, and I've been training with rocks like this since I was 13 years-old. This rock ended up being much harder than the rock I had been training with for the previous six weeks. I finished the course in like 28 or 29 seconds, I think, without any drops. My hamstrings were completely locked up about halfway into it. For me this was the most brutal event of the day. I won the event, beating Mariusz (Pudzianowski) by about five seconds. Karl also finished in just under a minute. I think he had to pick it up about three times, but he refused to quit on it. It was very inspiring.
Fifth was the deadlift/frame carry medley. Everybody made the axle, barbell, and fishing pole okay, but the frame really separated the men on this. It was an 880lb frame for 10 meters. Of the three men who moved it, Phillip went about a foot, Gillingham went two feet, and Mariusz maybe three or four feet. For many it never left the ground. I put up a fast time through the three deadlifts, rested and re-chalked for the frame. I picked it up nearly to lock out before it came out of my grip. I didn't have anything left for it and went back to the tent to re-group for the last event. For the athletes who moved the frame this might have been a harder event than the stone carry.
Going into the atlas stones I was two points ahead of Jesse (Marunde) and was worried since the double-score for the final event effectively only put me one point ahead. Jesse and I have always gone back and forth with each other on stones, and I knew he'd be on for this run. Jesse went in the heat before me and put up a sick time of 18 seconds. I was to go head-to-head with Mariusz in the last heat. Karl needed me to place ahead of Mark (Phillippi) to lock up a 4th place finish for him. It was high pressure and I loved it! I one-motioned the first three and the 4th went up very easy as did five. I checked the time with Svend (Karlsen) and saw I had gone about 17.5 seconds.
I went over to cheer Mariusz on as he was uncharacteristically struggling with the fifth stone. He missed his first lift with it, but came back to make it on his second attempt. I walked off to the scoring tent to confirm that Karl had taken 4th and locked up his spot for WSM. I was very happy knowing I had gotten 2nd. Odd (Haugen) came to the tent and said he thought I might have actually gotten 1st. Tthis was the first time that possibility even crossed my mind. Sure enough, Mariusz ended up 5th on stones behind me, Jesse, Tarmo (Mitt), and Mark. I was in shock since any thoughts of first had evaporated after the 5th event.
I know I don't even look happy in the picture of me on the podium, but I was in such shock I wasn't able to manage a smile. Displeased would be an understatement to describe Mariusz's demeanor. He claimed he didn't know of the rule and he may not have. If he didn't know, then it was a failure of due diligence on his part. He competed at Mohegan in April where this same scoring was used, he was e-mailed a copy of the rules on June 4th (I think I said three weeks notice somewhere else, turned out to be 12 days. Still ample time though.), and he was at the rules meeting with a translator where we reviewed the scoring.
If he was never provided with this information then I would have felt rotten about taking 1st and would have gladly given him the 1st place trophy and the difference in 1st and 2nd place prize money. The way it happened though, I don't feel bad about it despite still being strongly opposed to the scoring system we used. Also, to address any comments that this rule was made specifically for the stones to give Jesse and I clear advantage over Mariusz, consider this: Out of the 10 times Mariusz and I have competed on stones together he has beaten me eight times, and I have beaten him twice (including this past weekend). I believe the results for Mariusz v. Jesse are similar.
I am very happy to be returning to WSM, and I am excited to start training. I am also very happy for Karl Gillingham. It was a fantastic day for Team Minnesota. Jesse also cleared up any doubts about his health and has returned in fantastic shape.
ChasingKaz would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Dave Ostlund on his accomplishment last weekend and thank him for both allowing us to post his personal contest report, but also for allowing us to use photos from his website, www.minnesotastrongman.com. We strongly encourage our readers to check out his site. It is a fantastic resource and has a ton of great pictures.
Posted by Ben Hanson at 1:01 PM