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USA’s Hadge Fights Back to Win World Championship

In what was the strongest ever line up of Under 23 Strongmen, the inaugural Ultimate Strongman Jr. World Championships were launched in Gatineau, Quebec in early September.

6,000 strongman fans turned up on each of the 3 days of competition, enjoying 30 degree heat and some incredible strongman action from athletes from as far afield as South Africa, Poland, Netherlands and Lithuania.

The flamboyant Ashton Reid of England won the first event, the Duck Walk, showing why he had the strongest grip of any junior on the planet – and the loudest hair with his pink Mohican and long black beard being a hit with the spectators.

The second event was a Junior World record on the Thomas Inch Dumbell by Matthew ‘The Real’ McCoy of Ireland.  His Olympic Weightlifting heritage really paid off, as other athletes failed to deliver the technique which makes McCoy a real master at this event, dropping down low whilst driving the arm up.

Next up was the deadlift for maximum.  This was a highly contested event with a number of competitors lifting 350KG but it was the USA’s Nick Hadge and Scotland’s Tom Stoltman who won the event, lifting 370KG apiece.  A great performance from Mr T look-a-like Cheick Sanou of Canada saw him lift 360Kg.

The fourth event was the truck pull with harness and rope. This weighed in excess of 18 tonnes. It proved too much for the majority of the field with only 2 men finishing the course.  Holland’s Angelo van der Pas had a time of 47.43 but it was Nick Hadge of the USA who nicked the win with 46.13 seconds, and sending out a clear message that he was the man to beat over the weekend.

The fifth event was the tyre flip. This was a tight one to call with Martynas Brusokas of Lithuania coming second, but the story was leader Nick Hadge who had a shocker, finishing last and putting a massive dent in his title aspirations.

The sixth event was the classic stones of strength.  This is a fan favourite and it didn’t disappoint as the king of stones Tom Stoltman of Scotland won the event with 4 stones lifted.  England’s Strongest Man Paul Smith was showing his consistency, finishing third.

Another strong performance from Paul Smith saw him win the Wheelbarrow for maximum with the best lift and push of a huge 977 pounds.  There was a great performance from Sten Karro of Estonia who finished 7th, lifting 841 pounds for 4 seconds.  A disappointing performance from Tom Stoltman saw him lose ground, dropping down to 3rd place.

The final event with only a few points in it for the title was the Deadlift Hold. In one of the most exciting car hold;s we can remember, Matthew McCoy of Ireland blitzed the field and had the crowd roaring with a hold for over 2 minutes!  Paul Smith, hell-bent on getting 2nd place pulled off the hold of his life with over 1’ 30 seconds, the sheer pain nearly reducing him to tears. However, it was Nick Hadge of the USA who quite rightly shed the most tears as he held on to gain his first Junior World Championship.  Paul Smith of England held onto 2nd and the home man Cheick Sanou got 3rd.

This spectacular event will be aired on Dave TV as ULTIMATE STRONGMAN: NEXT GENERATION this Christmas.

Overall Standings

Position Name Points
1 Nick Hadge 75.5
2 Paul Smith 73
3 Cheick Sanou 69
4 Tom Stoltman 67
5 Matthew McCoy 59.5
6 Angelo Van der Pas 57.5
7 Ashton Reid 51.5
8 Martynas Brusokas 51
9 Sten Karro 40.5
10 Duane Van Staden 32
11 Piotr Pasionsek 29.5
12 Philip Kuninski 5

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