Vytautas Lalas wins Viking Apocalypse!

Odense, Denmark. 17.06.17

Vytautas Lalas continued his excellent form as he took the win at Ultimate Strongman Viking Apocalypse!

He made his mark in the first event, the 400Kg Super Yoke, as he pipped England’s Terry Hollands to first place by 0.1 of a second to take the maximum 10 points. Poland’s rising star, Mateusz Kieliszkowski came in 3rd with 10.10 seconds.

It was the big Pole’s turn to shine in the second event, the 150Kg Log Press for Reps. He managed 9 reps, just ahead of Vytautas on 8, whilst Denmark’s Mikkel Leicht gave the local fans plenty to cheer about as he pumped out 7 reps to take third. The log proved too much for Terry Hollands, Eric Thomsen and Morten Lund who failed to rep.

In the 440Kg Giant Tyre Flip Lalas suffered a setback as he limped home in 5th place with a time of 42.48 seconds. A last minute decision to allow tacky on the fingers helped some athletes, however Terry Hollands overdid it and found his hands sliding off the tyre, costing him valuable time. However it was Kieliszkowski’s event again as he obliterated the field in 26.72 seconds, propelling himself into 1st place overall with just two events remaining.

The euphoria of 2 wins back to back was short lived as Kieliszkowski came face to face with his achilles heel event – the Deadlift for reps. A poor performance at Summermania had cost the Pole the overall win, and the demons came back once again as he could manage only 7th place with 6 reps. Konstantine Janashia found himself in some distress, the pain in his hands clearly evident as he tried to fight on, but 7 reps could only muster him 6th place. It was Vytautas Lalas who took the win, his 17 reps enough to eclipse an impressive Martin Wildauer (16 reps), and the extra points putting him back in the at the top with a 3 point cushion over Kieliszkowski with just the stones to go.

And so it came down to another nail biting finish.

Kieliszkowski got off to a flying start, leading over Valas after 3 stones, but the big Lithuanian kept his rhythm perfectly, barely stopping for breath as he drew level on the 4th stone before beating the Pole on the final 205Kg rock. A clearly pumped up Lalas celebrated wildly as Kielszkowski could only look on in expasperation – the second time he had lost out on the overall win in as many weeks.

Viking Apocalypse was hailed as the best strongman show ever staged in Denmark. The strong line up, superb set and lighting contributed to a great night of strength, with many of the athletes clearly enjoying an appreciative Danish crowd.