After placing 2nd at USS Nationals in June of 2019 I received notice that I had earned a spot to represent the USA in the Strongman Champions League World's Strongest Man u90Kg in Kolkata, India the following December. Fast forward through a very long training cycle, trying to make the best of this opportunity. Day 1 was supposed to consist of a Max Log, Max Deadlift, Frame and Yoke. During the rules meeting the Max Log was changed to clean and press every rep and changed to day two while the Crucifix hold was moved to Day 1. I decided to open conservative at 260kgs, went to 280kgs and took a gamble on a lifetime PR at 300kgs knowing it would put me in a great spots points-wise, and it did. This ended up tying me for second. Moving on to the Crucifix hold, I just knew this would be a ball in the air type of event, not knowing what to expect. Managed a 3rd place finish here. The Frame proved to be especially challenging due to the tape they put on the handles. The weight was 240kgs but all of our hands were mangled by the end of it. Ended 6th here. Final event on day 1 was the Yoke, at 280kgs it came down to only a second or two separating 1st from me sitting in 5th. The culmination of these events had me barely in 3rd going into day 2.
Day 2 began with the log clean and press for reps, I was able to get 8 reps in the allotted time, definitely feeling the previous days events. Good enough for 4th here. Still in 3rd place. From here we went to what was supposed to be a two sandbag and duck walk medley. Instead of the medley they ended up just lengthening the course of the duck walk to 25m and keeping us at 180kgs. This was by far my worst event for the contest, barely squeaked out 9th place here and lost valuable points dropping me to 6th overall going into stones. The stones went from 90kg to about 62" to a 140kg to about 50". I ended up having one of the best stone runs I've ever done pulling off a 2nd place finish and closing the gap from 6th place to tied for 3rd with a very strong Russian athlete. But, alas the countback did not go in my favor and I missed the podium by literally the closest margin possible. All things considered, I'm very happy with my performance and know what needs to be addressed in my training.
Despite the cultural differences, and the long trips there and back, I had a great time, and look forward to representing the USA and USS in the future in other international competitions.
Tyler Young