HIE Higher Institute of English
Sport or Torture? That was my first thought as some of Mauritania’s strongest men (our own Faldie Solomon included) carried sacks of sand, pushed taxis and pulled donkey carts (amongst other trials of strength) in their quest to be crowned the strongest.
On Saturday, November 23rd, members of the Elite Fitness Gym, Nouakchott, gathered in gladiatorial spirit in the gym’s parking area for the 2024 Mauritania’s Strongest Man Competition.
Under the watchful eye of wives, children, friends and colleagues, the participants were put through their paces by Mr Parker Murray, co-owner of the gym.
To the chant of ‘Fal-deeee, Fal-deeee’ our teaching colleague completed his three-part initial trial of the competition, the Giant’s Medley. This event comprised of the Sled Pull (pulling a weighted sled 20 meters), the Farmer’s Carry (carrying two bars weighing a total of 80kg, 20 meters), and ending with the 20-meter Tyre Flip (and it wasn’t any old tyre, it was a tractor tyre!)
Next in this preliminary round came the 20-meter Taxi Push (taxi driver included!), followed by the Sand Bag Loading Race. In this event, contestants ran back and forth three times to a cart, carrying sacks of sand weighing 60kg, 66kg and 80kg, respectively, and placed them on a donkey cart before pulling the cart back to the finish line.
After being a beast of burden came the Deadlift Ladder (says it all, really!), which involved dead lifting bars of increasing weight, starting off at 80kg and topping out at 160kg.
Reminiscent of a collective punishment I suffered during my school days, next was the Plate Hold. In this event, all the participants lined up, not for a smiley group photo, but holding out, straight-armed and with their shoulders touching the gym wall, a 35lb plate for as long as possible.
Thus ended the qualifying stage!
As afternoon moved into early evening, the second and final round began for the surviving competitors (‘surviving’ being a figurative rather than a literal term). Contestants first competed, two competitors at a time, in the Sand Bag to Shoulder event, lifting sacks of increasing weight onto their shoulder and then placing them on boxes.
The second event of the final, the ‘Overhead Medley’, though deceptively nice-sounding, involved single arm dumbbell presses at 50lbs and 70lbs (task one), a single arm kettlebell push press at 75lbs (task two), and an axel bar clean and press at 80kg (task three).
It wasn’t all physical strength though; for the next event, where the initial and final 15m Yoke Walk, needed technique as much as brawn as the competitors duck-walked a metal frame weighted down with 100kg (Yes, 100kg!) suspended by a bar across the contestants’ shoulders. And before the return Yoke Walk, participants completed two 80kg front squats and a 140kg deadlift.
The last task of the competition, which really did have a gladiatorial feel to it, was the Sandbag Elimination. Two contestants, positioned either side of a chest-high bar, lifted an 80kg sack of sand over the bar, then had it returned to them by the same method, by their opponent. With sacks weighing 80kg in these final face offs, and a 20-second time limit to get the sack over the bar, competitors continued until one or the other of them called uncle.
So much for the events. What was the highlight, and who were the winners?
Without doubt, Faldie versus his pal Nelis was the highlight of the day, in the Sandbag Elimination event. That sand bag travelled back and forth for eight minutes. Every time you thought one of them was about to call it quits, he found the strength to lift the bag one more time, until finally Faldie emerged victorious.
And so, ladies and gentlemen, to the podium places.
In joint-second place came Pepé, a Spanish expat, and Diadié Omar, a homegrown Mauritanian, while first place and the title of Mauritania’s Strongest Man, went to Jengo, a Czech expat, who picked up the 10,000MRU first prize.
What of our Mr Faldie, I hear you ask? Just out of the frame, our valiant friend and colleague nailed 4th spot, breathlessly summing up his feelings with the words, “I was just excited to compete.”
So, with the sun already set, thus ended the 2024 Mauritania’s Strongest Man Competition. And my advice to anyone who missed the event (or perhaps has aspirations to punish themselves and give it a go in 2025!), clear your social diaries for next year.
As the old saying goes, and as was truly proven that day: ‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going!’