Rotherham Highland Games Report and Results– 5th September 2021

 

 

Rotherham Highland Games Report and Results– 5^th September 2021

 

On a glorious Sunday afternoon, despite not having the dramatic peaks of Scotland as the backdrop, it was Clifton park in Rotherham that hosted this years Rotherham Highland Games with 11 Strongmen competing for the title, the green slopes having to suffice!

In front of a sizable crowd the athletes wowed the show with some impressive fetes of strength in this unique show run by Man Beast strongman events  - in only its second year but growing.

With athletes from Yorkshire, Lincoln, Hull and Stoke been tested across 5 tests of strength the crowd were treated to some great entertainment watching the athletes battle with the giant log press, caber toss, stone throw, stone carry and world strongman favourite atlas stone.

Special judge visiting was Yorkshire’s strongest man Jake Rideout and Mark Anglesea, two times Guinness world record holder as head referee.

In the Giant log press,  weighing in at 110kg (17.3 stone), the athletes had to press the log as many times as possible over their head with a time limit of 60 seconds to do so, Stevie Speakman the first to get into double figures with a fantastic 10 reps setting the bar.

A favourite event for Jimmy Sharp saw him take the win with 13 reps and in 3^rd place the ever impressive Shaun Blairs hitting 7 reps. Jack Tipper hitting a personal best with 3 reps too after swapping from crew to competitor.

In the stone throw it was Shaun Blairs who blitzed the field with a 9 metre 70 throw, the nearest to that at 1 metre 10 les,s was last minute replacement Nathan Pettit who had a fantastic performance throughout the games.

In 3^rd place was Richard Hiley with a 8 metre 40 throw, a great effort after a string of back to back competitions with Mark Thomson, also competing, surely leaving them fatigued.

                                        Left to right Richard Hiley, Jimmy Sharp, Jack Tipper

In the caber toss (60kg) a wooden pole is thrown and ‘tossed’ (rotated) for distance, with both former Yorkshire’s strongest man Simon Knowles and Shaun Blairs joint with a 7 metres 90 throw.

Shaun Blairs, from Stoke, dominating the throwing events after amassing valuable experience at the Peak District Highland Games and looking super impressive today racking up top table points in most the events so far.

Notable mention to Michaela Moore here from Viking Power and strength over in Doncaster that stepped in as a late replacement for Lindsay Nearn to demonstrate the caber toss with a 7 metre 40 throw on the women's caber, and also giving the mens caber a go.

                                                                Michaela Moor caber toss

Next came the stone carry, a 150 kg Husafell stone (23 stones in weight), that is carried for time across 20 metres, Stevie Speakman taking this event with a sub 10 second time of 9.04 – untouchable at this event.

                                Big Dave Thornton helping carrying husafell stone back into position

Simon Knowles in second place with a time of 10.21 seconds, always fast on this event, followed by Nathan Pettit impressing us in his first outing with us. Shaun Blairs (current leader across the 3 events) with solid points on the board with a 5^th place finish in this event.

Going into the last event saw the atlas stone event, in 60 seconds the stone had to be rolled up the shoulder from the floor as many times as possible. Matt Jackson, the best dressed athlete of the show, with a solid 5 reps, the slightly smaller guys seemingly finding this event easier.

Justin Beedham, another late entry, failed this event, in his first Highland Games appearance with many of the events new to him, a case of learning on the job, but still recording respectable times in the caber toss and stone throw.

Before the final event the popular tug of war took place between the kids in the crowd and the strongmen to the roar of family. The strongmen won the first round, the children the second, and the third round the children again - with a little help from the current Peak District Highland Games 2021 champion Dave Thornton.

For the atlas stone up steps Dave Johnson, with the slightest of margins managed 1 rep, struggling with his wide shoulders to roll the atlas stone up.

At the top end of the field and with a battle ensuing for overall first position,  Stevie Speakman, Simon Knowles and of course the high performing Shaun Blairs were tussling between themselves.

With Stevie Speakman recording 7 reps in front of his army of loud supporters, looking pretty easy for him, and Simon Knowles racking up a solid 5 reps the pressure was on Shaun Blairs to deliver.

And boy did he deliver, equalling Stevie’s 7 reps in front of a buzzing crowd to take the overall win and becoming the 2021 Rotherham Highland Games Champion.

                                         2nd place Stevie Speakman in an impressive showing

Andrew Picken and Mark Anglesea from Man Beast strongman events stated, ‘Shaun has twice appeared at our Peak District Highland Games show and is improving year on year. Today was his day securing big points in the throwing events and finishing with a joint first on the atlas stone which was enough to secure the win’.

Winner Shaun Blairs - Rotherham Highland Games 2021

Individual event results https://www.slideshare.net/AndyPicken/individual-event-scores-rotherham-highland-games-2021

FINAL Results

1^st Position – Shaun Blairs 47 points

2^nd Position Stevie Speakman 44 points

3^rd  Position Nathan Petit 42 points

4^TH Position Simon Knowles 40 points

5^TH Position Jimmy Sharp 31 points

6^TH Position Richard Hiley

7^TH Position Mark Thomson

8^TH Position Jack Tipper

9^TH Position Dave Johnson

10^TH Position Matt Jackson

11^TH Position Justin Beedham