AZF shortlists 16 competitors for Qatar Strongest Man competition

Doha: Aspire Zone Foundation shortlisted 16 participants to compete at the ‘Qatar Strongest Man’ competition. The event, now into its fifth year, will be held on Friday and Saturday, from 4 pm at Aspire Park.

In a series of assessments during the past few weeks – including a 200-kg-weight lift exercise and a 20-metre walk while carrying 120 kg weights in each arm – this year’s 66 entrants were put through their paces to make the last 16. Amongst those who qualified were defending champions and two-time QSM winners in their respective categories, Fahad Al Haddad (Qatar), Christopher Oketch (Kenya), and 2014 winner Talal Al Kuwari (Qatar).

Building on the success of the previous years, AZF has extended the competition to two days and increased the number of participants to 16. Competitors will be divided across two groups of eight; split between Qatar nationals and expatriates. The expatriates will compete on Friday and Qatari nationals on Saturday.

Speaking about the competition, Ibrahim Al Hilal, Chairman of the Organising Committee at AZF, said: “Building on the competition’s success over the past few years, we’ve expanded the competition from 14 to 16 participants. To accommodate increased spectator interest, the event will also be run across two days, with 1,200 seats available for spectators on each. It’s great to see former winners return, and we’re excited to see how they fare against the new faces that have shown great potential during the assessment phase. We’re expecting a weekend of full of surprises.”

Food trucks will be set up for visitors on the sidelines of the event. Families and friends will also be able to enjoy popular games such as Dragon Punch and King of the Hammer, while two bed bungee trampolines and obstacle courses will be available for children to enjoy.

The Qatar Strongest Man is an annual competition that enables Qatari and expatriate sports enthusiasts who are passionate about strength training to take part in a number of challenges, including truck pulling, deadlifting, lifting sandbags, flipping giant tyres and car lifting to name but a few. Winners are decided based on a points system, with the winner being awarded based on the speed and weight with which each challenge is completed.