2014 Winner and a frontrunner for this year's tournament, Cristopher Oketch poses for a photograph with fellow contestants.
Kuwaiti-born Fahad Al Haddad will be looking to retain his title as "Qatar's Strongest Man" at the fourth edition of the fitness competition.
Al Haddad was crowned Qatar’s Strongest Man in the Qatari nationals’ category of the third edition of Aspire Zone’s Qatar’s Strongest Man last year after highly contested five rounds with a total of 88 points.
In preparation for the tough contest, Aspire Zone Foundation hosted a series of rigorous physical and health tests on November 18 and 19, to assess which 20 of its 131 entrants are fit to compete.
Similar to its previous editions, the 2016 Qatar’s Strongest Man competition has been designed to be the ultimate test of strength and endurance during which participants compete face-to-face in a number of challenges. These include truck pulling, deadlifting, lifting sand bags, flipping giant tyres, heavy weight and car lifting, and follows a points-system where winners ranked in accordance with the number of points they achieve. The winner of the competition will be dubbed “Qatar’s Strongest Man”.
Commenting on the occasion, Abdullah Al Khater, Events Manager at Aspire Zone Foundation, said: “We are anticipating strong participation from over 100 competitors in this year’s edition of Qatar’s Strongest Man, and have therefore prepared this year’s challenges to fit the growing level of competition. We are confident that this year will be yet another great success, building on the previous editions.”
He added, “Due to the high level of attendance from local community members who joined us last year to cheer on our participants, Aspire Zone has set up designated fan zone areas for all family members on the day of the tournament.”
The selected participants will be chosen after passing a series of tests including over 200 kg weight lifts and a 20 metres walk while carrying 120 kg weights in each arm.
Hoping to defend his 2015 title, Al Haddad, said: “I have been putting hard work in my training, and focused on all the physical workouts needed to support and improve my overall body strength. I believe this year’s competition will be tougher since AZF has raised the bar of qualification tests in order to select the best of the best for the competition”.
Meanwhile, Kenyan participant, Cristopher Oketch, winner of the 2014 edition, said:
“This tournament becomes harder every year and is one of the best events of its kind that I have participated in. This competition is especially difficult because I’m expected to take back my title and that is the goal that has guided me through my training and preparations for the past few months. Based on this year strong line-up of competitors, there’s no doubt this will be my toughest competition.”
Speaking about his preparations, he said: “I am ready for the challenge. To prepare for the tournament, I have undergone intensive physical training to improve my strength and endurance in challenges used for this competition. I have also changed my diet to increase my weight, keeping in mind that I also compete in body building and fitness challenges.”
This tournament is in line with Aspire Zone’s ongoing mission to promote a healthy lifestyle and encourage physical activity among community members in Qatar. This competition follows the recently concluded Aspire International 6.50 Race, the Aspire Splash and Dash, as well as the Aquathon Series.
