March, 8, Derek Poundstone has won one of the prime strongman contests held as part of the Arnold Sports Festival. Russian strongman Mikhail Koklyaev finished second, leaving behind Travis Ortmayer. As the contest unfolded, the intrigue remained until the last event.
After the first day of the competition Mikhail Koklyaev was leading, 5 points ahead of his nearest rival. Yet the two events of the following day brought a turnaround and Mikhail’s edge over Derek shrank to two points. So the last event, dumbbell press, could give Derek every chance to win and he did win.
With hardly any trouble at all he pushed those 198 pounds dumbbells 15 times. Travis Ortmayer showed the second result in the event as he did 8 reps. Mikhail managed 8 reps. He needed just two more to capture his golden medal.
Tournament Final Results
1st place – Derek Poundstone
2rd place – Mikhail Koklyaev
3rd place – Travis Ortmayer
4th place – Vidas Blekaitis
5th place – Phil Pfister
6th place – Brian Siders
7th place – Andrus Murumets
8th place – Ervin Katona
9th place – Alexander Pekanov
10th place – Dave Ostlund
