2020 World’s Strongest Man Oleksii Novikov went into Event Five of the 2022 Rogue Invitational with a small lead on Trey Mitchell and defending Rogue Invitational champion Martins Licis as they prepared for the penultimate event of the competition, the Yoke Carry and Overhead Log Lift Medley.
This event was also a part of the 2021 competition. The athletes have to carry the 1,000-pound yoke 50 feet, and then perform three reps on the overhead log press with 360 pounds. Log lift reps needed to receive a down signal from judge Magnus ver Magnusson to count. The strongman who scored all four reps (yoke plus three log lifts) in the fastest time won. The time cap is two and a half minutes.
All 10 strongmen finished the yoke, but only six athletes completed all three log lifts. Mitchell Hooper blitzed the field with a staggering first-place time of 32.69 seconds.
Yoke Carry, Overhead Log Lift Medley Results
- Mitchell Hooper — 32.69 seconds
- Maxime Boudreault — 46.78 seconds
- Bobby Thompson — 53.86 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 59.57 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 1:08.05 seconds
- Rob Kearney — 1:20.58 seconds
- Martins Licis — Two reps
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Two reps
- Kevin Faires — One rep
- Pavlo Nakonechnyy — One rep
[Related: 2022 Rogue Invitational Strongman Results]
[RELATED: Strongman Žydrūnas Savickas Lands Role in TV Series “Gangs of London”]
Event Five Workout — “Yoke Carry, Overhead Log Lift Medley”
- 1,000-pound yoke
- Three 360-pound log lifts
Yoke Carry and Overhead Log Lift Medley Highlights
American competitor Kevin Faires started things off. He had no trouble with the yoke and easily performed the first rep on the log. However, he missed his first attempt at the second rep. After grabbing the log a second time, he called it off.
Next up was Canada’s Maxime Boudreault, who had to drop the yoke and pick it up to finish. He knocked out all three reps on the log via power cleans to clear the event in just under 47 seconds.
The third competitor was Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted. He also had to stop for a moment before finishing the yoke portion. He took deep breaths between presses, but he got two reps before stopping his time early. Rob Kearney is a former American record holder in the log press, so his expertise was a boon for him. He finished the yoke portion in less than 20 seconds, and he locked out the first rep with no trouble. Reps two and three were similar, and Kearney was done in 80 seconds. After years of using the split jerk to lock out the log, Kearney used a traditional push press form in this contest.
Contestant five was Bobby Thompson, who is the current American record holder in the log press. Thompson took long strides with the yoke, and strict pressed the log for all three reps. He finished in 53 seconds.
Rookie Canadian Mitchell Hooper started the second half of the field. Hooper is very strong on yokes, but could he press the log after finishing the first implement? The yoke was done in a blur — 10 seconds from start to finish. He knocked all three reps out without letting go of the handles, saving valuable time in transitions. He finished sub 33 seconds to take the event lead over fellow Canadian Boudreault and ultimately win the event.
Pavlo Nakonechnyy had the task of following Hooper’s incredible effort. Nakonechnyy struggled with the yoke early on, but he managed to finish. He only lockout out one rep on the log before stopping the time.
Defending champion Martins Licis was after Nakonechnyy. Licis trained specifically for this event during his preparation. However, he struggled with both implements — only completing two reps on the log. Licis appeared to struggle with his knees as he used wraps instead of sleeves, which may have cost him as he appeared light-headed between log reps.
Trey Mitchell took his turn, and the home-state competitor had the support of the crowd. He dropped one log rep too soon, so he had to do four reps in order to get credit for three. He still finished in 68 seconds, to put him in fourth on the event with one strongman left.
The last man to go was the overall leader, Oleksii Novikov. His main focus was to do what he had to do to maintain the overall lead while saving the energy needed for the final event. He took his time to avoid mistakes and finished in just under one minute.
Hooper landed his second event win of the weekend, but Novikov maintained an overall lead going into the final event — the Stones Over Hitching Post. Keep checking with BarBend to find out how the contest wraps up. You can also watch the event live on the Rogue Fitness YouTube channel or the Rogue website.
Featured Image courtesy of Patrick Clark.
