Lucas Punkari
After six years of trying, local “strongman” Luke Skaarup now can lay claim to the title of Ontario’s Strongest Man.
“It really feels nice to finally win it,” said Skaarup, who edged Thunder Bay’s Kyle Rayner by six-and-a-half points to capture the 2012 crown yesterday afternoon in Kitchener.
“I’ve felt like I have been good enough the last four years to have a shot at winning it, and this time around things just worked out in my favour,” he reasoned.
“The field itself just keeps getting better, with six guys winning the eight events this year, and I think that probably helped me out actually.”
Holding a slim point-and-a-half lead over Sudbury’s Maxime Boudreault following the first three events Saturday, Skaarup used a pair of first-place showings in the car deadlift and the yoke events Sunday to earn the title.
“Those are two events that I always preform well in,” he noted.
“They made the car pretty heavy, and there were four or five guys that couldn’t event lift it,” he recalled.
“But to me, I find that to be a good thing as in my view the heavier it [the car] is, the better.
“I was able to get 14 reps in that event, and the next closest guy had eight, so that really created a lot of point separation there,” Skaarup explained.
“The last time that I used that yoke there in Kitchener, I did really well, and I was able to complete the course this time in 22 seconds.
“And I felt I could of gone even faster,” he added.
Both Skaarup and Rayner now will head to the Canada’s Strongest Man competition in Quebec City on Aug. 18-19.
This will mark the second time Skaarup will be competing against the top “strongmen” in the country. He finished in eighth place three years ago.
“I think a lot of the things that I learned from last time was just to believe in yourself and give everything that you’ve got,” he remarked.
“I competed against most of the guys that have been there before, so it’s all kind of known qualities to me.
“The goal is to just do the best that you can in each event, be smart about the choices that you make in each event, and try to feed off of the energy from the crowd,” he added.
Prior to heading to Quebec City, Skaarup will be back in action this Saturday, when he’ll be looking to defend his title in Thunder Bay’s strongest man competition.
