Vegan Powerhouses Excel at Arnold Festival Strongman

‘Vegan Hercules’ Bradie Crandall continued his fantastic season and relished competition among the strongest men in the world.  He was disappointed to miss a 300 lb log he’s consistently nailed in training, but he excelled in the loading.  Bradie was the first in his weight class to finish, which helped secure a mid table placing overall.

Melissa Busta was much anticipated and did not disappoint.  She made the cut after a solid day one and put in some solid overhead pressing to grasp sixth overall in the final.

Multiple French champion Angelina Berva secured overall second with a great all-round performance including awesome performances in the log, sandbag and trap bar.

Esther Noemi made her lightweight debut at the event.  She enjoyed every minute as she came within 2.5 points of qualifying for the day two final.

Ric Carroll also qualified and continued his run of determined and powerful performances.

A specialist category saw Wendi Wentzell competed in the Firefighter category.  Wendi qualifies as a veteran but competed in the Open category, but still made 7th place in the final.  She was also thrilled to get a 450 lb deadlift.

Another lighter lady, Veronique Cormier returned to the Arnold and was particularly pleased with joint third in log and a strong performance in the deadlift for reps 320/400lb.  She made the final and finished sixth, which qualifies her for next year.

These performances at the pinnacle of the sports showed the quality of these athletes.  Strongman remains the definitive strength sport and while some still claim meat is needed to build strength, these seven are among the many proving that isn’t true.

Congratulations all round!