21 participants (Danes, Swedes, Norwegians and 1 Irishman) met up at Urban Fitness in Copenhagen for the biggest kettlebell event so far in Denmark this last Saturday. To read about the competition in Danish, click here.
This event was a sort of test pilot for next year’s bigger better projects 
People competed in 4 disciplines.
- 5 minute snatch, 1 arm switch.
- 5 minute clean and jerk , 2 kettlebells for men, 1 hand switch for women
- 3 minute triathlon sprint (30 seconds each arm jerk, snatch, clean and jerk)
- Strongman challenge
The winner was calculated according to a formula using coefficients for the weight of the bells and the lifter’s bodyweight. This doesn’t represent an accurate picture of the efforts put up by the participants but we had to have a solution of some sort. Bodyweight results are always in favor of the lighter lifters, as you can see on the tables below.
We have already decided to have weight classes next year.
For the strongman event, time was the only factor taken into account.
People were allowed to press, push press or jerk the bells.
The main goal was promotion and awareness of kettlebells as a sport of its own compared to the more common use of kettlebells for fitness.
In theory, a limited specialized training was enough for people with a good strength and conditionning base. We hoped to attract more people who lift bells without knowing much about GS.
The platforms were set up so that 2 lifters were going at the same time.
The flights had the women with the light bells first, then the men, then women again with heavy bells and men with heavy bells. It broke the monotony of having all the women at first and then men. Specially when they were only about 5!
We kept to at least 20 minutes rest between disciplines.
Some of the lifters demonstrated really good technical skills, while others were very new to kettlebell lifting and relied on their competitive drive. Everyone must be praised for turning up and stepping on the platform. Those who’ve never tried it know nothing of the doubts and shakes that nearly overwhelm our bodies as we’re about to perform.
Judging a lifter can be a hard thing to do because it is something that requires a keen eye, and we already agreed that next year rules will be more strictly enforced. In short events the downside can be that the tempo is high and therefore technique can suffer. On the other side, this wasn’t a World level competition, we wanted some non traditional disciplines simply because they are fun.
We went out to a grassy area for the strongman event, and set up a field of 25 meters. Competitiors went one at a time, which was safer but as one person mentioned, the competitive element was not as high, as competitors didn’t get any feedback of how fast they were going against another person.
I was expecting times to be around the 6 minutes mark.
4 people out of 8 made it under 6 minutes, with special mention to Lasse Lassen who made it in 5’01″. You are welcome to try it at home, and post a video if you break that time!
The challenge:
- 4 get ups, with elbow to the ground between ech rep. (women 20kg, men 32kg)
- 20 clean and jerk (women 20kg, men 32kg)
- 50m Kettlebell drag with a rope (women 2x20kg, men 2x32kg)
- 50m Kettlebell freestyle throw (women 8kg, men 16kg)
- 20 Kettlebell flips, touching the ground with the bell doesn’t count as a rep (women 20kg, men 32kg)
- 50m farmers walk (women 2x20kg, men 2x32kg)
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Women12kg SNATCH | ||||||
| Mia Johansen | 12 | 0,75 | 92 | 83,2 | 9,951923 | 4 |
| Women16kg SNATCH | ||||||
| Sif Skov Hansen | 16 | 1 | 85 | 62 | 21,93548 | 2 |
| Lene Olsen | 16 | 1 | 121 | 65,3 | 29,64778 | 1 |
| Sara Ellegaard | 16 | 1 | 66 | 55,2 | 19,13043 | 3 |
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Men 20kg SNATCH | ||||||
| Jesper Sandersen | 20 | 0,83 | 81 | 89,7 | 14,99 | 10 |
| Ole Cosmus | 20 | 0,83 | 120 | 108,6 | 18,3425 | 9 |
| David Pedersen | 20 | 0,83 | 91 | 66,5 | 22,7158 | 2 |
| Thomas Johansson | 20 | 0,83 | 102 | 78,3 | 21,6245 | 5 |
| Ulf Holmen | 20 | 0,83 | 98 | 84 | 19,3667 | 8 |
| Stefan Leu | 20 | 0,83 | 74 | 92,1 | 13,3377 | 11 |
| Lasse Lassen | 20 | 0,83 | 111 | 82,7 | 22,2805 | 4 |
| Lars Nielsen | 20 | 0,83 | 105 | 88,2 | 19,7619 | 7 |
| Tom Mountjoy | 20 | 0,83 | 106 | 84,2 | 20,8979 | 6 |
| Men 24kg SNATCH | ||||||
| Mark Bunce | 24 | 1 | 82 | 78,7 | 25,0064 | 1 |
| Niclas Gonzales | 24 | 1 | 94 | 99,5 | 22,6734 | 3 |
| Michael Møller | 24 | 1 | 33 | 81,7 | 9,694 | 12 |
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Women12kg LONG CYCLE | ||||||
| Women16kg LONG CYCLE | ||||||
| Charlotte Bøgeblad | 16 | 1 | 80 | 67,5 | 18,96296 | 2 |
| Trine Vadsholm | 16 | 1 | 75 | 59,9 | 20,03339 | 1 |
| Sara Ellegaard | 16 | 1 | 64 | 55,2 | 18,55072 | 3 |
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Men 2x20kg LONG CYCLE | ||||||
| Jesper Sandersen | 20 | 0,83 | 34 | 89,9 | 6,27809 | 9 |
| David Pedersen | 20 | 0,83 | 28 | 66,5 | 6,98947 | 7 |
| Ulf Holmen | 20 | 0,83 | 34 | 84 | 6,71905 | 8 |
| Michael Møller | 20 | 0,83 | 35 | 81,7 | 7,11138 | 6 |
| Stefan Leu | 20 | 0,83 | 25 | 91,2 | 4,55044 | 10 |
| Lasse Lassen | 20 | 0,83 | 47 | 82,7 | 9,4341 | 1 |
| Mark Bunce | 20 | 0,83 | 41 | 78,7 | 8,64803 | 2 |
| Men 2x24kg LONG CYCLE | ||||||
| Rene Overgaard | 24 | 1 | 33 | 93 | 8,51613 | 3 |
| Thomas Johansson | 24 | 1 | 26 | 78,3 | 7,96935 | 4 |
| Niclas Gonzales | 24 | 1 | 31 | 99,5 | 7,47739 | 5 |
| Johnny madsen | 24 | 1 | 14 | 98,8 | 3,40081 | 11 |
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Women16kg TRIATHLON | ||||||
| Yvonne Ferg | 16 | 1 | 100 | 67,9 | 23,56406 | 2 |
| Sara Ellegaard | 16 | 1 | 85 | 55,2 | 24,63768 | 1 |
| Name | KB | Coef | Reps | BW | Score | Spot |
| Men 24kg TRIATHLON | ||||||
| Jesper Sandersen | 24 | 1 | 88 | 89,9 | 23,49277 | 5 |
| Rene Overgaard | 24 | 1 | 87 | 93 | 22,45161 | 6 |
| Mark Bunce | 24 | 1 | 82 | 78,7 | 25,00635 | 3 |
| Thomas Johansson | 24 | 1 | 56 | 78,3 | 17,16475 | 12 |
| Markus hillemalm | 24 | 1 | 60 | 80,3 | 17,93275 | 11 |
| Niclas Gonzales | 24 | 1 | 82 | 99,5 | 19,77889 | 9 |
| Ulf Holmen | 24 | 1 | 67 | 84 | 19,14286 | 10 |
| Michael Møller | 24 | 1 | 93 | 81,7 | 27,31946 | 1 |
| Stefan Leu | 24 | 1 | 65 | 91,2 | 17,10526 | 13 |
| Thierry Sanchez | 24 | 1 | 77 | 68,1 | 27,13656 | 2 |
| Lars Nielsen | 24 | 1 | 78 | 88,2 | 21,22449 | 7 |
| Tom Mountjoy | 24 | 1 | 70 | 84,2 | 19,95249 | 8 |
| Johnny Madsen | 24 | 1 | 98 | 98,8 | 23,80567 | 4 |
| Name | Time | Spot |
| Women 20kg strongman event | ||
| Yvonne Ferg | 05:15 | 1 |
| Sara Ellegaard | 06:07 | 2 |
| Name | Time | Spot |
| Men 32kg strongman event | ||
| Jesper Sandersen | 06:21 | 5 |
| Rene Overgaard | 05:41 | 4 |
| Mark Bunce | 07:03 | 6 |
| Thomas Johansson | 07:17 | 7 |
| Michael Møller | 05:23 | 2 |
| Lasse Lassen | 05:01 | 1 |
| Tom Mountjoy | 05:28 | 3 |
This event couldn’t have happen without the help of friends.
I want to thank all the people that helped us set up the competition in place, helped with judging, and cleaning up afterwards. And of course, all of you who lifted, sweated and laughed!
Special thanks to our sponsors: Eleiko, Urban fitness, Joe and the juice, kratos.dk and kettlebell-fitness.dk
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