15 Aug 2016

Kasane is currently playing host to the ongoing international world’s strongest man competition scheduled to run from
August 13-20.
This strength athletics competition entails truck pulling, dumbbell presses, racing with water-loaded drums or carrying out the hercules hold just to name a few aspects.
The competition has attracted athletes from a number of nationalities with eight of them coming from the United States of America, seven from the Great Britain, two from Sweden, two from South Africa, two from Poland and others from Iceland, Denmark, Canada and New Zealand.
Kasane is fast becoming the favourite spot in Botswana to host international events due to its obvious unparalleled scenic landscapes and impressive wildlife populations which adds flavour to events of this scale.
Saturday saw athletes competing in the heats in racing with water loaded drums and sand-filled sacks as well as outdoing each other on hercules.
While very little publicity was done ahead of a competition that big, the multitudes that thronged Letswaing area to witness these competitions proved that no advertisement was necessary to pull such a crowd in spite of the scorching heat.
By the end of the day, two of the cheered athletes had earned Subiya names being Mark Felix (GBR) and Stan Carradine (USA).
The two athletes who were closer in colour to the locals earned the names Simasiku (tonight) and Sinvula (rainmaker) respectively.
Felix made it his night by emerging victorious in the Hercules hold heats.
All things being equal, American national, Brian Shaw is definitely the favorite to take the cup as he is the current defending champion from last year’s competitions.
To date he has won three championships.
Shaw’s record is also impressive in the sense that he has made to the top three spot every year since 2009 to date, with the exception of 2012. It is also interesting that in the same period, the championship has been alternating only between him and his rival, Lithuanian national Žydrūnas Savickas.
With the absence of the four-time champion Savickas in this year’s competition, this makes Shaw the man to beat.
The most likely candidate to wrestle Shaw for the championship would be Iceland national Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Though, he has never won a championship, he has made it to the Top 3 spot consecutively for the last four years and he has made it clear that he is itching to take the first spot.
American ambassador to Botswana, Earl Miller who was there to support his boys noted that the games were a great boost to Botswana’s tourism and remarked that one of the producers had informed him that Kasane was the liveliest crowd they had ever seen.
“We would like to see Batswana competing in such events  in future and hosting these competitions this year is especially great as it coincides with Botswana’s golden jubilee celebrations,” he added.
The Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama was impressed with the enthusiasm displayed by the Chobe community at this competition.
“We hosted this because we want to expose Batswana to the possibilities out there and encourage them to participate in future, as people normally recognise countries through their outstanding athletes,” he said.
ENDS