AREA STRONGMAN WINS COMPETITION
Monday, May 18th, 2009 -- 12:31 PM
A Chili farmer is again proving he?s one of the strongest men in the world.[url=http://www.cwbradio.com/ss_carl_foemmel/]Carl Foemmel[/url] beat 11 competitors to win the American Strongman Live qualifier in Battle Creek, Michigan on Saturday.
There were [url=http://www.americanstrongman.org/images/files/kalamazoo.xls]five events[/url] at the competition, including the axel clean and press, requiring competitors to lift a 300 lb. axel above their heads. Carl did it 9 times in one minute; he placed first in that event.
There was a tire flip, farmer's walk, Atlas stone lift and a keg race, where competitors had to carry 250 lb., 275 lb. and 300 lb. kegs 100 ft. and load it on a platform.
"I was real happy with how I performed. There was a lot of distance, a lot of cardio stuff. Right now, I'm weighing about 275, which is 20 lbs. lighter than I normally have been," Foemmel said, "I'm in a lot better shape, which helped me out a lot during the show.
Carl now qualifies for the National Strongman Live competition in July. He hopes to gain a few pounds before then.
"I'd like to bulk up for that a little bit," Foemmel said, "I'd like to put on between 15 and 20 lbs. One of the events there is the truck pull. Any extra weight you can get when you're pulling a truck helps."
The top 10 at Nationals get to go to another competition in Las Vegas with a $50,000 payout. The top 4 will compete on the World Vs. USA team in Lithuania. This is Carl?s 5th year competing, but he had to take a year off due to injury. He said he?s enjoying it more than ever.
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