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2019 October - King Kong - Eric Roussin


Eric Roussin

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King Kong 2019

If someone told me six weeks ago that I would finish in 6th place overall in King Kong, I wouldn’t have believed them. My training lifts were down at that time and I wasn’t expecting much from my King Kong performance. However, in the four weeks leading up to the contest, things began trending in the right direction. And as contest day approached, I suddenly began to believe that I might be able to exceed my mid-September expectations.

My goals were 105 lbs with the Flask, 210 lbs with the Crusher, 73 lbs with the Shallow Hub, and 220 lbs with the Little Big Horn. All of these lifts would have been contest PRs. If I managed to hit all of these I would be thrilled. Here’s where I ended up.

Flask

My warm-up lifts went well, and I think I opened around 87 lbs. It went up easy, so I went to 95 for my second attempt. That went up easy as well. I then went to 102, and was unsuccessful. I re-attempted this weight on my fourth trip to the platform. The chalk on the Flask just didn’t feel right on my third attempt, so I thought to turn the Flask around. This proved to be a pivotal decision, because it then felt much grippier. Had I figured this out during my third attempt, I think I would have had a good chance at making my goal weight. Regardless, 102 was a contest PR.

2.5” Crusher

I felt great with the Crusher, and lifted my goal weight of 210 on my final attempt. I think I could have possibly done even more, but likely not more than 215. With this I increased the Canadian record.

Shallow DubHub

In a predictions thread on Facebook a few weeks ago I indicated that I thought the top lift on this device would be around 83 lbs. My reasoning was simply based on the fact that I managed a lift of 70 lbs when I first tested myself on this lift six months ago (with a very well-chalked DubHub). I figured if I could lift 70 lbs with it six months out from the contest, surely a hub specialist would be able to lift more than 80 at King Kong. Turns out I was wrong. Very few people lifted more than 70 lbs, and no one broke 80. On my fourth attempt I went for 67.5 and got it about to about an inch from the crossbar. I took 30 seconds to rechalk my hand and gain my composure… and then made the lift! I didn’t reach my goal weight, but was satisfied with my recovery. (I noticed that in a 60-second time limit, when most people miss their first try, they keep trying over and over again. I feel it’s a better strategy to take a pause for 30-40 seconds and then make a final solid attempt. For me this has worked on several occasions.)

Little Big Horn

I think I started a bit too low with my LBH attempts. I ended up with a lift of 215 lbs. I think I could have possibly lifted 220, but I was too chicken to jump to that weight on my final attempt.

After the contest, I felt that I had hit relatively strong numbers in all of the events, and that I could possibly squeak into the Top 10 overall and the Top 3 in the 105 class. But this was before I realized just how many heavy-hitters were in the 105s. Several guys who typically compete at 93 went up a class this year (including me). But in the end, I did just enough to secure a third place finish in my class and finish 6th overall. This was my best overall finish in King Kong, and to do it in the biggest grip contest of all time (244 open division competitors) was the icing on the cake! 

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On 10/31/2019 at 8:55 AM, Eric Roussin said:

King Kong 2019

If someone told me six weeks ago that I would finish in 6th place overall in King Kong, I wouldn’t have believed them..................................................................

After the contest, I felt that I had hit relatively strong numbers in all of the events, and that I could possibly squeak into the Top 10 overall and the Top 3 in the 105 class. But this was before I realized just how many heavy-hitters were in the 105s. Several guys who typically compete at 93 went up a class this year (including me). But in the end, I did just enough to secure a third place finish in my class and finish 6th overall. This was my best overall finish in King Kong, and to do it in the biggest grip contest of all time (244 open division competitors) was the icing on the cake! 

In reading this a second time, and checking 2018 results, to go from 18th overall in 2018 to 6th in 2019, with a more competitive and larger field, while operating at an already high level, is, at a minimum, remarkable.

I don’t think anyone missed the job you did pulling this monster of an event together, but some of us missed just how well you did in it. Congratulations on an impressive performance💪

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