2020 October - King Kong - Eric Roussin

[Eric Roussin]

King Kong 2020

In the lead-up to this year’s King Kong contest, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect in light of the COVID pandemic, both in terms of my personal performance as well as the overall turnout. 

With the closure of the Canada/US border and the absence of grip contests, I had lost motivation to train grip during the spring and summer. I continued general weight training, took up running, and saw my body weight drop by almost 20 pounds. I only managed to get around to training my hands about seven weeks out from King Kong. Luckily, training went well and I was able to regain much of my strength, but I figured it was a bit of a stretch to believe that my numbers would match the ones I hit last year (when I finished 6th overall).

I thought it was very unlikely that we would have another record-breaking year in terms of overall attendance, given the different types of COVID-related restrictions around the world. In 2019 King Kong had 244 open division entries. I figured we’d be more in the 160-175 range this year.  Ottawa was designated a “hot spot” in Ontario just a couple of weeks before the contest, with indoor gatherings limited to a maximum of 10 people (with a $10,000 fine for hosts found breaking the law and an $880 fine for each person in attendance). With gyms closed I was hosting King Kong in my basement and because with my spouse and four kids we already six, I didn’t want more than four attendees. I was willing to run the contest over a couple of days so that more people could compete, but in the end there just wasn’t any local demand this year for a variety of reasons (though I think the fear of possible COVID exposure was probably the biggest reason). In the end, only three people competed at the Ottawa venue: me, Rick Blanchard (a masters competitor and my original armwrestling mentor), and first-time competitor Moses Kaulaity.

On the day of the contest I felt strong, and I felt I could do well. Unfortunately, I didn’t do as good a job as usual in selecting weights for my fourth attempts. I bombed on all four of them, but got considerable air every time. Because I was so close, I was a bit disappointed, but this is all part of the game. I was most excited to get over 160 lbs with the Grab Ball, because I had struggled with the device in training. I knew 160 wouldn’t be anywhere close to what the best would be able to lift, but it was a win for me.

The low attendance at my venue made running the contest a snap. Then came the fun, yet stressful part: waiting for all the individual promoters to submit their scores so that the tabulations could begin. As the spreadsheets started to come in, I realized two things – that several competitors had great performances, and that overall attendance was higher than I expected. Several European venues had close to 20 competitors, while Ukraine had 36!

My performances were good enough to secure the 21st spot overall and fourth place in the 93 kg class (tied in points for third but lost on the tie-break). Cracking the top 10 overall required phenomenal performances across the board. I was very impressed by the few competitors who continue to consistently perform well in this contest as well as by the many people who continue to improve each year. In my opinion there’s a new top dog in Canada, and his name in Brad Provick!

Overall, there were 225 entries in the open division, which was the second highest turnout ever. If we could reach this number in 2020, I think reaching 300 may not be out of the question in 2021, especially considering new promoters are already reaching out to me with questions about hosting.

This was also the smoothest King Kong edition I can recall in terms of the scoring tabulation process. Normally there are a few promoters who are a bit slow in submitting their results, but not this year. We received all completed scoresheets by Sunday morning. And each year, there are always a few data-entry errors that are detected after the fact. This year was no exception, but there were less of them than ever. I didn’t hear any concerns over questionable lifts/judging, which was also great. Andrew and I felt it was almost too good to be true.

I’m looking forward to an even bigger and better King Kong in 2021!

[Hubgeezer]

Nice Writeup Eric. The level of "fines" for breaking the social gathering levels is mind-boggling. 

The following comments are not directed at you, as they are least of all directed towards you.

Eric Roussin is the person most responsible for delivering a great contest and a good time for hundreds of contestants around the world. I know he does not do this for the recognition, and maybe there are many who privately thank and appreciate him. BUT...I look at the relatively low number of "Likes" (7 as I type this), and ZERO comments on his personal report trip report. 

Sorry to come off as a Bleeding Heart in saying this, but it does sadden me a little. 

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Hubgeezer said:

Nice Writeup Eric. The level of "fines" for breaking the social gathering levels is mind-boggling. 

The following comments are not directed at you, as they are least of all directed towards you.

Eric Roussin is the person most responsible for delivering a great contest and a good time for hundreds of contestants around the world. I know he does not do this for the recognition, and maybe there are many who privately thank and appreciate him. BUT...I look at the relatively low number of "Likes" (7 as I type this), and ZERO comments on his personal report trip report. 

Sorry to come off as a Bleeding Heart in saying this, but it does sadden me a little. 

I think many, like me, didn't see this post because it was not in the main forum and it was a bit after the flurry of king kong writeups because more than a week after the event.  I doubt there are many who would read this and not at least like it, so I am sure it was simply not being seen.  But to make sure that point is clear, let me add my thanks here as well.  Eric is Canada's grip sport ambassador to the world.  And King Kong was a great success this year despite the COVID crisis.  Well done!

[Jedd Johnson]

Eric Roussin is the greatest ambassador in the Sport of Grip. Great write-up, Eric. Thanks for all you do with Grip Sport.

Everyone must know that Eric enters almost every single piece of data from every contest that takes place and generally gets out done within hours.

Again, Eric, thank you for everything!