Derek on Front Page Quebec Newspaper

[Garrick Daft]

Photos courtesy of ANNIE T. ROUSSEL

also, Felix, Haugen, and Jean

Congrats again Derek...still hasn't sunk in totally yet that you defeated Zydrunas...it is truly amazing because Z is considered by most to be the Strongest Man Ever... I don't know when the last time an American defeated him. You and Big Z just pushed each other to an amazing performance level, Big Z's screaming and growls as he approached the final events showed just how much he was pushing himself and you were pushing him to perform higher and higher...
Congratulations, that was an incredible, historic contest and moment in time.

http://www.mediamatinquebec.com/Pdf/MMQ-2008-06-30.pdf

[Nathan Rolston]

I wish I knew what the article said.

[Karl Gillingham]

Photos courtesy of ANNIE T. ROUSSEL

I don't know when the last time an American defeated him.
http://www.mediamatinquebec.com/Pdf/MMQ-2008-06-30.pdf


Mark Philippi - Faroe islands

Brad Gillingham - IPF World's - 2000 (Z finished Second)

Phil Pfister, Karl Gillingham & Brian Schoonveld. Beauty & The Beast 2001. (Z finshed 6th)

and now Derek Poundstone. Derek's & Brad's wins were the most impressive because they also won huge contests. Brad got him when he was pretty young yet...

[Jean-Charles Péronnet]

I wish I knew what the article said.
Unless some Canadian here can do it sooner, I'll take care of that. Unfortunately for us the article has nothing special, filled with superlatives etc but it's what the mainstream population needs to get interested in strongman. I think it's efficient for that.

oh damn I didn't see the right part! :D

[Stu Christensen]

Maybe Guilliame or Jesse or somebody can translate for us??? Come on guys!!

[Stu Christensen]

Nevermind...I'm bored...thanks to Google Translate.


One morning in July 2007, the mayor of this small village of 400 souls, Carl Dube, woke up in thinking that Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire was the ideal place to render homage to Louis Cyr, man the greatest of all time.

But 11 months later, this weekend, 13 of the strongest men of the world met at Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire for the contest Fortissimus.

That was the first miracle.

And the event was absolutely magical. Believe us, we see events in our business and this one was really something special.

To give you an idea, at 1 pm yesterday, there were spectators 2200 people in the big top for the first event of the day. Seven hours later, there were still 2200. Miraculous!

And then the rain fell and no one knows how many millimetres of rain fell Sunday night but it took another miracle just to make the location safe.

The volunteers have worked from 5 am to noon to refinish the event area. Another miracle.

"That's the miracle of volunteerism," rightly noted Ohl.

The fight was incredibly tight between the two big favourites, the Lithuanian Zydrunas Savickas (6 feet 3 inches, 376 pounds), holder of 12 world records, and American Derek Poundstone.

"That a competition as demanding as this one is won by a mere point by Derek Poundstone after 15 ½ hours of competition in two days takes a miracle, "said Ohl. The contest was won on the last stone.

Imagine the scene. Three stones to raise and place on platforms. A stone of 350 pounds, a 400-lb and a 517 lbs. The latter is called the stone-Louis Cyr.

Of the 11 competitors still in contention, only Savickas has managed to raise the
stone of 517 lbs. And it was raised approximately 4 and a half inches.

But there was still Derek Poundstone, the last to attempt the feat. He managed to lift it high enough to bring it above his thighs. For a dozen seconds, he wavered, and then he finally loaded it!

The crowd was delirious! The earth shook. Almost 100 years after the achievement of Louis Cyr, Derek Poundstone, has managed the impossible.

This moment was absolutely electric. Another miracle! The organizers have fallen on target with their slogan. A historic rendez-vous.

A star is born
There was Louis Cyr, but today there is Philippe Louis-Jean. The strong man of Port-Cartier, who now lives in Quebec, has been the revelation of this event, missing the podium by a mere point and a half behind the Polish Sebastian Wenta. At 23 years, Jean had barely finished when we spoke with him and he was undoubtedly the local favorite for the competition. "I missed the podium, but I'm the best Quebecers, the best and I am the best Canadian in the future, "suggested the rising star of force.

A great moment
Paul Ohl did not underestimate the performance of Derek Poundstone and his lift of 517 lbs. "It's a miracle," he said. It is one of the greatest moments in the history of the region, Quebec and Canada and in the field of strength in history, it is the greatest moment in the last 31 years.

The athletes had never seen anything like this competition. The guys told me, 10 months ago, that everyone underestimated Derek, and he came here to win. This is the most powerful man on the planet, while Zydrunas Savickas is the strongest man. "Poundstone said its success in the way he took the stone. "After the first three competitors, I had my plan and that made the difference, " he said.

Electric
One reason why the atmosphere was so electrifying was the proximity of spectators and the interaction between strong men and the crowd. The Russian Mikhail Koklyaev has perhaps been a little too outgoing. With the best of intentions, he wanted to pay tribute to Louis Cyr humming in La Marseillaise and the crowd began to imitate until the moderator, Martin Gauthier, reminded him that here we were Canadian and then he started to sing O Canada. The crowd followed.

[Jesse Snadden]

Sorry, I'm at work and that would have taken some time for me to translate manually.

[Garrick Daft]

Mark Philippi - Faroe islands

Brad Gillingham - IPF World's - 2000 (Z finished Second)

Phil Pfister, Karl Gillingham & Brian Schoonveld. Beauty & The Beast 2001. (Z finshed 6th)

and now Derek Poundstone. Derek's & Brad's wins were the most impressive because they also won huge contests. Brad got him when he was pretty young yet...
Great source of information as always! Thanks Karl!
:YR:

Thanks Stu for the translation also!