On August 6, 2022, the annual Strongman Champions League (SCL) Portugal contest took place in Esposende, Portugal. After the 12-strongman field worked through five successive events, including the Deadlift and Log Lift, the Netherland’s George Sulaiman captured the victory. The 22-year-old Sulaiman’s resounding performance featured the strength athlete amassing 51 of 60 possible points. He overcame the more experienced two-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM) competitor Ervin Toots by a four-point margin.
Here are the final results from the 2022 Strongman Champions League Portugal contest:
2022 Strongman Champions League Portugal Results
- George Sulaiman (Netherlands) — 51 points
- Ervin Toots (Estonia) — 47 points
- Sebastian Kurek (Poland) — 43 points
- Aurélien Le Jeune (France) — 38.5 points
- Kane Francis (United Kingdom) — 34 points
- Alessandro Castelli (Italy) — 33 points
- Andrea Invernizzi (Italy) — 32 points
- Roberto Rodríguez (Spain) — 26 points
- Sean O’Hagan (Ireland) — 25.5 points
- Silviu Urdea (Romania) — 24.5 points
- Lucas Rogerio (Brazil) — 20.5 points
- Fábio Silva (Portugal) — 15 points
Per Strongman Archives, Sulaiman’s win in the 2022 SCL Portugal competition was the first of his career. It might have been a culmination of recent solid showings for Sulaiman, like a second-place result in the 2022 Strongest Man in the Netherlands from early July. At the time of this writing, Sulaiman has participated in just five strongman competitions and has reached the podium on three occasions.
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Sulaiman enjoyed a strong showing through the one-day contest. The Dutch strongman won the Deadlift and Conan’s Wheel and took third on the Frame Carry and Medley. His lowest finish was a fifth-place result on the Log Lift.
Below is a quick rundown of the respective event results at the 2022 SCL Portugal.
2022 Strongman Champions League Portugal Event Recap
Deadlift
The deadlift event was of a typical, straightforward max reps (weight undisclosed) structure.
- George Sulaiman — Nine reps
- Aurélien Le Jeune — Eight reps (Tied for second)
- Andrea Invernizzi — Eight reps (Tied for second)
- Sebastian Kurek — Seven reps
- Ervin Toots — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Alessandro Castelli — Five reps (Tied for fifth)
- Roberto Rodríguez — Four reps (Tied for seventh)
- Silviu Urdea — Four reps (Tied for seventh)
- Kane Francis — Three reps (Tied for ninth)
- Fábio Silva — Three reps (Tied for ninth)
- Sean O’Hagan — Two reps
- Lucas Rogerio — One rep
Frame Carry
In the frame carry, the athletes’ objective was to carry a 340-kilogram (749.6-pound) implement for 25 meters as fast as they could. The time limit was 60 seconds.
- Kane Francis — 15.25 seconds
- Sean O’Hagan — 16.12 seconds
- George Sulaiman — 16.22 seconds
- Aurélien Le Jeune — 16.38 seconds
- Silviu Urdea — 18.06 seconds
- Andrea Invernizzi — 18.15 seconds
- Ervin Toots — 18.68 seconds
- Sebastian Kurek — 20.47 seconds
- Roberto Rodríguez — 21.31 seconds
- Lucas Rogerio — 22.64 seconds
- Alessandro Castelli — 29.10 seconds
- Fábio Silva — 33.31 seconds
Log Lift
Another event centered on max reps; each athlete had 60 seconds to press a 140-kilogram (308.6-pound) log overhead as often as possible successfully.
- Andrea Invernizzi — Seven reps (T-first)
- Ervin Toots — Seven reps (T-first)
- Lucas Rogerio — Six reps (T-third)
- Alessandro Castelli — Six reps (T-third)
- George Sulaiman — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Aurélien Le Jeune — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Sebastian Kurek — Five reps (T-fifth)
- Sean O’Hagan — Three reps (T-eighth)
- Roberto Rodríguez — Three reps (T-eighth)
- Silviu Urdea — 18.06 seconds
- Kane Francis — One rep (T-11th)
- Fábio Silva — One rep (T-11th)
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Conan’s Wheel
If this Conan’s Wheel event followed its usual structure from other strongman events, the competitors likely had to carry a heavy implement (undisclosed weight) on a fixed point that tested their forearm strength and midlines. Without dropping the weight, each athlete’s cumulative distance was their score.
- George Sulaiman — 60.4 meters
- Ervin Toots — 57.5 meters
- Sebastian Kurek — 46.5 meters
- Kane Francis — 45 meters
- Alessandro Castelli — 39.5 meters
- Sean O’Hagan — 37.4 meters
- Silviu Urdea — 23.5 meters
- Roberto Rodríguez — 23 meters
- Fábio Silva — 11.8 meters
- Aurélien Le Jeune — 6.5 meters
- Lucas Rogerio — 4.3 meters
- Andrea Invernizzi — 2.5 meters
Medley
The Medley concluded the 2022 SCL Portugal. The exact format details and implements are unconfirmed at the time of this article’s publication. If the precedent of other strongman contests is any indication, it likely included some form of a Farmer’s Walk for a certain distance followed by repeatedly loading a unique implement onto a platform. Nonetheless, the winner was who completed the overall Medley fastest.
- Sebastian Kurek — 39.43 seconds
- Ervin Toots — 39.90 seconds
- George Sulaiman — 43.44 seconds
- Aurélien Le Jeune — 44.43 seconds
- Kane Francis — 46.89 seconds
- Roberto Rodríguez — 47.88 seconds
- Alessandro Castelli — 53.29 seconds
- Fábio Silva — 60.56 seconds
- Lucas Rogerio — 61.25 seconds
- Sean O’Hagan — One flip (T-10th)
- Silviu Urdea — One flip (T-10th)
- Andrea Invernizzi — One flip (T-10th)
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Next Steps
At the time of this writing, Sulaiman has not confirmed when he will compete in strongman competition next. Notably, the 2022 SCL Portugal was Sulaiman’s first contest outside his native Netherlands. Whether he competes on an international stage or a domestic platform again, it is evident that Sulaiman shows promise as a young strongman.
Featured image: @sulaiman_strongman on Instagram