World’s Ultimate Strongman competitors have starting arriving in Dubai, and have been bowled over by hospitality afforded to them as they live ‘the Conor McGregor life.’
The strongest men in the world will gather at the Bab al Shams Arena on Friday in an event that fuses sporting competition with family friendly entertainment and activities.
Strongman is still a relatively low-profile sport, despite the athletes performing super-human feats, but World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) is looking to change all aspects of that from the marketing and delivery of the event to how the athletes are treated and how much they are paid.
Fourteen athletes will take part, including three World’s Strongest Man winners, across six events that will test them more than ever before.
Robert Oberst, Terry Hollands, and Tom Stoltman arrived in Dubai last week and have been taking in the sights along with a number of promotional activities.
Sadly, Oberst won’t be competing as he continues to rehab a bicep injury, but is still still exited as to what the event will hold.
“It’s pretty cool to see it all coming together, the guys are excited, the city is excited, I’m looking forward to see what happens,” he said. “I think it’s going to be something we remember for a long time.
“This is very different to anything we’ve ever done. This is going to change the future of strongman a lot, people are going to have to compete with this – if you want to be the best show in the world you have to beat this one.
“The hospitality has been pretty good! I drove here in a Maserati and the guys rolled in the Rolls Royce – we’re living the Conor McGregor life.”
Terry Hollands is a veteran of around 250 competitions, and says he has never seen anything like this.
“This is raising the bar for strongman,” he said. “They have made such an effort with the show, the entertainment, and everything else that is going on around it. It’s great for the sport.
“This is next level, the way we are being treated, we’re in an amazing hotel, food is all provided, prize money is better than we have ever had, the arena is amazing, the equipment looks great – we can all see it is something that is going to be great for strongman.
“Sometimes it takes someone to raise the bar for everyone else then to follow suit.
He also encouraged people to witness the spectacle for themselves.
“If you’ve never been to a strongman show before come along, you’re going to really enjoy it. It’s a great experience and spectacle to see guys doing things that are almost unthinkable.”
Supported by the Dubai Sports Council, WUS will headline with the strongman competition, but the huge arena will be full of other activities – you can see just a selection of them here.
World’s Ultimate Strongman takes place on Friday October 26, at Bab al Shams Arena. For more information and tickets see www.worldsultimatestrongman.com
