Unfortunately, there’s more bad news coming from World Strongest Man 2019. It appears that both the veteran “Big Loz” and the WSM debutant, Sigfus Fossdal, are both out of further WSM competition.
Looks like the truck pull and the farmer’s/yoke walk were just too much for these dudes. Laurence is a veteran of the sport and 2019’s WSM contest was supposed to be his swan song, his last hurrah-his last competition ever. it sucks that his career ended on an injury, but it is what it is.
Here’s what Shahlaei had to say in his own words:
Unfortunately my WSM career has ended in one of the worst ways I could’ve imagined – a ruptured Achilles’ tendon during the 600kg yoke.
To say I’m pretty devastated right now would be an understatement. Right now I need time to process everything and concentrate on getting this fixed.
Thank you all for your unwavering support. It’s especially appreciated at times like this.
Loz went to explain his results a bit further in his youtube vlog.
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In short, bad luck turned to worse. First, his monster truck pull didn’t go that well because of a very uncomfortable harness that restricted his blood flow and ultimately he collapsed. if that wasn’t enough, once they got him out of the very uncomfortable harness, Loz had to be administered an iv drip for an hour. Of course, the doctors told him that nothing good will come out of him competing the next day.
Considering his health, he would be risking injury competing any further, but the well-spoken big bearded Brit said “yolo” and went with it. The outcome was a torn Achilles tendon on the 600kg heavy yoke walk.
It sucks for “Big Loz”, it really does. This was his last event ever and it ended in an injury. But, hey, this is the world of Strongmen for ya. It’s not just “ooh” and “aah” spectacle, it’s a lot of pain and a lot of sacrifice with little reward.
Sigfus Fossdal isn’t all that social media friendly, but he also did provide some insight into his situation on Instagram. He even provided footage from WSM showing how he tore the Achilles tendon…heads up, it’s not a pretty sight.