Injury derails Daniel’s Irish title quest

DANIEL McElroy’s quest to add the Ireland’s Strongest Man title to the Ulster crown he won earlier in the year ended in disappointment on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Moortown man travelled to Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast where he was confident of overcoming the 15 other qualifiers to clinch the coveted title and earn his place at the UK’s Strongest Man competition later this year as Irish champion.

And after the first three of five events it looked as though that goal could be achieved as he and Draperstown’s Ruairi O’Hagan were level on points at the top of the table on 41.5 points.

To reach that total, McElroy managed to take fifth in the bar bending, finishing in 43.03 seconds for fifth, while O’Hagan was fourth with a time of 40.49 seconds and in the Incline Log Press, McElroy achieved the same total as his nearest rival with 12 lifts, while in t he truck pull the Tyrone man completed the 20 metres in 44.5 seconds for second place, while O’Hagan was third in 45.59 to leave the pair level on overall points.

Unfortunately for McElroy, he suffered a painful finger injury during the truck pull, describing his finger as having ‘burst’, which left him struggling on the next event, the car deadlift hold, and that ultimately cost him his chance of glory.

During the penultimate event of the day, McElroy could only lift and hold the 300kg car for 48.32 seconds, which was only enough for 11th place points, while O’Hagan was fifth with 73.55 seconds, extending his advantage over the Ulster champion to six points, while Cillein Groom leapfrogged both with a sensational time of 102.84 seconds to take the overall lead by half a point.

That left McElroy needing both O’Hagan and Groom needing to suffer a complete disaster in the concluding event, the loading race, when competitors had to sprint back and forth carrying and then loading kegs weighing 90, 100, 110, 120 and 130kgs.

The former Rainey RFC second row forward did his part of the job by winning that event outright, fighting through the pain and tiredness to blitz the course in 45.92 seconds. Disappointingly for McElroy, O’Hagan also completed all five kegs in 46.61 seconds for second place, claiming the overall victory, while Groom managed four in 31.16 seconds to take fourth and the overall runner-up spot, leaving Daniel on the final step of the podium in the end.

It was a case of what might have been for the towering Tyrone man, but there was a silver lining as he has earned a place at UK’s Strongest Man next month.