Vrnjačka Banja Open Cup Strongman Competition, Serbia 2026

I travelled to Serbia with one goal: to compete. I was not going there looking for a confrontation, nor to challenge every decision, nor to blame the organizers for every result I did not like. I was going there to do what I always do: test my strength, respect the competition and fight for the best result I could achieve.

The competition took place at Vrnjačka Banja in Serbia and was organized by Snagator, a local strongman association. Before the event, certain cash prizes were communicated according to finishing position. We were also promised fairness, proper judging and a competition in which athletes would be treated according to the same rules.

The Journey and the First Problem

We were supposed to arrive at 7:00 p.m. I left at 7:00 a.m. During the journey, several unforeseen situations and delays occurred, things that were outside our control. We dealt with them and kept going. I reached the accommodation at around 5:45 p.m.

Almost immediately after arriving, I received a message asking whether we were still coming to the competition because it was already 6:00 p.m. The issue was not the time difference between Romania and Serbia. I knew Serbia was one hour behind Romania. The issue was that the schedule had been changed without us being properly informed.

We arrived at the competition in the rain after a full day of travel and were rushed into the event without normal preparation time: no shower, no calm change of clothes and no proper warm-up. We essentially came straight from the car and hurried to the venue. The irony was that, after all that urgency, we then waited roughly another hour and a half before the competition actually started.

For me, this was the first sign that the event was not organized at the level I expected. The event staff did not seem to have a clear order of events, there was uncertainty about the competitors, and our questions often received unclear answers or were simply postponed. At that point, I tried to put it aside and focus on competing.

The Events: From Difficult Conditions to Different Standards

The first event was a truck pull: a roughly 12-ton truck pulled with a rope over 20 meters. It was raining and the asphalt was wet. I do not believe the weather can automatically be blamed on the organizers. It was an external condition and every competitor had to work in it. I had personal suspicions about the timing, but I do not present those suspicions as fact without objective evidence.

The second event was a car yoke, essentially a yoke built around a car frame. In strongman, the idea is to lift the frame, stabilize it on the shoulders and carry it over the prescribed distance. In our case, I found the construction problematic: the weight was difficult to control, and the strap system was thin and unstable rather than providing a solid support that an athlete could properly set on the shoulders.

Most athletes could not move the apparatus and received zero points. I managed to take a few steps. The issue that made me challenge the event came later: I maintain that some local athletes were allowed to push the apparatus on its wheels instead of moving it through the same execution the other competitors had used. If the method of execution is different, the sporting comparison becomes fundamentally problematic. Those competitors received maximum points.

The next event involved three tires of different weights that had to be flipped from the lightest to the heaviest. The first competitors entered under the initial setup. The tires were heavy, and most athletes did not get past the second one. Later, the tires and their order were changed. From my perspective, that created a materially different situation for the athletes who competed after the change and raised a serious fairness issue.

In the front hold, the issue was again execution standards. Such an event requires a defined holding position that should be applied consistently. I observed and challenged the fact that some athletes were allowed to hold the weight significantly higher, making the event easier and allowing a longer hold.

In the axle clean and press, I had the same concerns about execution standards. I did not believe a full lockout was consistently required or that repetitions were validated according to the same criteria for everyone. I had similar concerns during the car deadlift, where, from my perspective, some repetitions were not completed fully and were nevertheless counted.

I Was Told They Would Receive Zero. The Final Scoreboard Said Otherwise.

During the competition, I raised these issues. I was told that where an execution did not meet the technical requirements, the athletes involved would receive zero points. To me, that was the obvious solution: the same rule for everyone.

At the end, however, when I saw the scoring table, those athletes had points, in some of the disputed situations even maximum points. The result had a direct impact on the standings and placed them near the top of the classification.

I tried to ask for explanations. When I continued raising questions about fairness, I felt that the conversation simply shut down. At one point, the people I was speaking to began acting as though they no longer understood English. I was talking, and there was no meaningful response. Standing in the rain after a full day of travel and after a competition in which I felt the rules had not been applied consistently was extremely frustrating.

Open and the Weight Category: How I Went from Second to Fifth

Another issue appeared at the end, in the way the categories were structured. There was an Open category and a lower weight category, which I heard and understood as under 105/110 kg. I am deliberately keeping that wording cautious because I want to be precise and do not want to present a detail as certain until it is verified against the official competition documents.

Before the competition, we were told that the Open category would be awarded down to fifth place and that this separate lower weight category would not exist. In the end, things were different: only first place in Open was awarded, while the first three places in the lower category were awarded.

More importantly, the results from the two categories were interwoven in the way the final awards were presented. Based on my calculations and the result I expected within the Open category, I should have finished second in Open. By inserting athletes from the lower category into the Open standings, I ended up being presented as fifth in the final classification.

For me, this was not simply a matter of moving a few places on a table. It involved money, what had been communicated before the competition and the basic principle that an athlete should know before competing what he is competing for and how the standings and awards will be determined.

The Awards and the Feeling That the Other Competitors Did Not Matter

At the end, only the four athletes who received prizes were called onto the stage. The rest of the competitors remained outside in the rain. There was no ceremony for all participants, no handshake and not even a simple gesture of recognition for the effort they had put in.

From the outside, that may look like a minor detail. For an athlete who has travelled for hours, entered a demanding competition and pushed his body to its limits, it is not a minor detail. Respect for competitors is not measured only in money and trophies.

The Moment I Lost My Temper

After the competition, the discussion with the organizer became much more heated. Here I want to describe my own part honestly and take responsibility for it. I became aggressive and reacted in a way I now consider wrong. I was extremely angry and ended up breaking several chairs.

I am not trying to justify that reaction by what happened at the competition. Feeling that I was treated unfairly does not give me the right to destroy property. On the contrary, it is an episode I am ashamed of and take responsibility for. At the same time, I wanted to prevent the situation from becoming physical toward a person and chose to release my anger on objects. Even so, my reaction was inappropriate.

The Next Morning: My Protest

The following morning, the organizers had arranged a meal. I chose not to attend. For me, it was a form of protest and a way of distancing myself from what had happened the night before.

That same morning, I posted a story in which I tore my competition shirt and publicly said that, in my view, the competition had not been what it should have been. It was a symbolic reaction, a form of protest after an experience I considered deeply unfair.

Why I Am Writing This Account

I am not writing this because I lost. In strongman, you lose. It happens. Sometimes your opponent is stronger, sometimes you choose the wrong approach to an event, sometimes the weather works against you and sometimes you simply have a bad day. I have competed enough times to know that sport does not owe you a result.

My issue is different: when you enter a competition, you should know the rules, how points are awarded, what execution standards apply and that those same standards will be applied to everyone. If the schedule changes, competitors should be informed. If an event changes, the reason should be explained. If a repetition is invalid for one athlete, it should be invalid for another. If there are different categories, the classification and prize structure should be clear before the competition begins.

I do not claim that my account is the only possible perspective on what happened. It is the perspective of a competitor who was there, took part in the events, raised objections and saw the final standings. That is why I want to distinguish between what I personally observed and what I suspect or interpret. Where I have no objective evidence, I do not want to turn suspicion into fact.

If the organizers believe that parts of this account are inaccurate, I believe the appropriate response is straightforward: present the rules, judging criteria, complete scoring table and explanations for the changes to the schedule, events and categories. A serious competition should not need to be defended through silence. It should be able to explain itself.

For me, that is the most important lesson I take from Vrnjačka Banja. An athlete's strength is visible when he lifts a weight. The character of a competition is visible when the same rule is applied to everyone.