Gavin Bilton has been crowned Wales' Strongest Man for a fifth time. The 37-year-old, who has previously been crowned the UK's Strongest Man and competed in World's Strongest Man, retained his title at the Vale Arena on Sunday following a closely-fought battle with Jamie Butler.
The pair, who both work as doormen at Cardiff's Bonnie Rogues, shared the five events - with Bilton eventually pipping Butler. 2024 champion Matt Dimond finished third.
Butler takes early lead
Butler took the first event, managing seven reps of 370kg in the trump bar deadlift. That bested Bilton's six reps of the same weight. Butler, who was tipped as a future World's Strongest Man contender by Bilton this week, then took the second event. He managed to overhead press four implements - axle, dumbbell, log and another dumbbell - in 42.33 seconds.
Bilton, managing three of the implements in 21.3 seconds, finished third in that event.
Bilton fights back
Facing the prospect of defeat, Bilton edged out Butler in the third event. Having to load three sandbags and a tyre in the quickest time, he did so with a time just 0.88 seconds better than Butler. In the fourth event, the throwing medley, Bilton once again pipped Butler - managing to throw six sandbags over a 4-metre bar in 12.3 seconds.
That meant it came down to the final event - the atlas stones - with competitors needing to load six atlas stones in 75 seconds. The stones get heavier, while the platforms they load them onto decrease in height.
Tied on points
Both Bilton and Butler managed five stones, but Bilton had the quicker time of 18.05 seconds. That left the pair both tied on 57 points at the top of the leader board, with Bilton retaining his title having won the final events.
