THE FRENCH THROWDOWN: HARRY ELLIS

The French Throwdown is an annual Competition held in Paris which invites Top Individual Athletes as well as Masters and Teams to the Institut National des Sports to compete over one weekend. One of the first competitions to include a swim- the French Throwdown always promising an exciting spectacle with some of the Top Athletes from Europe traveling to the French Capital to throw down. Our very own Harry Ellis has competed in the competition for the past two years, we caught up with him to find out how things went in 2015.

What was the highlight of the weekend for you? 

The main highlight was making the cut on the first day. Last year they made the cut after the first workout on the second morning but this year it was made after the last workout on the first day. It was good because the last workout was 140kg deadlifts and 30inch box jumps, a WOD I knew I wouldn't do great in as my back lights up instantly when I deadlift heavy at the moment. I stuck to a very conservative game plan and it worked, I caught people up in the middle round and overtook them at the end.

Another highlight for me was the swimming workout, I got out of the pool last in my heat and probably last out of everyone in the field but when I got to the pull up bar I just turned it up a gear and did my 100 pull-ups in pretty big sets, I think 30/20/20/20/10, this allowed me off the rig in 3rd place and then for the pistols and run I just hung on.

Did you hit any PBs or surprise yourself on any events?

My PB for the weekend was the 130kg split jerk. It was a 10kg PB but surprisingly was my best lift, it looked solid and I managed to hit the positions super fast.

What was the atmosphere like at the comp?

The atmosphere was great the whole weekend, I think partly down to the fact they had teams this year so that alone brought a few more spectators. Also, the calibre of athlete this year was a lot higher than the year before, there weren't so many 'big names' but the guys that went were all amazing athletes. It was a real eye opener for anyone who thinks they are good but only stays at their box! You have to get out there and see the guys grinding out the work in events. There are a huge huge number of great athletes that could be coming through in the next few years and that was really nice to see.

Anything else from the experience worth a mention? 

I treated myself to the biggest pizza and ice cream both nights I was there haha!