Update
GEORGE NEWS - Senior Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) firefighting champ, Emile Conrad, has once again made George proud with his achievements.
Conrad returns to South Africa from this year's International Toughest Firefighter Alive (TFA) Championship not only with a second place in his age category (35 - 39 years), but also a 10th place globally.
The championship is the main event in the World Firefighters Games (WFG), which is held in Lisbon, Portugal, from 30 April to 7 May.
Conrad, who has won the men's individual category of the SA TFA competition five consecutive years up until 2019, was the only person from George competing in this year's TFA event.
The first place in Conrad's age category went to Alor Kasepõld from Estonia, a country in Northern Europe.
During a WhatsApp conversation with an elated Conrad, who was still in Portugal earlier this week, he gave thanks to all his supporters without whom, he said, his achievements would not be possible.
"For me this is an overwhelming achievement. I'm so thankful to God for the gifts and abilities he has given me to glorify His name and that He is constantly enlarging the platform I'm operating on. I want to thank my family, Bonnie my wife, my two boys, David and Matthew, and my friends and family from Atlantis and George, for their love, never-ending support and encouragement," he said.
He also thanked the people from George, his fellow firefighters from across South Africa. his fellow employees and management team at the GRDM and his sponsors for their amazing support and making it possible for him to compete internationally.
The competition
The WFG is an international sporting event open to all fire service personnel, whether full-time, part-time or volunteer. A total of 150 top firefighters from all over the world competed in this year's event.
It is held every second year in a different country and firefighters can take part in more than 50 different sports and challenges including archery, rugby sevens, windsurfing, poker, swimming, athletics and softball, with the TFA the blue ribbon event.
The TFA takes place over two days and consists of four strenuous stages with activities that include hose dragging, an obstacle course, a tower climb and stair running.
The person who completes it in the shortest time is declared the winner.
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