Kevad Battles - since 2016
On 28.05.2016, the first calisthenics competition took place in the city of Pärnu. 13 athletes participated. Athletes came from Tallinn, Kiili, Saku, Maardu, Rapla, Jõgeva and Värska.
The competition first took place when Erik Naissaar started competing in calisthenics freestyle and noticed shortcomings in the organization of the competitions. In February 2016, he drove home from the competition and announced that he was going to organize the sports event Kevad Battles, which means "Spring Duels" in Estonian. Funding was immediately received from the Pärnu city government to produce two outdoor gymnasiums suitable for competitions. The competition was able to take place in a suitable park, and the audience was more than we could have expected. We also got instant access to television. We also made categories for the audience, where men, women and children were included.
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Kevad Battles 2017
On 28.05.2017, the second Spring Battles competition took place in the city of Pärnu, with 6 participants.
Since the first event was a success, the next year was immediately bolder. One mobile outdoor gym with 1.5m wide bars and B-bars was borrowed. Once again, a good number of sponsors were involved, and in addition to Estonian athletes, representatives of Finland and Latvia also participated in the competition. Since it was held in the heart of Pärnu, the curiosity of the people was also greater. The dance club Black and Brownie, which was in its infancy at the time, as well as DJ Muul, both at their peak today, were involved. Valev, known in the rap scene, also appeared in front of the audience. The audience took part in the contests with great pleasure.
Kevad Battles 2018
On 27.05.2018, the third Kevad Battles competition took place in the city of Pärnu, with 8 participants.
Since it was a competition with limited participants, we had quite good athletes from Estonia, Latvia and Finland for that era. Together with cooperation partners, Estonia's first portable outdoor gyms designed for competitions were produced. One was for the athletes on the stage and the other for the townspeople next to the stage. For the first time, we also included caterers and the martial arts club MMAces. Once again, you could also see dance performances and audience competitions.
Kevad Battles 2019
On 18-19.05.2019, the fourth Spring Battles competition took place in the city of Pärnu, with 30 participants, 6 of whom were female athletes.
This competition was the first competition in Europe where a participation fee was established, which is a completely common phenomenon in calisthenics today. Since our prizes have always been quite rich, we also offered monetary prizes as a gesture for the first time.
There were athletes from Serbia, France, Israel, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Finland and Estonia. The then World Champion Daniels Laizans also participated.
The outdoor gym that was used was used by the audience in 2018, i.e. the competition bar that has gained great fame today, which we use to this day. On the first day of the competition, it became clear who made it to the finals, and on the second day, the finals took place. It was the last year when we organized the competition under normal conditions and gained popularity across Europe. Everything that happened after that competition has carried us to this day. At this point, many thanks to the Latvians Pauls Jemeljanovs and Dmitrijs Shirjaevs, who helped promote the event and invite the athletes.
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Kevad Battles 2020
Welcome to Covid 19, we started organizing, we also already gathered athletes. It was supposed to take place for the 5th time and we were going to organize a 3-day competition indoors in a beautiful sports hall, but unfortunately the plans stayed in place and we thought about 2021.
Kevad Battles 2021
On 21.05.2021, the sixth Spring Battles competition took place in the city of Pärnu, with 35 participants, 13 of whom were online. In addition to the innovative approach, where some athletes were in Pärnu and some could not enter Estonia, we were able to organize a full-scale competition in 4 hours, where the prizes were distributed both by courier and by traveling to the nearest countries and politely handing them over. In the form of a live broadcast by Estonian mainstream media, people could see the whole picture of what was happening in Pärnu and what was happening in other countries. For the first time, children's categories were also represented. Namely, the U14 age group competition took place, and boys and girls were counted separately. For the first time, we handed out the medals of the Pärnumaa Championship. Spain, Israel, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic took part.
The event was opened for the first time by the mayor of Pärnu.
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Kevad Battles 2022
On 28.05.2022, the seventh Kevad Battles competition took place in the city of Pärnu, but this time categories were added: strength endurance, scooter and armwrestling. 110 participants in one day around our newly built outdoor gym in Pärnu. Since there was a live broadcast last year, this year we also contributed to the live broadcast through the OHO TV platform and invited the radio channel to broadcast on the spot. We hired a media agency for the first time, who did an extremely good job. You can read and listen to the articles below.
While we are usually greeted by beautiful weather, that day it was windy and we barely escaped the rain. We also contributed to EXPO activities.
The judges were Latvians, including the well-known superstar Daniels Laizans.
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Kevad Battles 2023
On 27-28 May 2023, the eighth Kevad Battles competition took place, this time in Pärnu's fresh beach sports arena, 100m from last year's competition venue. It was the first sports competition on the beach arena, and the arena was not even open yet.
Disciplines:
Calisthenics Freestyle
Calisthenics Strength Endurance
IFBB Fitness Challenge
Strongman
Armwrestling
Estonia-England and Estonia-Latvia beach soccer
A total of 160 athletes
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Our main organizer Erik Naissaar was recognized as the health promoter of the year at the highest appreciation event in Pärnu County, and the Kevad Battles competition arena was recognized as Pärnu's Activity of the Year.
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