Some years ago a new type of kettlebell sport competition got started in Russia. It’s a relay-race, a team competition. Usually a team consists of seven people, in each team there is one athlete of every weight class, but sometimes there are two. The important thing is that the total number of team members must be 7. The relay-races are done with regular jerks or long cycle C&Js. Every member lifts for 3 minutes.
Each team competes on a platform of their own. The race starts with the lighter weight gireviks; the rest of each team stand by their platforms.
The referee gives the signal and the first wave of athletes begin to lift kettlebells. With 30 seconds to go before the end of the first wave’s set the second wave enters the platforms and gets ready to take over the kettlebells.
When 3 minutes are up, the referee gives the command and the girevik who has finished his lifting must put the kettlebells on the platform and leave. The next team member takes over the kettlebells and starts lifting. And so on. Everyone gets to lift. The total time of lifting is 21 minutes. The points scored by each team are added up.
A relay-race is a very entertainment competition. It’s always interesting to watch.