They met in one of Moscow’s restaurants – Igor Mazurenko and Alexey Voevoda spoke about Alexey’s future in armwrestling and promoting the sport worldwide.

- Alexey declared that he will never leave us, and he will never quit armwrestling entirely – says Igor Mazurenko, creator of TOP 16. – Alexey told me before the Olympics, that if his partner, Zubkov, decided to stay in bobsledding, he will too. There’s been a lot of speculation about that, especially after they’ve won gold. Today we know for sure – Alexey will fight in the TOP 16.

Alexey is also to become one of PAL’s shareholders.

- We have arranged for Alexey to come to PAL offices in Las Vegas in May, to sign contracts – says Mazurenko. – He will also be a part of strategic talks about the project.

Meanwhile, Voevoda is resting and giving interviews. He doesn’t try to hide his physical and mental weariness after the Olympics. He has announced that he will be back in training in April / May. There are a lot of questions if he will be ready for TOP 16 after such a short period of training.

Mazurenko is optimistic. – If he’s not ready for the first stage, he will definitely go to play-offs. What’s key to us is that he is ready to give us his time, to promote the sport. And as a celebrity he is guaranteed to do that.

Iza Małkowska