A 40-year old athlete from Ukraine. At first sight well build, must have been training a lot, the founder of Polish arm wrestling. He has organized numerous national and international events. His has proven his managing skills by doing something out of nothing, a modest businessman who has sacrificed everything for the sake of arm wrestling. The owner of the armpower.net web page, Internet TV www.ArmBets.tv , one of the main dietary supplement making company FitMax, the manufacturer of official arm wrestling tables and equipment. Father and husband living as present in Gdynia – Igor Mazurenko.  

This is just a short introduction of the man who has become a real icon of arm wrestling in Poland. He is the man who had to leave Ukraine and later found the Polish arm wrestling structures which are now at a very high sports level. Although it has been hard at the beginning he never gave up in pursuing his goal to make arm wrestling a popular sports discipline for everyone. Igor Mazurenko has already done a lot for the sport of arm wrestling taking it out of the bars and making it professional. He once said: “I have done a lot but there is still a lot to do. The road is long and hard but I have placed everything on one card and I will push on until I achieve my goal”.  

Igor Mazurenko besides his organizing achievements (if he only has the time to train) has also some international competing achievements. After a long break in competing he has got back to training and started in this year’s European Championships in Bulgaria. This year a part from the previous years he competed against pullers his age in the master’s category. Igor said after the competition: „I was really close to winning the gold but I have made some technique mistakes as a result of which I came in third”. Representing the Polish national colors Igor had won 2 bronze medals in the over 100kg masters left and right hand categories during those championships.  

Here is a special interview for armpower in which we would like to give a close up on the European Championships bronze medalist – Igor Mazurenko.


I HAVE COMPETED IN MY FIRST TOURNAMENT IN 1999 ON THE PIER IN SOPOT

Name: Igor Mazurenko
Age: 40 lat
Height: 189 cm
Cometing weight: 124 kg
Living at: Gdynia
Education: higher education
Marital status: married 
Club: Złoty Tut Gdynia
Occupation in the arm wrestling structures: 
- Founder of the Polish arm wrestling 
- Chairman of the Polish Armwrestling Federation
- Wice President of the European Armwrestling Federation (EAF)
- Acting General Secretary of the European Armwrestling Federation (EAF) 
- Wice President of the Professional Armwrestling League (PAL)
Coach: trains alone
Biggest sports achievements: 
- 3rd place – World Championships 2002 both left and right hand, 
- 3rd place – European Championships 2009 left and right hand;
Hobby: sports, aviation
Dream: to make arm wrestling an Olympic discipline and a one that you can make money on. 

Armpower: How did you come across arm wrestling?
Igor Mazurenko: Back in 1999 I competed in my first arm wrestling event on the pier in Sopot. It was an amateur event which I have won. I have liked it so much that I went to Lviv to meet the pullers from Ukraine. After that I have decided that I will start to promote arm wrestling in Poland. At that time arm wrestling none existed in Poland. 

Armpower: Who dragged you into the secrets of arm wrestling?
Igor Mazurenko: My first teacher was Gregory Bondaruk from Ukraine. He has shown me arm wrestling from the professional side. 

Armpower: The first competition that you have organized?
Igor Mazurenko: It was on the 28th on November 1999 in Gdynia. I have organized the first professional tournament. The first significant tournament was the 1st International World Cup for the Zloty Tur Trophy in Gdynia in 2000. 

Armpower: How has arm wrestling in Poland evolved?
Igor Mazurenko: Arm wrestling is dynamically evolving in Poland. Although we have a lack of World and European champions we organize the biggest events. It doesn’t matter where a tournament is happening we always have a Polish accent there. We manufacture the best tables and arm wrestling equipment. If equipment is considered we are world class at the moment. The sports level of our pullers is increasing every year. 17 European medals during the last European Championships prove it.  

Armpower: Is it hard to organize tournaments in Poland?
Igor Mazurenko: It’s not hard to organize the tournaments itself. At the beginning I has been hard to gather a group of good coworkers who could help. When you find those people organizing events becomes much easier. The problem is still in getting the money and the sponsors. Unfortunately our sport is still recognized as fun not as a sports discipline despite the fact that it’s long not true.  

Armpower: What should be done to make arm wrestling be recognized differently? 
Igor Mazurenko: First of all arm wrestling should be shown on TV more often. One of the main things are live transmissions of sporting events. Another thing is a national hero – a World Champion, an arm wrestling star like strong man Mariusz Pudzianowski who could open the eyes of young talents. Give them faith in their own abilities. 

Armpower: Why arm wrestling not other sports?
Igor Mazurenko: I have found myself as a competitor and an organizer in this discipline. Up until 1999 there hasn’t been any national or international tournament in Poland. There were no rules, standards, tables, competitors or clubs.

When I have realized that I could be the first person to do all of this I have sacrifice all: my time, my private life and money. Of course I have not regretted it even for a moment. 

Armpower: Are you training or have you ever trained any other sports discipline? 
Igor Mazurenko: I have trained body building up to the nineties. In 1987 and 1989 I have been the Champion and vice champion of Moscow in body building in the junior category. In 1999 I have competed for the last time in bench pressing. My record back then was 265kg without a bench shirt. This year I have been 4th on the World Championships organized by the WPC organization in Austria benching 255kg.  

Armpower: Is it hard for you to compete in your category in Poland? Who is that you have the biggest problems with?  
Igor Mazurenko: As for now my weight category is very hard. Thanks to the fact that I haven’t trained for a while there are a couple of pullers which I could have problems winning with.  

Armpower: Where and with whom you usually train?
Igor Mazurenko: I train in ma club: Złoty Tur in Gdynia with Grzegorz Nowak and Andrzej Głabała. Besides normal trainings I try to give them as many tips as possible to let them achieve an international level. I am also a trainer and I try to give advice and help both Polish and non-Polish athletes. 

Armpower: How does your training look? 
Igor Mazurenko: I train 3 times a week sometimes 4 times. I use medium weights. I concentrate on my technique and sparring. I tell it everyone: the hand of a good sparring partner is way better than any weights.

Armpower: Do you have any training successes? 
Igor Mazurenko: The biggest weight I have curled is 60kg and 87 kg is how much I have lifted with my wrist. It has been 6 years ago and it was a lot at that moment. Nowadays for example Grzegorz Nowak uses 87kg in his second series because his maximum is 150kg. Because of my age I don’t use large weights any more I have left the field for younger pullers.  

Armpower: Why haven’t you competed for some time?
Igor Mazurenko: Organizing events and the process of making money both for life and the development of arm wrestling in Poland got me really busy. Arm wrestling as any sport needs sacrifices.  

Armpower: Why have you started competing again? 
Igor Mazurenko: After I gained some extra time I have started to train again and I had a re-debut during the last European Championships of course in the veteran category – the masters. 

Armpower: Is it hard to organize tournaments and prepare for events at the same time?
Igor Mazurenko: Professional arm wrestlers don’t have to bother by anything else that getting ready for the competition. I need to deal with two things at one time. I only train to compete in 3 competitions per year. This is the number of competitions I can get really ready for.  

Armpower: Are you happy with your performance at the European Championships 2009?
Igor Mazurenko: To be honest I was hoping that I will win the left hand. Because of my own mistake I finished third and as for the right hand I have done everything that I could.  

Armpower: How is it to stand on the podium with the best athletes in Europe? 
Igor Mazurenko: The last time I have been on a podium was in 2002 during the World Championships in USA. I took 3rd place (left and right arm) back then and now. I have had a whole cascade of emotions. I had the same emotions during the European Championships in Bulgaria. 

Armpower: Is the international arena tough? 
Igor Mazurenko: A lot has change for the past 6 years. It is hard to compare arm wrestling now and before. First of all we have a lot more competitors now; secondly the training methods have changed. Many pullers now also more about dietary supplements which enables them to get stronger faster. Shortly speaking the international arena is tough, very tough. 

Armpower: Do you have any special diet?
Igor Mazurenko: During my training my diet consist a lot of macaroni chicken and beef. I also try not to use any sweets juices and fizz drinks. I supplement my diet with dietary supplements. The main supplements for any arm wrestler are proteins – BCAA and R-ALA and creatine. The best type for me is the standard monohydrate - Creapue. We have such a creatine in our FitMax offer. I am also using Cissus for my joints and ligaments.

Armpower: Your arm wrestling authority? 
Igor Mazurenko: One of the biggest authorities in the world of arm wrestling not only mine is John Brzenk. An incredible talent, a modest competitor at the age of 45 he has competed for over 25 years now. He is an icon of arm wrestling and a real role model for each puller. He is also a living prove that not only young athletes but also people in their forties can succeed in the sport of arm wrestling.  

Armpower: Is arm wrestling a sport for everyone? 
Igor Mazurenko: Arm wrestling is as old as the world itself. It gives the possibility of rivalry to both men and women. There is no age limit. Anyone can arm wrestle even if you are disabled. It certainly has more possibilities than football. That is why I think that arm wrestling is a sports discipline for everyone. 

Armpower: What next?
Igor Mazurenko: Currently I am preparing for the World Championships in Italy. Of course I am also in the middle of organizing the 10th International Tournament for the Złoty Tur Trophy – The Nemiroff World Cup 2009. 

Armpower: Will you be able to win the World Championships gold medal?
Igor Mazurenko: I will try to win the gold medal. One thing is sure: I won’t make the same mistakes which I have during the European Championships in Bulgaria. What the outcome will be? We will see. I would be nice to hear the Polish national anthem and stand on the highest step of the podium.