Marlena, you’ve won gold, which one of your rival was the toughest to beat and why?

Each fight was very exciting, especially seeing as I was defending my title. This meant more tactics, pressure, focus and concentration. The finals were a show of mental strength, a full technical spectrum (foul, break up, fighting in straps). Heidi Andersson is an achieved, experienced and strong fighter, as are Ekaterina Nikisheva, Dilbar Musina, Alina Golubyeva or Lenka Vojtkova. And each one of us fought for gold. But Poland came through that day, our anthem was played, there were tears of joy.

Why didn’t you start in right hand?

Almost to the day, a year ago, I had a serious injury of my right arm. It’s still undergoing rehabilitation and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to fight with it next year, in the 2015 EC.

Your student, Marta Opalińska, took 4^th place. You were watching her fight, for sure. What mistakes had she made?

My fighter Marta … This year she fought in a different weight category than usual, but she fought well and brave. She just wasn’t lucky enough, even though she beat the Ukrainian fighter, Rudnieva, and the Swiss – Thommen, who went on to win silver and bronze the next day.

What challenges are you preparing for now?

I’m preparing especially for the World Championships. This is my biggest goal, then the World Cup and the Polish Cup. I’d like to take this chance to thank my parents, friends, other fighters and sponsors (M.Opaliński-"Instalmet" and Parking City Group) – none of this would be possible without them.

With armwrestling greetings – Marta Wawrzyniak.

Iza Małkowska