To answer this question I decided to talk to Alex Gritskevichi, a Belarusian armwrestling coach of the city Snov. Why did I pick him? Because Alex is in a way a Belarusian version of Igor Mazurenko. The difference is that Igor is promoting armwrestling worldwide, whereas Alex is doing so within Belarus only.

Alex, how did you become an armwrestler?
In my youth I was a big fan of Arnold. I wanted to look like him. So I went to the gym and started working on my body. In the gym there was an armwrestling table, so we would armwrestle from time to time, sometimes for real and sometimes just for fun. Finally, I realized that a sculpted body was not my biggest dream. I wanted something more. The table in the gym would attract me more and more and one day I succumbed to its magic and tried armwrestling.

Did you have a guide who introduced you to the world of armwrestling?

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a teacher, but I had the Internet full of information. I also came across Igor Mazurenko’s tutorial video, and I learned many useful things from experienced pullers. Besides, I was not alone for my friends helped me a lot.

It must have been hard to become a competitive armwrestler and a couch without the help of an experienced instructor. How did you manage to do that?

It wasn’t easy mainly because of the abundance of information on armwrestling available on the Internet. I had to extract the most important and necessary bits. Everyone had their own views on the topic, so I came across many ambiguous answers to my questions. That’s why I experimented and groped for the answers. The more I got involved in armwrestling, the more I wanted to achieve. Being a competitor was not enough. I wanted to become a trainer.

Your club is located in Snov, which isn’t close to the capital of Belarus. There aren’t many young athletes in the city. Aren’t you afraid that one day you may not find people willing to train?

I’ve never cared about the quantity as it is the quality that has been most important to me. Being a sports instructor, I’ve watched people involved in sport. Once I spotted someone taking up tough challenges, I offered them coming to an evening armwrestling workout. That’s how I gathered my club team.

What are your impressions after the first armwrestling competition in Belarus?

At first, everything seemed to be well planned and the way the competition was organized and run seemed pretty decent. But later, after the European Championships in Poland it became clear that our competition could not be compared to anything. From that time I’ve been under the impression that the level of armwrestling in Belarus is dramatically low. This is due to the fact that there is not adequate funding. Why? Because this is not an Olympic sport – keep saying local deputies. It’s a shame, a real shame, but what can you do?

The club in Snov was started two years ago. What results have you managed to achieve?

Our first year of existence was theoretical, so to speak. We were learning new things and put them into practice. The next year was more fruitful for us as we took first place at the National Championship of Belarus, whereas our juniors took second place and men were ranked fourth. My brother Artem Smirnov became the junior world champion in the 75 kg class, left arm, and won bronze medal for the right arm. Now we have a professional room with five tables, a lot of equipment and other accessories. That is to say, we have good conditions for comfortable and efficient workouts. But that’s not all. Recently, at the opening of a local youth center, we organized an armwrestling tournament. First, titled armwrestlers locked arms on the tables and then everyone had a chance to try their hand. It was interesting. Young people who previously were not at all interested in armwrestling, took an active part in the competition. I don’t want people with a bottle of beer in their hand in my neighbourhood. I’d rather see this bottle replaced by a dumbbell.
 

What’s the future of your club?
To be honest, the club is on the verge of collapse. The priorities of local authorities still have not changed. When they hear the very word “armwrestling”, they keep saying: “it is not an Olympic sport.” We may manage to find good sponsors to create a club gathering armwrestlers from around the country. I would like to build a kind of national squad of Belarus, which would take part only in commercial international competitions.
 

In Belarus, there has been planned a competition with prize money in the amount of three thousand dollars. It certainly will not attract the world’s best armwrestlers, but it’s the record when it comes to the amount of prize money. Do you think there will come a day when Belarus will be able to attract the world’s armwrestling elite?

I think everything is in the hands of Belarusian armwrestlers. If they are not sitting idly, but begin to popularize the sport, take the initiative and be persistent, the day will come when we will organize competitions at the international level.
 

What do you think is the reason for such poor development of the Belarusian armwrestling?
As I said, our country is not ready to qualify armwrestling as a sport. It is also difficult to find sponsors to improve the organization of competitions. We don’t have our own Igor Mazurenko, who does a lot for armwrestling. What’s the conclusion? We need a second Igor.

Soon we’ll be enjoying the most important event in the world of armwrestling – the Nemiroff World Cup. Are there many competitors who should take part in the Cup?

We’re not planning to compete in the World Cup this year, we’ll come to watch the event, though. We’re not experienced enough, but there are many armwrestlers in Belarus who have already competed in the Cup and won medals. We shouldn’t forget about them. I’m sure that one day my team will come to win.

Summing up: armwrestling is not a sport number one in Belarus. We have very few sponsors, but many good athletes and experienced trainers, who are still in the background because of the low popularity of the sport. Armwrestling will continue developing only thanks to such people as Alex Gritskevichi. The more people join Alex, the sooner our sport will develop.

Artur Grigorian