35cm; line-height: 115%"> Juniors - reasonable split!

When it comes to the sports side - we also have a "breakthrough", because for the first time there were two junior categories (under 18 and under 21 years) in the World Championship. This is very reasonable, because it gives a chance to shine to both very young competitors, who shouldn't yet go against "almost adult" rivals, and also - an "under 21 years" group shows clearly - the future of our sport.

Participation

Another notable thing about the 2013 World Championship are the participation rates in the different categories. Everyone who stood on the podium or took 4-5 place had a much more difficult road, compared to how it used to be in the past. You know that in the case of high number of participants in a given weight category - not only does the number of fights increase, the competitor is also more likely to have to fight two consecutive fights literally within several minutes, before he has time to rest. Therefore, because of the huge amount of participants in the categories, each medal winner deserves even more applause and appreciation.

Juniors scores - the future of armwrestling

In case of the juniors, you can't determine the world primacy in relation to the previous competitions, because for the first time they were divided into two age categories.

Among 25 teams entering the under 18 years juniors competition - thirteen nations ended up with zero medals.

These are: Poland, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Italy, Japan, Croatia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada.

Similar situation in the under 21 years category. There, countries with either no medals or at most one, are: Brazil, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Japan, Hungary, Latvia, The Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Germany.

Let's move on to the medal table. What can we see?

Russia in the first place and that shouldn't surprise anyone. In Russia, the sport is well organised and it has to dominate.

During the competition, at the Championship itself - we could observe one more thing:

In the Russian team, nobody is alone! The boss of trainers (Senior Trainer) sits right next to the stage and gives hints to competitors, if a hint is needed. And not just that! He analyzes the entry and discusses with the sportsmen.

In the second place among the juniors under 18 - Kazakhstan. I happened to have a "mission" from the organizer and on my way to Warsaw from Gdynia I was a "pilot" for the Kazakhstan crew. What I heard from the trainer about the conditions that the country creates for the sportsmen... It greatly undermined by patriotism and I'm starting to consider whether I shouldn't move to Kazakhstan when I reach old age! They simply have the money for training the youth there. There, the trainer can put his whole heart into working with the competitors and he doesn't have to work any extra jobs, and still makes a decent living. Ah, beautiful country!

Third place in the under 18 category was taken by Turkey! The sport is of national importance there, the competitors are motivated more than in any other crew. I saw a "briefing" on the third day of the championship with my own eyes. Everyone standing nicely in a circle and the boss rating everyone, judging and (in some cases) praising. It's no surprise then, that they're taking the top places. The fourth team in the younger juniors category - Ukraine. There's significantly less funding for the sport, but... They're making up for it through incredible determination and traditions. The remaining teams have a much smaller number of medals and points.

What also has to be pointed out is that this year's world championship competition already imposed very difficult conditions on the juniors! The categories were numerous, more numerous than before, so when approaching the semifinals everyone felt a lot of stress in their bones. There were no easy categories.

Juniors under 21, the closest future, fought equally hard fights. Team wise, Russia is in the lead again, before Ukraine and Turkey. The only "Western" country at the top is Sweden in the fourth place. Conclusions... the results of the competitors under 21 years - easily predict the results in the following world championships among the seniors! Want to make a bet?

Seniors - the "gap"

Absences

The most surprising absence among the seniors taking part in the 2013 World Championship - was the absence of Andrey Pushkar. For the first time since his first world championship - he spent the time on the championship as a spectator! This hasn't happened for ten years! We all know, because we wrote about it, that by deciding to enter in Las Vegas - he gave away his place in the Ukraine team to another competitor. In effect, he had no fight in either America, or Poland. Big misfortune and a big shame for the whole rivalry. One can only hope that competitors from his category will "grow into strength" and will give Pushkar very difficult conditions next year.

The next one with "bad luck" is Jambul Vibliani, "returning" to the 65 kg category. After dramatic events and troubles, this competitor in the end put on the Georgia representation tracksuit, and was preparing for the trip. As you remember - at the last moment it turned out he isn't going to receive an entry visa. This absence hasn't (possibly) had a significant impact on the classification of the 65 kg category, but most certainly the competitor has exhausted his entire lifetime supply of misfortune and bad luck.

The next absences had very serious reasons. They're the doping control busts after the Europe Championships in Lithuania.

Rustam Babayev couldn't enter, which certainly impacted the score in the 85 kg category. It's hard to imagine the podium without him, if only he could take part in the championship.

Similarly, Timur Mamedov made the fight for the medals easier in the 80 kg category.

The gap, or...

Seniors' team classification

42 national representations scored points in the seniors' category. 19 teams left Gdynia with at least one medal. Eight national teams ended the competition with no senior gold: Sweden, Poland, Germany, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Switzerland, Romania and Uzbekistan.

Where can a line between super domination and a "perfect" team result in the seniors be drawn?

Russia - by itself - scored 296 points! Kazakhstan - 132, Ukraine - 94. Conclusion? Russia - by itself won more than the second and third team in the classification!

It's the effect not only of the medal winnings, but also the most numerous cast as well as fighting for the "little" points for places outside of the podium.

When looking at the team classification in the seniors - we're also seeing a different split. A split into the "East" and the "West".

In the top ten there's only one country from Western Europe - Sweden.

Besides European countires - in the top ten there's only Turkey and Brazil. And looking further - in the top twenty there is no representat from North America, as well as South America.

One can also see a huge domination of countries from the old "soviet" block and the old Soviet Union. Even though many years have passed since the fall of the USSR, CIS and the whole "camp" - the domination of these nations can still be seen.

Conclusions?

In the sport judgment of the championship I focused only on the juniors and the seniors, because they're the ones who are most important for the future of Armwrestling. Looking at the team scores one has to notice the huge discrepancy between Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Italy, Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Japan, France, The Netherlands, Spain...

What's the threat?

This year's WAF Congress showed clearly that our sport is done by two groups of people. I'll use working names: "Professionals from the East" and "Amateurs from the West".

Sportsmen from the first group are organized like military, like a real national representation, sent to fight for fame.

Sportsmen "from the West" are amateurs and hobbyists. Each of them - admittedly - trains like a pro, but in their countries the approach to our sport is significantly different than in the "East". There is no organization which could send juniors to the championships.

Will this discrepancy continue growing?

It certainly will!

Accomplished successes will motivate Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and the top ten countries even more. For other countries, they can demobilize. Is it good or bad? I'm not the one to judge. I only wanted to note the fact that such a divide exists. It didn't come "from nothing", but is a result of the situation around sport in different countries of Europe and the world.

PeSzy