We know each other through the Facebook Armwrestling Friends Group. How has the group began, what lead you to form it?

Many armwrestlers around the world don’t know, that a few countries have left the WAF and formed a new organization – the World Armsport Federation. Egypt was a member of this federation (from 2004 – 2010). I didn’t like that, so I started a war with the Egyptian organization back then. The group seemed like a good place to unite all the armwrestlers around the world, no matter what their country, religion, language, skin color or organization is. Just a group of strong people from all over the world.

What is your opinion on the level of armwrestling in Egypt?

It’s one of the oldest Egyptian sports. Many inscriptions on the walls of ancient Egyptian temples show people armwrestling in order to prove themselves the strongest. Nowadays the sport gains more and more popularity, because many people are into it, in all possible sports classes (Junior, Senior, disabled, Master, Super Master). But I’m not exactly satisfied with the level of armwrestling in Egypt. We need a lot of development, especially in the area of organizing large all-African tournaments. We’re already working on it in cooperation with the African Federation president, Mr. Elmamoun.

Is there a ranking of the best Egyptian armwrestlers?

The best for many years was Ibrahim Helmy, he now trains the national team. Besides him there are:

Andria Joseph Gorege in 70Kg, Mohamed Salaheldin in 75Kg, Mohamed Hassan in 90kg, Ghareb Mahmoud, disabled 60 and Ihab Ramadan, disabled 90.

Do you have tournaments in Egypt?

Every year there are the following tournaments (categories: Juniors, Seniors, disabled, Masters, Super Masters):

1.Regional: divided geographically, qualifications for the Egyptian championship

2.Egyptian championship – for those who qualified from the regional.

3.OPEN championship, for all armwrestlers from Egypt.

4.Qualifications for the national team to enter into the World Championship – only the top three contestants out of every weight class in the OPEN can enter this.

Is every contestant in your country able to afford specialized equipment (ex. - a table)? Or do you rather train in clubs?

No sportsman in Egypt can afford their own equipment. Most of the clubs have adapted the gym equipment to the needs of training. We train in clubs, but there are no special armwrestling gyms. I myself have designed three devices for training, one of them fixed to an armwrestling table (for the purpose of training the hook and the top roll)

What is your opinion on Eastern European armwrestlers (Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, etc.)?

Everyone knows that they are the top level, especially the Kazakhs. They know what they’re doing. In every championship, at the top of every weight class there is always at least one guy from those countries. But there are many others, like Wagner Bortolato from Brazil, who progress very fast, and are yet to be noticed. In 2012 I visited Malaysia for a training and refereeing seminar, and I’ve met a few of them there: Zill, Nizar, Valen Low and Mervyn – all strong and ambitious men.

Is there a fighter in your country with the potential to become a world star, like Brzenk or Cyplenkov?

I think John Brzenk is the best fighter in the history of armwrestling. He started very young and is still a world – famous star. In Egypt we have two guys like that; they started young, became champions and train with good coaches. Salah Eldin Belal – 18 years old, 65kg – Junior champion; two years ago he went on to Seniors and took first place in Egyptian Championships, in the 65kg category. I think he’s going to be a star, like Cyplenkov. There is also Abdelrahman Nasr – 13 years old, started wrestling when he was only 9. He entered Juniors below the age of 12. He won that category when he was 9 years old. He’s the Juniors champion in the below 50kg category, both hands. He spends a lot of time training with his father and some Senior fighters, utilizing a special training program devised for him. He always says he is going to be the next John Brzenk.

Iza Małkowska