Popularizing the sport in the new generation is very much a current issue. Having a strong cadre is any country’s guarantee of success. On youth in armwresttling – Russian federations’ president, Alexander Filimonov.

Do you think it’s really worth the effort to organize tournaments for kids ages 14 – 15? Is it not too early for a young body to be put to such strains and risk injuries?

In many sports disciplines, this is a crucial age. For example, in gymnastics, swimming or martial arts it is actually almost too late to start at this age, from professional point of view. As for armwrestling, this is the greatest age. There have been junior championships in Russia since 2000, for ages 14-15.

Is it worth it to organize big events for children and youth?

Definitely. During this year’s EAF and WAF Congress, I’m planning to touch upon the subject of incorporating this age group into European and World Championships. Igor Mazurenko supports me in this, as do many presidents of federations from the former Eastern Bloc.

How is the situation nowadays, concerning the organization, development and promotion of armwrestling tournaments amongst children aged 14 – 15?

As I’ve mentioned before, this sport has seen some serious rise in popularity among youth for some 15 years now. We don’t really have any problems with recruiting our cadre. The champions are well aware of a queue of new pretenders behind their back. The generation rotations happen naturally. Right now we have enough people to keep us at the head of the sport, globally speaking. No other country can really say that. This is an important factor in international sports rivalry. For decades now, some countries have been maintaining similar score levels.

But contestants age, their careers will end sooner or later, and there’ll be no one to take their place. Raising a new, healthy and armwrestling-crazy generation should be every federation’s priority.

And how is the situation with financing “teenage armwrestling”?

Each country has a different scheme. Some countries finance only juniors and the disabled, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. Our country is huge, so different regions cope in different ways. The general tendency is to popularize sports among youth and the disabled, making it a priority. Of course, Olympic sports take priority before all else.

Practice shows us that junior armwrestling is not as popular as seniors’. Adults also constitute the largest part of the audience. What could be the reason of such low popularity of junior armwrestling?

I wouldn’t really make divisions between junior and senior armwrestling. Indeed, the watching audience is not that big for women’s armwrestling ages 50-60, for example. But as for the juniors’ championships, I disagree with you. Just look at the crowds during Russian, Ukrainian, Europe and Worlds’ Championships! Notice the emotions during the bouts! Internet broadcasts of such fights are no different from the seniors’, we are keeping tabs on statistics. Indeed, in order to further promote youth armwrestling we need to establish a steady Internet broadcast of all important events. This will allow for parents to observe their children’s progress, and share it with their friends and family. It’s definitely important, from a global point of view, to invest in the children’s and the disable’s armwrestling, both financially and intellectually. And with rigorous doping control! But that’s a different story…

Artur Grigorian