“With years you realize that the air of freedom is made not only of oxygen” – said Valentin Domil. This sentence sums up Ivakin’s situation pretty well. He is regenerating his form and trying to get back on top. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles in his way. Neither his age nor his injuries are a problem. He’s a hostage of the political situation of his country. Devoted readers of armpower.net know, that Taras serves in the Ukrainian military. That’s why he couldn’t go to the A1 Russian Open 2014. Taras is flooded with work, he has no time to train right now. Political reasons are holding him back. He will not start in the next World Cup. Will he manage to make Nemiroff’s? He cannot say for sure, but he hopes that not all hope is lost.

Taras Ivakin is the present Ukrainian champion. But even if he starts in the “Zloty Tur” tournament, he won’t be in top form. He does keep an eye on the world of armwrestling, though.

Tsyplenkov vs Chaffee – that was the greatest fight of the A1 – says Taras. It was a beautiful fight. I can’t say who was the strongest one, the fight was very even. There’s no doubt that the world of armwrestling today is dominated by four people - Tsyplenkov, Chaffee, Pushkar and Brzenk. As for John, last year people were saying that he’s not the “Professor” we all used to know. I told them to wait and see. And in A1 John has proved that he still means something. He’s 100% back. I’m very sorry that I couldn’t go to A1 Russian Open, but I’m hoping to go next year.

Artur Grigorian