He began armwrestling when he was 19 years old. He became famous thanks to his armfight with Taras Ivakin. Taras beat his countryman then, but the fight was epic, Ionov won three round out of seven.

- I often fought friends, knowing no rules or techniques – recalls Dmitry Ionov – I always beat everybody. In 2009 I saw a poster for the Kiev Cup for students at my university, and I instantly decided to go. I did very well, placed 3^rd in the 95+ category ( I weighed 97 kg). Even though I got injured – tore my ligaments and tendons – I’ve decided to go pro.

Today Dmitry is a famous armwrestler. He’s a candidate for master of sports, he has many victories. But his passion goes outside wrestling, he’s also a champion powerlifter and rower. He also promotes and publishes armwrestling materials in social media.

- In 2012 me and a couple other guys decided to create our own club – “Bars” club – says Dmitry. The president of the Kiev Armwrestling Federation nominated me for the boss of the Solomian branch of the Federation. This urged me to create an online group - Vkontakte http://vk.com/club51805498, and then a website - "Bars" http://sfa.net.ua/, and recently a YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwwJU-9j6PvynkPNyfbGoiw.

Dmitry has no sponsors, no financial support from any web designers.

The goal of all my projects is to promote armwrestling, drawing new people to the sport, promoting healthy lifestyles. Armwrestling is a process, it cannot be completed without working as a team. That’s why I’m thankful to all my friends who help me develop all my projects.

Dmitry sees his media activity as a tool for the development of armwrestling, for the beginners as well as the experienced fighters.He has many doubts, though. He lacks specialist help for his project, and a sponsorship. Enthusiasm alone may not cut it in this case.

Artur Grigorian