Siergey Tokarev, Ukrainian armwrestler
It was a very varied year for me, like in Basta's song (orig. Басты); not easy, but fruitful, one mixed with the other, the progress continues as planned.
The armfight in Las Vegas was the most important for me. Very solid organization, Igor Mazurenko is a master in this respect! The worst situation was with visas for the Zloty Tur. I couldn't come and fight, I regret that very much.
We have a Master Class in Moscow, we train the youth. Our proteges keep surprising us at many levels, from the armwrestling championship in Zielenograd, the Academic Championships of Moscow, to the bronze medal at the Worlds. At the request of many students and their colleagues, we will make a training movie. We are designing and testing a training machine. I think we will go public with it next year.
This was a very tense year. But there was more good than bad. I saw I had friends, no matter where they are. Even when we don't see each other for a long time, they are still my friends. I had some misunderstandings with some of them, but I'm sure they will pass with time. I have no plans to retire from armwrestling. Many new, exciting opponents have surfaced, me and my colleagues are going to test each other and the young generations to come.
Oleg Zoch, Ukrainian armwrestler
This was generally a good year for me. I had some great starts and some minor fails, a matter of minimal adjustments. I've one the five-times World and European Champion title this year! I've won the Professionals' World Cup for the fifth time. I fought twice in the absolute weight categories in a pro event and came 4th twice. This was the small failure. I had too little strength and luck to get into the first three.
I think that Andrey Pushkar's fight was the most interesting last year. Everyone was certain of his win, but in the end he almost lost to Dmitry Trubin. But as they say – we live and learn. My mistakes have shown me my weak spots and what to work on. I think every sportsman has “falls”, but only the strongest can get back up.
Anastazja Kisilyova