What is a system of doping control in Turkey. In which way do you cooperate with WADA?

I don’t have much experience about the other sport disciplines but in armwrestling Turkish National Olympic Committee is the responsiple organisation about the doping control. Beginning of the year our federation sends them the competetion program of Bodybuilding and Armwrestling events. So the Olympic Committee members come to the competetion place and chooses whoever they want to take urine sample from them. Olympic Committee is the responsible organisation to co-coperate with WADA. Olympic Committee also takes samples in unexpected times as well. Once they test all 85 armwrestlers right before our departure to WAF championships. So basically the system is same as how WADA works in other countries but since we are not an Olympic Sport they have not done off season doping tests yet for armwrestlers or bodybuilders.

Does armwrestling need camera recording?

I believe this would help for more correct desicions but i don’t know how slow the event would become in such camera recording desicions. But in my opinion it would be a good idea. Once the teams complain about a desicion it already takes sometime to decide, with camera it would be only a bit longer i believe. But not sure if we can run the technical system smooth enough. Since the camera system will result with more correct desicions i would make the protest application prize higher. So people would protest only when they are almost sure of what they are talking about.

What can you say about the differences between American and European armwrestling?

 I have lived in USA for many years and at that time there was not so many Big Leagues as they have today. I say this just to explain that the existence of the Big Leagues and Money involvement push people to become better. I always believed that the harder competetion you have the better you become. That is why European Armwrestling after mid 90s passed American Armwrestling. The European and World Championships made the European Armwrestling level reach higher levels. Also the experiences of the ex-Communist countries about the sports made them develope strength better than the western countries. With time Europeans also became technical pullers and in last 20 years the heart of the armwrestling beated mostly in the Eastern European area. But American Heavyweights have always been the majority in the heavyweight world. Lately American lightweights also becoming better but it is not easy to compare them with The Europeans since they don’t really meet eachother except a few exceptions. In my opinion US is still one of the best armwrestling country if not the best one as we talk about many countries when we say “European Armwrestling”.

Engin Terzi