Watch as wrestling champions duke it out in Kelowna

It was July 2021, when Randy Sparling was first introduced to the world of competitive arm wrestling.

An unlikely gift arrived at his door – an arm wrestling table from his father.

“I was like ‘what the heck is this?’,” he said, noting his father thought he would be good at it.

Being the middle of a pandemic, Sparling had ample time on his hands, and turned to YouTube and other online platforms to hone his newfound craft.

“I got pretty good at it,” the Vancouver Arm Wrestling Club member said.

Sparling had the opportunity to showcase just how good he had become during the BC Arm Wrestling Provincial Championships in Kelowna.

Over 200 competitors from eight different teams across B.C. were looking to take home the top prize.

The goal of competitive arm wrestling is simple: push your opponents’ arm down before they overpower you to do the same, all while keeping your elbow on the table and holding onto a peg with your other hand.

The average contest lasts just 3 seconds.

The sport has evolved significantly over the 47 years that Keith Koenig has held the role of president of the BC Arm Wrestling Association.

“When I first started, it was 90 per cent strength and 10 per cent technique. Today, it’s probably a 50/50 deal … and how mentally good you are and how well you can focus,” he explained.

The sport has boomed in recent years, thanks mainly to the COVID-19 pandemic, Koenig said.

“People were on their computers all the time, seeing what was happening around the world and thought ‘I want to get involved in that.’ And they did,” he said.

This surge in new wrestlers has inched the sport closer to a world organization, Koeing said.

The next step for Koeing after that; getting the sport into the Olympics.

“That was my dream nearly 50 years ago ... and it’s getting closer.”

For athletes like Sparling, the sport is about more than just competing, with the benefits stretching into the everyday.

“It’s amazing. It bettered my life in every way. I set goals for myself. I’m eating right, doing all the right things,” he said. “I’m 39 this year so I get to keep going because I’m not playing pro hockey, I’m not playing pro baseball, I can arm wrestle and compete at a high level, so that’s good for me.”