Darrell Belyk went to Nevada with lofty expectations.
And although things didn’t go his way at the World Arm Wrestling Championships in Mesquite last week, he still plans to continue his pursuit.
His seventh place finish was his lowest in his seven trips to the Worlds, which this year featured 1,313 competitors from 40 countries and filled a large outdoor tent at the Casablanca Casino and Resort from Dec. 6 to 11.
The Russian team placed first overall, while the 45-member Canadian squad was seventh in total points.
“Usually my class has about 20 people in it, but I learned that it only had seven in it (this year) which I initially wasn’t unhappy about,” Belyk said.
“But I made some rookie mistakes. I’ve never placed so low at a world competition and it’s been an eye-opener for me. I don’t really want to be embarrassed like that again.”
The Arm Wrestling Worlds is a double-elimination tournament, so with losses in his first two matches to competitors from Russia and Turkey, Belyk was ousted from contention on the first day.
“(The Russian) really didn’t have a hit on me, he just took me down slowly. It would have been better if I had trained for endurance, but I hadn’t,” he said.
“The second one was against a Turkish competitor and he had his wrist on top of mine. I held him there for a long time, but again, more training and a stronger hand.
“I just wasn’t there this year. I hadn’t trained since mid-September because, after the Canadian Nationals, I had to concentrate on the election. A week before the election, I got pneumonia and had that for five weeks. There was really no time for training or to focus,” he added.
Despite his pre-tournament issues and self-described poor performance, Belyk said he is as committed as ever to his sport and plans on starting a new training regimen in the new year.
“This will be my 24th year (arm wrestling) coming up, so I don’t think anything is going to sway me,” he said.
“I’m going to get some strategies and I’ve read some books on how to make your wrist stronger, so I’ll do that over the next year and dedicate myself. It almost starts at grassroots again. We really want to go the World Championships in Brazil in two years.”
Airdrie’s CLAWS Arm Wrestling club, ran by Belyk, is preparing to host its tournament in February or March.
He said he will also likely head to the 2011 Canadian Nationals next September in Ottawa and, depending on his performance, possibly to next year’s Worlds in Kazakhstan.
