One of Alberta's top arm wrestlers is a 9-year-old who can deadlift 150 pounds and flips tires for fun
CBC
It only took two seconds for a 60-pound, nine-year-old to win an arm wrestling challenge against a CBC radio host who's about three times older and a fair bit taller.
Tristan Arseneault is easily the strongest kid in his hometown of Drayton Valley, Alta., about 150 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
He's been a Greco-Roman wrestler since he was three and can deadlift 150 pounds. About a year ago, Tristan took up arm wrestling after beating a youth national silver medallist and got hooked — so to speak — on the strategy.
"I like how it's a competitive sport. It's very technical," Tristan told CBC Radio Active host Jessica Ng last Monday, before besting her with a high hook during an in-studio match.
Tristan said the high hook is his personal favourite because limits the amount of power his competitor can use. But there are other techniques in the sport, including top rolls, presses and the Canadian or European hook.
At a competition in Lethbridge last month, Tristan won a gold medal in a youth division at the Alberta Arm Wrestling Championships. The win provincial competition made him eligible to compete in the national championships, which takes place in Nova Scotia at the beginning of July.
The family hopes to go and is fundraising to afford the travel costs.
"I'm very excited," Tristan said, "but I'm mostly scared for the plane ride."
To help get ready for competitions, Tristan trains in a Drayton Valley gym or heads outside to flip truck tires.
"He just excels at everything he tries," said his dad Nick Arseneault.
"It's like a having a little buddy to go do these things with."
As a sport, arm wrestling is growing in popularity in Canada, according to Tristan's coach Frazier Benoit.
"When I first started arm wrestling, there was no such things like a youth or amateur division. I was thrown to the wolves," said Benoit, who is based in Blackfalds, Alta., about 15 kilometres north of Red Deer.
No longer just a barroom activity, competitors are getting serious with trainers and special equipment, Benoit said.
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