Well-armed athlete wins gold, bronze

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/10/2018 (2016 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ryan Espey is armed and dangerous on stage at the 2018 World Armwrestling Championship this week in Antalya, Turkey.

Espey, a 42-year-old from Portage la Prairie, used each of his arms to win gold and bronze medals in his first two events at the international tournament, which has attracted 1,500 competitors from 45 countries.

He earned gold with his left arm in the men’s master (age 40-plus) superweight (100-plus kilograms) division Wednesday by battling back from the B-side and twice defeating American Kory Merritt. He won a bronze on Thursday with his right arm in the men’s master superweight division.

“It has been 15 years since I was able to achieve gold, so that one is pretty special for me, especially considering the calibre of competitor I had to beat. I hope to continue to do well over the next couple of days,” Espey said, in an interview via Facebook Messenger. He earned single gold medals at the 2002 and 2003 worlds.

At the 2018 worlds, the 6-5, 240-pounder could win more hardware, as he will compete in the open (age 18-plus) division with his left arm today and his right arm Saturday.

Espey — whose wife, Victoria, and daughters, aged 13 and 10, did not make the trip due to the cost — received community support through a fundraising arm-wrestling tournament in Portage last summer. (He qualified for the worlds and went undefeated with both arms at the Canadian championships.)

Ryan Espey against Oleg Melentev at the 2018 World Armwrestling Championship, October 18

His world championships quest has also been supported by numerous sponsors from Portage and the surrounding area.

“This one belongs to my kids, wife, team, employers, sponsors and all the others who helped me get here. I am truly blessed and I feel extremely lucky to do what I do. I trained very hard for this, but I could not have done any of it without the people around me,” said Espey, who works as a salesman at Portage Toyota, a real estate agent at Royal LePage Portage and is running for re-election Oct. 24 as a city councillor.

“I have a supportive family, a strong team, an amazing training partner, and extremely understanding employers and co-workers. I give thanks to them all as I would have never been able to do this without them.”

Victoria Espey said Thursday beating Merritt to win gold was a triumph over an old foe.

“Those two have historically had some good battles,” she said in an interview. “The last time they arm-wrestled was in Las Vegas (left-handed at the 2017 World Armwrestling League championships) and Kody tore his bicep. This is the first time they faced off since then, so it was pretty cool.”

Since he began arm wrestling at 21, Espey has won 31 Manitoba titles, 17 national titles and a total of 61 medals in the sport.

Espey said what draws him to the sport and keeps him training — daily workouts start at 6 a.m. — is the camaraderie within the arm-wrestling community that extends around the globe.

“Since I started in 1997, I have deep friendships that I have formed all over the world,” he said.

“I love that this is the closest thing to unarmed combat that there is without anyone actually getting hurt, one-on-one, and you can truly ascend to the highest level if you put in the work. Every person on the planet has had an arm-wrestling match, and everyone can do it.”

He said he is looking forward to competing closer to home in 2020, when the Canadian championships will be held in Winnipeg.

“What keeps me motivated is a desire to rise to the top again, build a legacy and be able to show my kids what can be done with great effort and determination,” Espey said. “What keeps me involved are all of the above, plus my team.

“For me, it is as fun to watch one of the guys I train with win as it is for me to win. Almost.”

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @wfpashleyprest