By Beverly Lomosad
Armwrestler Gary MacDonald, a resident of Woking, has done it again, capturing gold and silver medals in the recently held 2022 Canadian National Armwrestling Championship. He competed in the 80kg Senior Grandmasters weight class, grabbing gold in the left-hand category and silver in the right-hand category. He defeated opponents from Ontario and Manitoba.
Nearly 600 competitors from across the country descended on Winnipeg for the tournament, which was held on July 1-3.
His performance at the nationals has earned him the right to compete in the 2022 International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA) World Armwrestling Championships scheduled on September 26-October 2 in Dieppe, France.
Asked if he plans to go, MacDonald replied: “I will if I can get some sponsors. Competing internationally is very expensive.” He has made several trips to the world championships since 2001.
In December 2019, he also won gold and silver at the IFA world championships in Poland, competing in the 75kg Senior Grandmasters weight class. The competition drew 750 competitors from more than 30 countries.
That 2019 triumph was quite extraordinary, coming as it did nine months after he underwent a major diverticulitis surgery, which kept him from training for nearly two months.
MacDonald was also Canada’s national armwrestling champion in 2013. He trains and pulls with armwrestlers at the Northern Twistmasters Armwrestling Club in Grande Prairie.
Other local armwrestlers who performed well at the nationals were Brian Marginet and son Matthew. The younger Marginet competed in the 70kg weight class in the 15-18 age bracket, winning silver in both the left-hand and right-hand categories. His silver finish also qualifies him to the world championships.
Meanwhile, Brian placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the left-hand and right-hand categories in the Masters 80kg weight class.