Chilliwack鈥檚 Justin Hancock didn鈥檛 let pain stop him at last month鈥檚 Canadian Arm Wrestling Championships.
The 36-year-old battled through a painful elbow injury, muscling his way to a third place finish and doing far better than he thought he would with a wounded wing.
鈥淔rom thinking at one point that I wasn鈥檛 even going to be able to compete to hearing my name called for a bronze medal, that was a great feeling,鈥� he said.
Hancock tore the bicep tendon in his right arm last year. Surgery and recovery kept him out of the gym for several months.
When he returned to competition, he used his left arm. At a fundraiser tournament in Burnaby in April, Hancock injured that arm too.
There鈥檚 video of the match and you can actually hear it happen.
鈥淚 was arm wrestling a guy I know, and he hit and I kind of caught his hit and he went with a flop wrist press,鈥� Hancock recalled, using some arm wrestling jargon. 鈥淲hen he did that, we both heard this 鈥榩op pop pop鈥� sound in my inner elbow.
鈥淲hen I went to provincials one month later I was still feeling pain in the elbow and forearm. I had one match where I didn鈥檛 do much of anything. Any time he hit on my arm I felt this click, click, click in my forearm and I pulled out of the competition.鈥�
Hancock, who trains with the Vancouver Arm Wrestling Club, got the injury checked out.
鈥淭here wasn鈥檛 any bruising and I still had movement, so my doctor said, 鈥業f it does persist or the pain gets worse we鈥檒l send you in for an MRI,鈥� he said. 鈥淢aking it worse was definitely a concern and that鈥檚 why I pulled out of provincials.
鈥淚 wanted to make sure that if there was still time to heal that it would be healed by nationals.鈥�
When nationals rolled around in mid-July, the three time B.C. champion wasn鈥檛 liking his chances.
鈥淚 figured I鈥檇 try anyways and see what happens,鈥� he reasoned. 鈥淚f I did feel any major pain I鈥檇 have to stop, or let myself get pinned.鈥�
The event was held at West Edmonton Mall.
To compete in his desired weight class (100 kilogram), he had to lose four pounds in a hurry.
Any boxer or wrestler or mixed martial artist will tell you weight cuts aren鈥檛 easy, but Hancock dropped eight pounds (224 to 218), weighing in at 99kg.
Still plagued by uncertainty, he went into his first match.
He lost, and felt the familiar pain.
鈥淚 got put in a position where I was holding, and normally I鈥檇 have the strength to get more of an inside position and pull through,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut when I tried to do that, I could still feel the issue when he was hitting on my arm.
鈥淏ut it wasn鈥檛 that bad, so I thought I鈥檇 keep going and I started winning some matches.鈥�
While the same guy that beat him in the first match got him twice more, Hancock won four matches.
鈥淏ut the way it was set up, I wasn鈥檛 sure what my placing was and I thought I was maybe fourth or fifth,鈥� Hancock said. 鈥淲hen they were calling people up for the medals and they called my name for the bronze I was like, 鈥榃ow.鈥�
鈥淚 was not expecting that.鈥�
Hancock won bronze at the 2015 nationals, but this was a little more special because he had to fight through a whole lot more.
鈥淓ven within a matter of days before nationals, I was saying to my wife that I wasn鈥檛 sure I could compete,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 noticed at the gym doing certain exercises, I still felt a sharp pain when I went over a weight that I could normally do easily.
鈥淥n the first day in Edmonton, they started at 10 a.m. and I didn鈥檛 end up competing until 3 or 4 p.m., so I was sitting there waiting and watching most of the day with that concern.
鈥淲hen I lost that first match I thought, 鈥極K. This is how it鈥檚 going to go. I鈥檓 going to lose three matches and be out.鈥�
鈥淪o when I got through all of the matches and I received that medal, that was a great feeling.鈥�
One wonders how Hancock might have done with a healthy arm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say if I would have placed first or not, because the guy who did place first is quite good,鈥� Hancock said. 鈥淏ut I would have liked my chances of finishing second a lot better.鈥�
For full results from nationals, check
