The Prince George Citizen

P.G. armwrestle­r showcased in documentar­y

Frank PEEBLES

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There might be a lineup of actors squaring off to play Vern Martel in his biopic.

A screenwrit­er couldn’t have written a better script than what really happened when the longtime arm wrestling champ made his comeback in Halifax at the national championsh­ips. At the bottom of his reach, his opponent pressing the back of his hand within a wafer breadth of the eliminatio­n table, a surge of emotional power overcame him and like a mythical hero on the brink of destructio­n, he halted the forces pushing against him, reversed the flow, and inch by inch his arm climbed the golden arch every arm wrestler lives under.

The wily veteran drew on some instinctua­l history and reversed the flow of that moment’s energy. Micro movements turned into a tide of muscle. His opponent had no answer and gradually succumbed to Martel’s unrelentin­g reversal.

He had come back to win the match, like he had come back so many times before.

Once, he came back from a motorcycle crash that took away the use of his left arm – an arm most athletes in his sport use as their main leverage weapon.

He had to come back from a broken hand bone that took him out of the sport for two years.

This time, Martel had come back from cancer, a bout that had him heading toward that final tap-out just like his opponent that Halifax day, but when Vern Martel rallies, there’s no human force that can stop him, even when it’s within himself.

If only cameras had been rolling for that last victory. What an epic film finale that would have been.

But wait.

There were cameras. A documentar­y crew from Picture This Production­s was in the process of filming some of the key athletes on this Canadian undergroun­d battlefiel­d. One of the competitor­s they were told to focus on was Prince George’s “One Armed Bandit,” one of the most decorated figures in the history of the arm wrestling sport (three world titles, plus innumerabl­e Canadian successes). When someone wins as many national titles as Martel, that stands out, but when you come back from a nearly fatal illness to do it again, that’s another level.

“I’ve won everything out there. I had nothing to prove to anyone else,” Martel told The Citizen. “But despite cancer knocking me down, being able to get back to the table was a big victory for myself personally, and they (Picture This Production­s’ crew) followed me through that right to the Candian championsh­ips in Halifax. I had a very inspiring moment there. It was almost like slow motion, when it was happening, and the crowd went crazy when it ended.

“Even the camera guy had tears in his eyes and David (Finch, director and co-producer) told me he could not have written a better script. And I was so drained, so emotional, to discover I could still have a moment like that after what cancer did to me.”

Martel’s story now forms part of the documentar­y series Arm Nation that is showing on APTN. The weekly half-hour show follows a number of arm wrestling stars from Canada, with special attention given to athletes like Martel who come from Aboriginal background­s.

“They are trying to change the view people have of arm wrestling, showing its family side, the generation­s that get involved in it, and all the countries that get involved,” said Martel. “It’s a sport that’s really taken off on a global level but isn’t in the public eye in Canada. I’m hoping Arm Nation can change that a bit. At the last world championsh­ips there were actually more countries taking part than at the Olympics, and it is also really Paralympic­s-friendly. The IOC (Internatio­nal Olympic Committee) has been made aware of that over in Europe.”

Few can demonstrat­e these traits of the sport like Martel.

“I think finally, Canada is getting a look at Canadians being involved in the sport because of Arm Nation,” he said. “I think the quality of the series is really high, there will be a good-sized audience for it, and that will lead to other opportunit­ies for broadcasti­ng on more networks. I’d love to see someone like Netflix pick it up. And if arm wrestling could ever get a sports network to televise it, that would be huge.”

As much as being an ambassador for his sport, and an emissary of inspiratio­n, Martel is proud to always make it plain that he did it all from Prince George. He is already a member of this city’s Sports Hall Of Fame and now he will be seen by a nationwide audience on APTN. Arm Nation airs at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesdays in the Dene language. English language versions are aired Mondays at noon, Thursdays at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 7 p.m. (Pacific Time).

Episodes in the series that have already aired can be viewed at will on the APTN website.

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