Meet the Sask. woman who just became a world silver medallist in arm wrestling

Move over, Popeye the Sailor. Make way for Peyton Pickering.

The 19-year-old who trains in Saskatoon captured a silver medal last week at the World Arm Wrestling Championships in Moldova. She placed second in the women’s youth 70-kilogram category.

Was it a big deal for her? “Like the biggest deal of anything in my whole life,” she said.

Pickering trains with the Bridge City Pullers in Saskatoon. In an interview with CBC Radio’s Saskatoon Morning, she said she first tried the sport after following her dad to a practice and immediately loved the community she found there.

“It’s just a really good community and support system, where everybody is always looking out for everybody and helping everybody push themselves,” she said. “My actual passion for the sport was just how awesome everybody in the club was.”

Pickering said her parents are her biggest fans. She calls her dad the “soccer mom of arm wrestling.”

“He’s very proud of everything I do and he’s always behind me, along with my mom,” she said. “Both of them are like my little cheerleaders, or my little soccer parents.”

She says she’s also grateful to her teammates and her coach, Curtis Klashinsky.

Pickering says she’s already looking for ways to improve her strength and technique for next year’s world championships in Bulgaria. And she’s confident her parents, coach and teammates will be helping her every step of the way.