“When it comes to arm wrestling, many girls picture a hunky (male) athlete, but that’s wrong: you can still be pretty and be a champion without being a gender-bender or androgynous,” the Kuching native told Bernama recently.
“Naturally, being in the ring and being combative, we will wear a fierce and scowling expression – but we still want to dress up like other women,” the 20-year-old said.
Having been involved in arm wrestling since 2012, hers is a well-respected name: after all, she has won at least 40 medals in national- and international-level competitions.
The young athlete shared that her father, Stephen Kee Chu Kiong, had also been an arm wrestler in the 1990s and had encouraged her to carry the torch. This led to her brother, Acho Prince Kee Zing Yang, catching the arm-wrestling bug in 2021.
And earlier this month, Abigail and Acho brought glory for Malaysia when they each won bronze medals in the right-arm above-70kg (under-21) and -86kg (junior under-18) categories at the 2024 International Federation of Armwrestling Championships in Greece.
“I really thought we both would lose because the body size of the foreign athletes was menacing,” Acho, 18, recalled. “I didn’t think we could beat the other bigger participants and get bronze. This is one of our biggest achievements at the international level.”
Abigail, a student at the Malaysian Institute of Art in Kuala Lumpur, said the sport has given her more self-confidence, especially since she had been chubby as a child.
“Previously, I was really introverted, but after participating in arm wrestling, I’ve made a lot of friends and become talkative as I’ve grown more confident.
“I used to feel I was fat. But when I took this up, the gym training made me physically stronger and I also learnt to accept my body shape,” added Abigail, whose most serious injury thus far has been a torn tendon in the right wrist in 2019.
Meanwhile, Acho admitted that arm wrestling tests mental endurance and requires high discipline. They both have training sessions every week with their coach, Dominic Johnny.
And going forward, he revealed he wishes to be a referee in the sport, rather than a participant, and has set his sights on being his sister’s coach for competitions.
“I still want to be involved in arm wrestling,” Acho, who has bagged 22 medals, stressed. “I have been a senior referee at the international level, so I will continue.”
The siblings hope more young people in Malaysia, especially women, will be exposed to the activity to shatter stereotypes that it is only for male participants.