Canadian soldier’s tug-of-war victory video over American colleague goes viral

Canada probably hasn't had bragging rights over the United States on the field of battle since the War of 1812. That is until now.

On the bicentennial of Canada's martial triumph it seems only fitting that a Canadian warrior upholds the nation's honour, even if it's only in a friendly tug-of-war.

And the popularity of the contest video suggests more Canadians may know about it than about who won that distant war.

Master Cpl. John Celestino, a reservist with the Windsor Regiment, was taking part in an exercise with 31 Brigade Group at Camp Atterbury in Indiana, along with soldiers from the state's national guard.

"We were sitting around at the end of the (day's) exercise waiting for the buses and we saw this group of Americans there playing this game and we were watching them and cheering them on and stuff when I decided to try it," Celestino told the Toronto Star.

The game was a one-on-one version of tug-of-war, where two combatants wearing harnesses are tethered to each other back-to-back. The first to pull his opponent across a predetermined line wins.

Celestino, 26, was latched to an unidentified guardsman and the war was on. Two minutes later, the former University of Windsor football player emerged victorious.

"You start off with a lot of energy, but I got more tired as it went on," he told the Star. "I had to remind myself to breathe at one point.

"I just had my head down looking for that line."

A video of the St. Patrick's Day battle shot by one of Celestino's comrades went viral, with more than 600,000 views on YouTube as of Tuesday.

"We were surprised and excited to see how much interest it actually generated," Capt. Tristan Hatfield, the brigade group's public affairs officer, told the Star.

Celestino, whom the video shows getting congratulations from Canadian and American soldiers alike, said he regrets not getting the name of his opponent.