One of Canada’s arm wrestling legends is being ushered into the Canadian Armwrestling Federation’s Hall of Fame.
Mike Kadar, of Vancouver Island, is a three-time World Armwrestling Federation world champion and part of the 2023 Hall of Fame inductee list.
In the late 80s and early 90s, he was regarded as one of the most feared heavyweights on the international arm wrestling circuit.
“I put my heart and soul into it, and trained hard, trained hard and trained hard,” he told Global News.
Kadar travelled the world, beating other top-tier opponents at every stop.
“(I’ve won in) Russia, Athens Greece, and Israel.”
From his first big win as an 18-year-old to the 1989 arm wrestling showdown in the Soviet Union, Kadar has been able to pin arms from day one.
“When I showed up (in 1989), there was a team Russia and Team USA. Me … I was team Canada (alone),” Kadar said.
“(It was a) three-day event. (I went) undefeated with both arms.”
After achieving his high school goal of becoming an arm wrestling world champion, Kadar returned to Vancouver Island to pass on his knowledge to the next generation of athletes.
“We started off with six guys,” he said. “It’s been growing and the numbers are up to 200 (now).”
He is sharing techniques that took him to the top of the world in his weight class.