Cape Breton girl, 12, wins medals at international arm wrestling competition

CBC English
14 followers
Oct 21, 2026
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I got to see most of Japan.
It was my first ever competition like this,
first really competitive, and it was a really
good experience.
She has the hardware on the table to show for it.
She's got a couple of bronze medals
in the junior class that she competed in, and actually
she as a 12-year-old competed in the U15 class.
I started competing when I was seven and older.
It was all my dad.
When I was two years old he started like training
with me like just from like just holding me
and just holding me like that and then me trying
to pull as hard as I can trying to
get him down.
I don't know I just really like arm wrestling.
Like in school I arm wrestle like a lot
of kids in school cause like I'm like the only
Canadian champion in school.
I can beat everyone.
It's pretty special when Gavin her father
and Arabella made the decision to go to Japan
I was elated because not only would I have
a fellow club mate to go and travel with,
but also just to support her at the event.
I first met Arabella quite a number
of years ago at the Mi'kmaq Summer Games.
Arabella was a little rock star there,
winning her classes, and I was refereeing.
So it's been probably five, six, seven years since I met Arabella.
She has a real natural fluidity on the table.
She moves around the table very well.
Like with the sport of arm wrestling, it's a lot of strength, but it's
also like utilizing your larger muscles, whether it's your lats
or your back or your chest, as well as your, of course, your arm.
And Arabella was really able to, even at a young age, naturally
be throwing her shoulder into getting her power behind her movements.
You can talk all you want about what to expect,
but it's the walking the walk that really hits home for you.
So being there and experiencing the level that she had in her class
and what she has to do next to be at the top of the podium,
I think you get a much better picture of what it's going to take.
So again, it just goes to show the level she's at right now
and probably the potential for the future.
