Our history
The Colombian Arm Wrestling Association (ACLB) was founded in 2017 with a concrete goal: turn arm wrestling in Colombia into an organized sport, with clear rules, official categories, and a competitive calendar any athlete in the country can follow.
Before that, arm wrestling existed in Colombia as what it has always been: a challenge between friends at whatever table was nearby. The difference between that challenge and a sport is structure, and building it is the association's work.
From the informal table to the regulated tournament
A regulated tournament demands far more than two competitors. It demands approved tables, trained referees, an official weigh-in, categories by weight and by hand, and a rulebook everyone accepts before starting. The ACLB adopted the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) rules, the same framework that governs the world championships, so that a result earned in Colombia reads the same anywhere in the world.
That includes one rule newcomers find surprising: every weight class awards separate medals for the right and the left hand. An athlete is not simply good; they are good with a specific hand, and the sport measures it that way.
Regional growth
Colombian arm wrestling did not grow out of a single city. It assembled itself from regional pockets, each with its own training community:
- Cali and Valle del Cauca, an active scene that has hosted national competition
- Medellín and Antioquia, a recurring host of the national tournament
- Bogotá and the central region
- Villavicencio and the Eastern Plains
- The Caribbean coast, with activity in Cartagena and in Sucre
Regional qualifiers are the way into the national tournament. That is the point: an athlete starting in a neighbourhood gym has a visible path to the national team.
International outlook
Every national federation shares the same ambition: send athletes to compete abroad, and Colombia already does.
In July 2024 the country was represented at the XI South American Arm Wrestling Championship, held at the Colegio Militar Leoncio Prado in La Perla, Callao, Peru, alongside the V South American Para-Arm Wrestling Championship. The competition brought together delegations from twelve countries.
Arm wrestling has an international circuit with South American, Pan-American and world championships. Competing under WAF rules from the first local tournament is what makes that step possible without surprises.
What comes next
The association publishes dates, results and event rules through its official channels. If you train arm wrestling in Colombia and you are not on the calendar yet, that is where to start.