Born in Lebanon in 1938, Joe Haydar later moved to Australia where he became one of the best weightlifters in country in the 1960s. At the 1960 national championships Haydar won silver in the middleweight class after tying with Daryl Cohen but losing out on gold due to bodyweight. He went one better the following year to win his first of three Australian titles. In 1964 he was selected to compete at the Tokyo Olympics where he finished 16th. After finishing his weightlifting career Haydar moved to Bunbury, Western Australia where he established a pizzeria, Joe’s Pizza. In 1979 he had opened Haydar House, one of the first high-rise buildings in the city.
Australia