In bodybuilding, Joe Weider’s Olympia is the ultimate proving ground. With the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition looming on the horizon, we look at 13 legendary bodybuilders. Men who seized the opportunity of a lifetime, immortalized their names, and in the process, helped us remember that greatness endures.
Olympia history is real-life drama unfolding right then and there, unscripted and unexpected that brings us to our feet and makes us say, “Yeah, I was there. I saw it. I remember.”
A moment of such magnitude requires everything coming together at just the right time. You need an occasion big enough and important enough that people will talk about it long after it’s over. You also need the right people. The kind of people who perform their best when nothing less will do; that special breed with the courage and resolve to do something great that people will never forget.
Created by Joe Weider, Mr. Olympia, is the ultimate proving ground. The journey to this stage for each man is measured out in the years committed to perfecting the human form. Only a select few have realized this dream and their names are celebrated across generations. With Mr. Olympia just around the corner, we’ll take a look at these legendary bodybuilders and the truth behind the myth.
The Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY, 1965. It began here. A small but elite lineup; you had to be a Mr. Universe just to enter the contest. There was no cash prize, no big money endorsements, not even a Sandow, just the respect and recognition that comes with being the absolute best. Larry Scott, at age 26, was already the most popular—and unofficially, the best bodybuilder in the world when he walked to the center of that stage.
By the end of the night, he would walk into the history books as the first Mr. Olympia and officially, the greatest bodybuilder in the world. Scott defended his title the following year, then retired while still in his prime. Though he staged a brief comeback in 1979 before retiring again, Scott will always be remembered as the young phenom with the next-generation physique who ushered in the modern age of bodybuilding. Scott passed away at the age of 75.
Courtesy of Weider Health & Fitness
SERGIO OLIVA
BORN July 14, 1941
DIED Nov. 12, 2012
HEIGHT 5’10”
WEIGHT 255 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1967-69
There was a reason people called this legendary bodybuilder the Myth and perhaps nobody captured it better than Arnold Schwarzenegger recounting his first encounter with Sergio Oliva in his autobiography, Education of a Bodybuilder: “Then for the first time, I saw Sergio Oliva in person. I understood why they called him the Myth. It was as jarring, as if I’d walked into a wall. He destroyed me. He was so huge, he was so fantastic, there was no way I could even think of beating him.”
The Cuban weightlifter defected to the U.S. via the 1962 Central American and Caribbean Games in Jamaica. After a short stay in Miami, Oliva relocated to Chicago, where he remained for the rest of his life. He placed a respectable third in his Olympia debut in 1966, but his outlandish physique—which combined jaw-dropping muscle mass (even by today’s standards) atop a skeletal structure that seemed more suited for a ballet dancer than a bodybuilder—was a sign of the inevitable and in 1967, Oliva beat out the men who placed ahead of him the year before, Chuck Sipes and Harold Poole, to win the throne vacated by Larry Scott.
Olivia defended his title unopposed the following year and it seemed that he could go on being Mr. Olympia for as long as he wanted—until a 23-year-old upstart named Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had given the champ a run for his money in 1969, succeeded in stopping him in 1970. The two met for their final rematch at the 1972 Olympia, a contest many consider to be the most controversial in the show’s history as an all-time best and almost inhuman Oliva took second to Schwarzenegger.
Olivia competed in rival federations until his return to the IFBB at the 1984 Olympia, where he placed eighth. His final contest was the ’85 O, where he again placed eighth. The 71-year-old (conflicting reports of his actual birth date have him older) died on Nov. 12, 2012. The former king, and his hands-over-head pose that has never been equaled, is a reminder to all who saw him in his prime that even though there was bodybuilding before Sergio, and certainly bodybuilding after Sergio, there will never be an equal to the man known simply as the Myth.
Gene Mozee
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER
BORN July 30, 1947
HEIGHT 6’2”
WEIGHT 250 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1970-75, 1980
We’ve all heard the story by now and we know it’s real because we’ve been witnesses to it, but if you sit back and really think about it, it still sounds too outlandish to be true: A kid from a small European village comes to America and becomes the greatest bodybuilder in the world, making his very name synonymous with the idea of physical perfection; then he gets in to the movies, and not just any movies but some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, to become one of the most recognizable celebrities of all-time; then (yes, there’s more!) the former champion bodybuilder turned Hollywood action superstar enters politics and becomes, wait for it…the governor of California. All this with a last name that’s as hard to pronounce as it is to spell. Oh, and let’s not gloss over that thick, Dracula-ish accent (for want of a better description).
Arnold Schwarzenegger could have quietly stopped his public life after winning his seventh Mr. Olympia in 1980 (a record at the time) and he still would have been remembered by legions of fans, but what’s enough for most people has never been enough for Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger always wanted to be great at something, he just didn’t know what it was—until he saw Reg Park in a Hercules movie in the local theater. The young Arnold had found his calling. He wanted to build heroic muscles like his idol, star in movies and become famous. Of course, he went on to do that and much more. With an oversize personality to match his muscles, Schwarzenegger was a natural onstage and in front of the camera (bodybuilding, cinematic, and political). In his pro career, Schwarzenegger lost to only two men: Frank Zane at the 1968 Mr. Universe, and Sergio Oliva at the 1969 Mr. Olympia. Following the latter, he never lost another contest. All his accomplishments notwithstanding, for bodybuilding fans the world over, the boy from Graz, Austria, will always be the Oak.
Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness / M+F Magazine
FRANCO COLUMBU
BORN August 7, 1941
HEIGHT 5’4”
WEIGHT 188 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1976, 1981
He was the perennial sidekick. Franco Columbu was Robin to Schwarzenegger’s Batman. If Arnold was somewhere, you could bet that Franco was nearby. It’s tough staying out of the Oak’s shadow, so we’ll give him that one. But if that were the extent of Columbu’s contribution to bodybuilding, we wouldn’t still be talking about him 33 years after he last competed.
No, Columbu won the sport’s highest honor in 1976 and, after suffering a horrific knee injury while racing with a refrigerator on his back in the 1977 World’s Strongest Man contest, he defied the doctors and regained the Olympia title in 1981. Known as the Sardinian Strongman, Columbu was a true powerhouse, as evidenced by photos of 700-plus-pound deadlifts and bench presses with more than 500. Want further proof? Check out the scenes from Pumping Iron where Columbu lifts a car out of a tight parking space and blows up a hot water balloon (beginning at approximately the 47:20 mark). Columbu also landed several bit parts in film and TV before starring in (straight-to-DVD) action flicks. Boxer, powerlifter, strongman, chiropractor, and actor, Columbu will always be known as one of the strongest pound-for-pound bodybuilders and, if not for one other man on our list, the strongest Mr. Olympia in history.
The Zane years. It was unprecedented, and likely to never happen again. With Arnold Schwarzenegger retired and Franco Columbu’s career seemingly terminated by injury, bodybuilding needed a new king. Enter Frank Zane. Standing 5’9″ and weighing 185 pounds, the former math teacher certainly didn’t look like the prototypical bodybuilder. Sure, he had a phenomenally athletic build but bodybuilders were supposed to have arms bigger than legs and legs bigger than torsos. Zane had neither. What he did have was aesthetics, and plenty of it. Zane was Michelangelo’s David come to life, with better definition. Zane’s muscularity rivaled that of an anatomy chart. That, combined with a small, highly sculpted waist and classic lines were the weapons he used to beat bigger and heavier foes. His vacuum pose is a one-of-a-kind that the bodybuilding world has yet to see duplicated.
Mike Neveux
CHRIS DICKERSON
BORN August 25, 1939
HEIGHT 5’6”
WEIGHT 190 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1982
From 1981 to 1983, three men held the title of greatest bodybuilder in the world for a single year. The middle man in that span was Chris Dickerson, possibly the least talked about Mr. O in history, but not for lack of achievement. Dickerson began a competitive career that started in 1965 and ended in 1994.
Along the way, he won 24 contests (11 in the IFBB). At age 43 when he won the Sandow, Dickerson remains the oldest Mr. Olympia of all time. Retiring briefly after his win, Dickerson returned in 1984 and his last open pro show was the 1990 Arnold Classic, where the 51-year-old placed an astonishing eighth. Still not finished, Dickerson donned the posing trunks for a final time in 1994, placing fourth at the Master’s Olympia. The man known for his diamond calves and elegant posing was also an accomplished opera singer and remains an active part of the bodybuilding industry.
Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness / M+F Magazine
SAMIR BANNOUT
BORN Nov. 7, 1955
HEIGHT 5’8”
WEIGHT 195 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1983
It was the buildup, that space right before the big moment when Samir Bannout pulled his elbows back and placed his hands on his hips to unfurl his back in the rear lat spread. He paused for dramatic effect, and when the lower lats and muscles of the vertebra splintered and popped, two words came to mind: Christmas tree. Sure, Bannout wasn’t the first to do it, but nobody highlighted the transition quite like the Lion of Lebanon, making the new “pose” a must-have-moment for photographers and competitors alike. Never possessing the size to overpower his rivals, Bannout, like Zane and Dickerson, relied on proportion and details to outclass the competition.
Facing a new crop of bodybuilders, led by a 24-year-old from Georgia by the name of Lee Haney, Bannout placed sixth at the 1984 Olympia. Bannout’s fve-spot descent is the most of any reigning Mr. O and that year marked the transition point between two eras, the sub-200 pound Mr. O and the 250-plus pound beasts who followed. The Lion only won one more contest after his Olympia triumph, the 1990 Pittsburgh Pro, and his last competitive roar was at the 2011 Masters Pro World, where he placed 11th.
Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness / M+F Magazine
LEE HANEY
BORN Nov. 11, 1959
HEIGHT 5’11”
WEIGHT 252 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1984-91
It was a no-brainer to predict that the first NPC National champ was destined for great things when, in his rookie year of 1983, he won his pro debut at the Night of Champions and placed third in the Olympia. But no one could have foreseen just how “TotaLee Awesome” 23-year-old Lee Haney would become over the next nine years. At the 1984 O, the 238-pound, 5’11” sophomore started a win streak that remains unbroken to this day.
Soon enough, the comparisons with Schwarzenegger started. After all, the Oak’s record was supposed to stand for generations. But, taller and wider, with a chest, shoulders, and back leagues ahead of his contemporaries, the genetically gifted Haney removed any pretense of suspense when the big O rolled around. With the exception of 1989, when a considerably downsized and fat Haney was pushed hard by 5’5″ 180-pound Lee Labrada, there was never any real doubt who would be the last man standing. Outside of his 1987 Grand Prix Germany win, Haney competed exclusively on Olympia stages post-1984, bringing his career win total to 11. One can only wonder how high that number would be had he competed more often.
Haney will not be remembered as the hardest-training or the most conditioned Mr. Olympia, but he will be remembered as possibly the most gifted next to Sergio Oliva. He continued to improve throughout his reign; some years he was fuller (1985), some years he was sharper (1986), and some years, much to the dismay of his competition, it was just a combination of the two. For his final and record-breaking eighth win, Haney tipped the scales at 252 pounds. We didn’t know it then, but with his classic X-frame, beautiful shape, and overwhelming size, Haney was not only a hybrid in the mold of Oliva, but also a throwback to the classical bodybuilding ideal that the sport would come to miss.
Chris Lund / M+F Magazine
DORIAN YATES
BORN April 19, 1962
HEIGHT 5’10”
WEIGHT 270 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1992-1997
A man of few words. While others talked a good game, Dorian Yates simply toiled away in his dank, dark, hole-in-the-wall gym (actually located below the city streets like a proper dungeon) in Birmingham, England. Covered up for most of the year, Yates rarely showed the world the monstrosity he was constructing underneath those baggy sweats—except for a brief few moments a couple of months out from the contest in pictures that would become legendary and ultimately psyche out the competition in the weeks before the show.
Yates didn’t have the pleasing shape and symmetry of his predecessor Lee Haney, nor the charisma of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but what he did have was size, and plenty of it. Yates redefined the word big when he stepped onstage at the 1993 Olympia at 257 pounds, the heaviest Mr. Olympia to date, and he upped the ante even more by coming in super-dry, super-hard, and super-separated to coin a new term in the sport, grainy. Yates continued to grow each year, competing in the high 260s to low 270s. And that back. We thought backs couldn’t get any bigger than Haney’s, but we were wrong. In each of his Olympia wins, there were competitors who could stand with him in front and side poses, but any shot at an upset was lost by the fourth and fifth mandatory poses. Yates’ rear double biceps and rear lat spread decimated lineups, and he was truly the first bodybuilder to win contests from the back. And thus it has remained ever since. All things being equal, a better back will win the day, and that can be traced back to the Brit.
With his no-BS attitude in the gym and his commitment to absolute muscular failure, Yates was the first blue-collar bodybuilder to sit atop the Olympia throne (one report had him back in the gym three days after the Olympia). But he suffered his share of injuries—he is the only bodybuilder to win the Mr. Olympia with two torn muscles, a left biceps and a right triceps, and there are photos of Yates training with one-arm in a sling. For the better half of the ’90s, the Shadow loomed large each September to claim the Sandow, but even his body could no longer endure the superhuman strain imposed upon it by its master, and he retired after his sixth and final win in 1997.
Chris Lund
RONNIE COLEMAN
BORN May 13, 1964
HEIGHT 5’11”
WEIGHT 296 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 1998-2005
No one cared when Ronald Dean Coleman turned pro in 1991 at the World Amateur Championships, because that same year, Mike Matarrazzo (USAs) and Kevin Levrone (Nationals) also turned pro, and they were pros with potential, the kind you kept your eye on. And in his rookie year of 1992, both Porter Cottrell and Levrone did far better, winning contests while Coleman failed to make the top 10 in all three contests he entered, including a DNP in his Olympia debut. Just how anonymous was early-era Coleman? There was another Ron Coleman who competed then, and more often than not, you had to clarify that you were talking about that Ron Coleman, not the one who would eventually be Mr. Olympia. It would be another three years before Coleman won anything and a year after that before he made his first Olympia posedown (sixth in 1996). He slipped back down again to ninth in ’97, but in 1998, the Texas policeman upset all the favorites—Levrone, Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray—to win the one contest nobody ever thought he’d win. Even after he won it, critics and competitors alike said he would never dominate like Yates and Haney before him. Were they ever wrong!
After two decisive wins in 1999–2000 and two close calls in 2001–02, Coleman lost the 2002 GNC Show of Strength to Günter Schlierkamp, the man who had placed fifth just two weeks before in the O. The king was beatable. Despite being a five-time Mr. Olympia, Coleman once again assumed the role of underdog heading into 2003—and that was the last time anybody would ever call him that again. His 287 pounds of shredded beef elicited three responses from the audience: silence, gasps, and laughter, quickly turning it to a contest for second, third, fourth, etc. As if that weren’t enough, he rubbed it in their faces in 2004 with 10 more pounds of added muscle at 297 pounds. And in what would be his final, fall-to-his-knees Sandow moment in 2005, the king dressed for the occasion, with crown, scepter, cape, and all, for his posing routine.
As impressive as Coleman was on the Olympia stage, his ferocious workouts in the gym contributed as much to his legend as the eight Sandows decorating his house. He trained heavier than any bodybuilder before or since, and the former football player turned powerlifer resurrected the most old-school move of all-time: the deadlift. He turned a girly exercise, the walking lunge, into a staple in every serious bodybuilder’s leg routine—though Coleman’s version involved up to 315 pounds done outside in the gravel parking lot of Metroflex Gym in triple-digit heat. The 800-pound deadlifts and squats, bench presses, whether done with a bar-bending 500 pounds or comical 200-pound dumbbells, were punctuated with catchphrases like “light weight, baby; yeah, buddy; ain’t nuthin’ but a peanut!” that echoed in gyms across the country. The man who started his career in anonymity finished it as an eight-time Mr. Olympia, and when, at the conclusion of his posing routine at the 2007 Olympia he announced his retirement, the standing ovation from the crowd was a fitting thank you for the bodybuilder who will be, for many, the biggest, baddest, and most legendary bodybuilder and Mr. Olympia of all-time.
Courtesy of Weider Health and Fitness
JAY CUTLER
BORN Aug. 3, 1973
HEIGHT 5’9”
WEIGHT 265 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 2006-07, 2009-2010
“Never give up.” We’ve all heard it before, but nobody lived it quite like Jason Isaac Cutler from Worcester, MA. By now, his rise to fame is bodybuilding lore, starting with a heavyweight win at the 1996 NPC Nationals to earn his pro card, his first win in 2000 at the Night of Champions, and of course, the contest where he made his bones, the 2001 Olympia, where he finished a controversial second to Ronnie Coleman.
For three more Olympias (he skipped it in 2002) he would have to live with that placing and the special pain that comes with being only one step removed from the top. In that span, he won every other contest that Coleman wasn’t in, except the 2003 GNC Show of Strength, where he was second to Dexter Jackson. Then in 2006, Coleman, whose body was starting to show the trauma of his mythical workouts, couldn’t hold back the top contender any longer. The second best bodybuilder of the past five years finally toppled the king, and the roar of the Orleans Arena crowd proved that underdogs finally having their day still make the best stories.
But glory was short-lived. After a controversial title defense in 2007 to Victor Martinez, Cutler was upset by Dexter Jackson in 2008. The one thing in the whole world that he had labored so long for was gone in an instant. People said he was finished. The years of chasing Coleman had taken too much out of him. But none of those people were Jay Cutler. In 2009, he stomped onstage in his lifetime-best condition with details never before seen on his 35-year-old physique and by Saturday, Sept. 26, the former champ was once again the reigning champ and in the history books as the first Mr. Olympia to regain the Sandow the year after losing it.
He held off hard-charging Phil Heath in 2010 before succumbing to him a year later. A torn left biceps hampered his training for that show and after sitting out 2012, he was back trying to make lightning strike twice. But a downsized version could only manage sixth. Cutler is on the sideline for this Olympia, and even though there has been no official announcement, even money is that we won’t be seeing him on the Olympia stage again, at least not in posing trunks—but who can say for certain? For now, Iron Jay is the loser who never quit until he became the winner, and the dethroned champ who made the turnaround of a lifetime to once again rule the bodybuilding kingdom as a legendary bodybuilder.
Per Bernal / M+F Magazine
DEXTER JACKSON
BORN Nov. 25, 1969
HEIGHT 5’6”
WEIGHT 235 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 2008
By his own admission, Dexter Jackson was never supposed to be Mr. Olympia. But he was and he beat the second most dominant bodybuilder of the current millennium to do it. You have to go all the way back to 1983 to find the last man weighing less than 240 pounds (for the sake of argument, we’ll round up Lee Haney’s 238 pounds in 1984 by two) to win the O. The Blade, who started his career as a 137-pound bantamweight at the 1991 Jacksonville Championships (the contest’s first bantam to win the overall) earned the right to flex on IFBB pro stages with a light-heavy and overall win at the 1998 North American Championships. For the next four years, the undersized but razor sharp Florida native did well enough, never finishing out of the top 10—including two ninths and an eighth at the Olympia—before scoring his first win at the 2002 Grand Prix England, which was also the year he made his first O posedown via his fourth-place finish. The next four Olympias consisted of a pair of thirds and fourths (not in that order).
Jackson’s 2008 will go down as one of the best years in the modern era, for not only did he win the Olympia, he also won the Arnold Classic (his third), making him, along with Ronnie Coleman, the only bodybuilders to hold both major titles in the same calendar year. Oh, and he also won three other shows, racking up his total to five. In an era of size matters, Jackson’s O triumph proved that bodybuilding still rewarded stellar condition, proportion, shape, and detail. In other words, you didn’t have to be a near-300-pound mass monster to be the best. Jackson held that title for a single year, a distinction he shares with Dickerson and Bannout. After falling to third in 2009, fourth in 2010, and sixth in 2011, a resharpened Blade surprised everyone by climbing back up to fourth in 2012. That year he also won the Masters Olympia, making him the only bodybuilder to hold the open and masters division titles. Jackson’s edge is still as keen as ever with three contest wins last year, including his record-tying fourth Arnold Classic and a fifth in the Olympia. We’ll have to wait until the Blade is done before we close the book on his competitive career, as he remains a perennial posedown favorite in any contest he enters.
Per Bernal
PHIL HEATH
BORN Dec. 18, 1979
HEIGHT 5’9”
WEIGHT 250 pounds
MR. OLYMPIA 2011-15
There’s an unmistakable swagger to his step. He’s young and he’s the champ, so if you have to face him, well, good luck. And if you’re a fan who roots for the underdog, well, there’s not really much you can do is there? Let’s be honest, most of us like the real life Rockys of the sports world, and with a nickname like the Gift, no one can say Phil Heath ever played the role of underdog—at least in his bodybuilding career. But don’t blame Phil Heath for winning. It’s what he does.
Great expectations abounded when he won his pro card at the 2005 NPC USA, and he answered with wins in his first two shows the following year, the Colorado Pro and New York Pro. Comparisons with greats like Flex Wheeler and Kevin Levrone followed. So when would we see Heath test himself against the best on the Olympia stage? That moment wouldn’t happen for another three years, but it was well worth the wait, as the then-28-year-old placed third in 2008. He slipped to fifth the next year, but the Gift moved up to second in 2010, and it was a sign of things to come.
The buildup to the 2011 Olympia centered on the mentor versus student relationship between the champion Cutler and challenger Heath. It was the former who discovered the latter while guest posing at the 2004 NPC Colorado State. Since that fateful meeting, Cutler continued to school Heath, albeit in an informal fashion, as that relationship has been slightly exaggerated. Still the protégé (so to speak) proved a fast learner. Fast-forward to the rematch for the Sandow. Heath took the stage first, muscles jumping to life with each move. He was big. He was conditioned. All the weaknesses detractors had said would keep him from making the jump from “good” to “great” were gone. Clavicles packed enough delt mass, medial heads in particular, for two normal-size men, and combined with faring quads attached to a waist that belonged on a light-heavy, the Heath “X-frame” was a showstopper standing at center stage. Upper pecs threatened to swallow his chin in front poses, and his back—wider, thicker, and gnarlier than an ancient tree trunk and attached to the driest hamstrings and glutes on the stage—left no doubt as to who would be winning this contest in the critical rear poses. Heath was unstoppable, and Cutler said as much in his gracious postcontest speech onstage as he watched his good friend hoist the Sandow overhead. But Heath was just getting started.
In 2012, Heath had the supposed scare of his life when a slimmed-down and detail-infused Kai Greene took him to task. The crowd was immediately behind the contender, and the buzz around Orleans Arena suggested an upset was in the works. But interestingly enough, it wasn’t all that close by the official tally—in fact, not by a long shot as Heath scored straight firsts (yes, we remain suckers for the underdog story). 2013’s outcome was the same, but unlike the previous year when one and two were compared repeatedly, Heath was sent back to the lineup after one run through the mandatories while the rest, including Greene, fought it out to sort out spots second on down. In 2014, it was once again down to Heath and Greene, but in the end, The Gift reigned supreme over The Predator and earned his 4th Mr. Olympia title. In 2015, Heath made it known that it was a “strive for five”, and it the end, when it was down to Phil Heath and 2008 Mr. Olympia Dexter Jackson, The Gift walked away victorious for a 5th time. It was clear that the perceived ambiguity of 2011 had made the champ, well, mad and delivering the proverbial— and in our sport symbolic—knockout early in Round 1, there was no question who the superior bodybuilder was.
Heath knows how far ahead of the competition he is at this point, and he intends to widen that gap. For all his God-given talent, he is where he is in life because he works hard for it. He’s focused on being better than his rivals, on being his best, because as a wise man once told him, his best is good enough. Heath has stated his intended goal of 10 Olympia titles. Ten. It’s a good number; everybody likes 10, it has a nice ring to it. And it’s two more than the current record held by both Haney and Coleman.
As we count down the weeks, days, and hours to the Mr. Olympia Event, we’ll see who else will rise and make themselves part of these 13 legendary bodybuilders. Years from now, these 13 Mr. Olympias will always be remembered as those who had their finest moments on bodybuilding’s biggest stage. These 13 men did it their way to stand above all others, rising from champions to legends.
