Bodybuilders Who Made History

Bodybuilding as a sport is more than a hundred years old and went through an immense transformation. The point is to emphasize the muscles, which is quite a spectacular show. The best athletes made a name for themselves and changed the sport. Check out the bodybuilders who made history!

Bodybuilding History in a Nutshell

Eugen Sandow is considered the father of modern bodybuilding. At the beginning of the 1890s, the young Eugen had a career as a strongman, where he entertained rich people with various strength performances. The first bodybuilding competition took place in 1901 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Thousands of spectators followed the events. The three-member jury consisted of Sandow, sculptor Sir Charles Lawes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels.

The top three finishers received a gold, a silver, and a bronze statue modeled after Eugen Sandow. The copy of the 1901 bronze statue later became the official trophy of one of the world’s most prestigious bodybuilding competitions, Mr. Olympia. The best-known bodybuilder to this day, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was so committed to body training when he was young that he deserted from the Austrian army to participate in one of the competitions. He won but spent a week behind bars as a punishment. Professional female bodybuilding was born in 1980 when they held the first Ms. Olympia event.

The First Mr. Olympia

Larry Scott is famous for the Scott bench named after him. However, he didn’t invent it only used it to get his incredible biceps. Joe Weider, the father of Mr. Olympia, organized his new competition with previous champions for the first time in 1965, which Larry won and then defended his title the following year.

Everyone was waiting for Larry Scott to take the stage, who had already gained some fame for himself by that time. He won the Mr. America, Mr. World, and Mr. Universe titles, among others. 

No one could build biceps like Larry. You can read more about how he did it at online gambling sites in the US. Joe Weider realized that Larry Scott was very suitable to promote bodybuilding, which was not very widely known at the time. This boy was the very embodiment of the American dream. There was no big surprise that Larry confidently won the 1965 and 1966 Mr. Olympia titles and then wisely decided to retire.

Bodybuilders Who Made History

The 1967 Olympia was about the Cuban giant Sergio Oliva, also known as The Myth. He impressed the audience and the judges with his massive bulk and elaborateness. Oliva emigrated from Cuba to the USA and, in about four years, transformed himself into a bodybuilder, becoming the best in the world at the time.

With his broad stature and huge dimensions compared to the others of the time, he had no real challenger for years. Only the biggest legend of the sport could defeat him in 1970, then he took second place in 1972 and came back twice in the 80s.

Oliva dominated bodybuilding, but in 1969 the successor was already at his heels. Of course, he was Arnold Schwarzenegger, the only 22-year-old Austrian Oak, who at that time was still inferior to Oliva but vowed that was the last time the Cuban defeated him. Arnold even wrote about this competition in his biography and learned the importance of psychological warfare at the 1969 Mr. Olympia. Oliva called him babe on stage during this competition, which backfired.

The young Arnold had a year to process the trauma, which motivated him, so much that he won. In 1970 Mr. Olympia, Oliva came in second place, and a new star was born. Arnold’s tenacity and humility for the sport paid off, and he collected his first Sandow trophy at 23. Nowadays, it is unthinkable for someone to win at such a young age, but usually, we do not see a competitor under 25 in the top three either.

Bodybuilders Who Made History

In 1971, it happened for the first time that the competition was not in New York. This time the location was Paris. Interestingly, the NABBA competition of the competing association was organized at the same time as Mr. Olympia under the IFBB. Those who were afraid of Arnold took part in it instead. Arnie won outright. The 1972 Mr. Olympia was held in Essen, Germany, and featured an intense fight between Arnold and Oliva. 

As a matter of fact, 4 out of 7 judges chose the Austrian bodybuilder as the winner, while three voted for the Cuban. The following year, in 1973, the competition was hosted in New York once again. Arnold’s victory was much smoother than the previous year, but he had to prepare twice as hard for the next competition since a new massive guy competed too. Lou Ferrigno was almost two-meter tall and weighed more than 120 kilograms. 

However, despite his ambitions, Ferrigno could not beat Arnold or even Serge Nubret. After his victory, Arnold announced his retirement, and since he had already won everything in bodybuilding, he started his acting career. His massive chest and peaked biceps became world famous, not to mention his calves, making him one of the most famous bodybuilders who made history!

Frank Zane, the Thorough

Frank Zane, the teacher, brought an original touch to the history of bodybuilding by developing every part of his body to be as proportional as possible. Compared to his small stature, he created such a magical figure that he won Mr. Olympia 3 times between 1977 and 1979. Perhaps among the ten best and most successful bodybuilders, he was the smallest yet the most well-proportioned.

He has also become a role model for many, but unfortunately, the muscular ideal he represents is slowly disappearing completely from professional competition. He looked like the ideal man. Zane had an accident before his 1980 contest, but even Arnold encouraged him to participate. However, he did not reveal that he was coming but won the trophy with only eight weeks of work.

Bodybuilders Who Made History

Barbie Thomas is one of the most inspiring bodybuilders who made history! Sometimes you can see real heroes. Not the people in movies, but from whom everyone expects failure, yet they become successful. Failure is not an option for them, and Barbie Thomas is such a person.

The lady, now 46, was just two years old when she climbed onto a transformer and grabbed the electrical wires. She lost both arms and almost her life but survived and did not use the accident as an excuse. Barbie could have lived her whole life feeling sorry for herself loser, but instead, she achieved incredible results!

She wanted to become a bodybuilder champion, competing among “normal” competitors. She constantly received mean comments and verbal attacks, but she was not interested in it at all. Moreover, it gave her even more strength to accomplish what others thought was impossible. And she made it happen. Her passion was more important than any excuse. Check out the strongest women in the world today!

The Vegan Bodybuilder Generation

Nimai Delgado’s parents converted to Hinduism and raised him as a vegetarian. Even as a child, he followed a 90-95% vegan diet, the only exception to this was dairy products. Of course, a diet is not enough for his exceptional shape, a lot of exercises is necessary.

In 2015, he decided to eliminate all animal-based ingredients from his diet, including eggs and dairy products. He did so because plant-based food free from any processing is the healthiest option, in addition to having the least possible impact on the environment. 

He started following the vegan lifestyle not only to become healthy but to show that everyone can be conscious about their eating habits and see that it’s possible living this way. Delgado uses social media sites to share his journey and inspire people and prove his points. He participated in several bodybuilding competitions as a professional athlete, including the NPC USA championships. Check out his results at 1XBet Sportsbook!

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