Some have controversially claimed that (several of) Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 7 Mr. Olympia wins were fixed.
As I really don’t understand bodybuilding aesthetics at all, which I find disproportionate for all top bodybuilders since the early 1960s, I can’t really see who should be the winner in most of these bodybuilding competitions. So I have to rely on the opinions of some alleged bodybuilding experts, while I’m thinking that the rating of these steroid-muscles is purely subjective.
If I understand correctly the contestants are mostly judged on muscle size and definition. The muscle “definition” is how well the muscle separation can be seen. Maybe the best-known example of this muscle separation is in 6-pack abs, but these pro-bodybuilders show separate muscles all over their body (for example in the thighs) by an extremely low bodyfat (below 5%), and being dehydrated (which is dangerous to their health).
The problem with these bodybuilding legends becoming pin-ups for aspiring bodybuilders is that these unnatural bodies become a dream to achieve. With the result that many bodybuilders abuse steroids (and other performance-enhancing drugs) that destroy both their physical and mental health.
In general I don’t see much difference in the looks of Schwarzenegger in the years he competed and his top competitors. Arnold won all 7 Mr. Olympia contests he entered from 1970 to 1980. If these wouldn't have been rigged, I think he would have won only 3.
Then it gets worse, Schwarzenegger won the 6 Olympia’s from 1970 to 1975, and in 1980 his 7th. In 1976 and 1981, Schwarzenegger’s best friend since they were teenagers, and training partner, the Italian Franco Columbu won the Olympia.
From 1977 to 1979, Frank Zane won 3 Olympia’s. Zane was another friend of Arnold’s and his training partner.
So from 1970 until 1981 Arnold and his 2 buddies won ALL 12 Olympia’s!
In the 1960s, Joe Weider took Arnold Schwarzenegger and his friend Franco Columbu to the US. The Weider brothers controlled the IBBF and the Mr. Olympia contest.
For me the most controversial of Arnold’s Mr. Olympia wins is 1971, when ALL other contestants were disqualified, so his win was guaranteed.
In the early 1970s, the Cuban-born Sergio Oliva was Schwarzenegger’s main competitor. While they looked very different, personally I don’t know who looked better.
Schwarzenegger’s 1980 Mr. Olympia win was his most controversial for most people.
I think that Columbu’s 1981 Mr. Olympia win was completely ridiculous.
https://youtu.be/GD05iHMTpMI
The day before the start of the event in Australia, it was suddenly announced that Arnold Schwarzenegger would compete in the 1980 Mr. Olympia, while others had to register a month in advance.
Personally I think that the all top-5 bodybuilders had about the same quality physique, but there’s no denying that many of the top-competitors felt cheated and that Arnold didn’t deserve to win. The following top contestants at this year’s event boycotted the next year’s Mr. Olympia: Frank Zane, Mike Mentzer and Boyer Coe.
I find it surprising that Arnold’s friend, 3 time Mr. Olympia winner Frank Zane, was among those that boycotted the 1981 Mr. Olympia. Zane never won another Mr. Olympia after that.
https://youtu.be/YmRRIBbV85k
Arnold’s best friend, Franco Columbu, who had not competed since winning the 1976 Olympia due to a serious knee injury, returned to win the 1981 Olympia that was promoted by Schwarzenegger.
The places 2 to 5 - Tom Platz, Danny Padilla, Chris Dickerson, and Roy Callendar - all looked better than Arnold’s friend Columbu.
Columbu had 2 major flaws: a bad case of gynecomastia on one of his nipples and no definition in his thighs whatsoever (no separation visible in his quadriceps muscles). His lack of definition in his thighs is easy to see.
See Danny Padilla, Franco Columbu and Chris Dickerson (who would win the Olympia in 1982).
See Franco Columbu, Tom Platz and Danny Padilla.
When the placing order was announced, the audience booed the results as they never did before. How could Columbu win the Mr. Olympia title with no legs?!?
https://youtu.be/SbOrBlzSK5M
https://www.ironmanmagazine.com/1981-mr ... rt-part-2/
After the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Mike Mentzer never competed again in bodybuilding.
Mike Mentzer spoke about the corruption of the IFBB, Mr. Olympia, and that Arnold didn’t deserve to win in 1980. He even argued that all bodybuilding contests are fixed (also of other bodybuilding associations).
He also exposed that many in the IFBB had a criminal past, and that top-bodybuilders used hard drugs (ironically including Mentzer himself).
Most controversially, Mentzer exposed that bodybuilders were paid for gay sex.
And it's also true that there's a lot of homosexual hustling going on. It's been going on since the inception of bodybuilding in the early part of the century. It appears that there's a faction of homosexuals who find bodybuilders irresistible and are willing to pay them considerable sums of money for sexual favors. I know a number of bodybuilders who have done this, too, but for obvious reasons I'm not going to reveal their names.
https://youtu.be/F8FYtoSWdis
Mike Mentzer suddenly died on 10 June 2001, aged 49. Two days later, his younger bodybuilding brother Ray Mentzer also died, both of a heart attack.
In 1990, Mike Mentzer was locked up in a mental institution.
In his last interview, weeks before his sudden death, Mike Mentzer spoke positively about Arnold Schwarzenegger, because he had called his seriously ill brother Ray (his kidney disease was maybe caused by abuse of steroids), a few months earlier…
he received a phone call, believe it or not, from Arnold Schwarzenegger, which I found very touching, and I thank Arnold for that. Arnold called Ray and asked him how he was doing, told Ray he could call Arnold anytime he needed something or for any reason. It was a very benevolent gesture on Arnold's part, and in my eyes it raised his stature as a human being. I was shocked when the call came! I told Joe Weider many years ago, I hope Arnold really learns to mature and actualizes his full potential, because he's quite an outstanding individual.
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Mike Mentzer even spoke positively about Joe Weider, that he had talked to “recently” before his last interview.
Mike Mentzer also had some serious health problems at a relatively young age, while looking fit (probably still juiced). It is tempting to argue that he was somehow murdered by Weider and Arnold, but I haven’t found any evidence to support such a conspiracy theory.
Mentzer was addicted to amphetamines after he retired from professional bodybuilding, which might explain him being locked up in a mental institution:
https://www.ironmanmagazine.com/mike-me ... interview/
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/valinter.htm
