The Olympia Wasn't Always Top Dog | How 1971 Changed Everything

Written by Peter McGoough

13 August 2015

The Olympia Wasn't Always Top Dog

How the 1971 Event Changed Everything

Around 10.00pm on Saturday September 19, the winner of the 51st Mr. Olympia contest will be announced. Over that weekend we will witness defending champ, Phil Heath, aiming for a fifth Mr. Olympia title while another 140 or so competitors will be spread across seven classes (Mr. Olympia, 212 Showdown, Fitness Olympia, Figure Olympia, Bikini Olympia, Women’s Physique, Men’s Physique – this is the first year since 1979 that there won’t be a Ms. Olympia bodybuilding contest taking place). Throw in an Expo bursting with around 1100 booths, 10,000 spectators attending the main event, and $1.1 million in prize money ($275,000 to the Mr. Olympia winner) and you have the greatest bodybuilding show on earth.

But it wasn’t always the case that the Olympia was the most prestigious event on the bodybuilding calendar. In fact the 1971 rendition of Joe Weider’s creation was the catalyst that changed the sport forever and helped propel the Olympia to being recognized as the competition that decides the best built man on the planet. The irony is that the 1971 event comprised only one class (men’s bodybuilding) and one competitor claiming the total prize money of $1,000. Compare those singular stats against those presented in the opening paragraph, then read on to learn how the Olympia flexed its muscles into becoming the premier bodybuilding event.

1971: ARNOLD ALONE IN PARIS

As he strode out to make his first defense of the Olympia title in 1971 Arnold Schwarzenegger could be forgiven for thinking he had used the wrong (or no) deodorant. This by virtue of him being the only competitor at that year’s contest staged in Paris, France. (In fact this was not the first occasion when a Mr. Olympia went unchallenged in his first defense. The same happened to Sergio Oliva in 1968, but that was because his contemporaries thought him unbeatable at that time and had no wish to take him on. The reasons for Arnold being the first and last man standing were far more deep-seated and politically significant in the development of pro bodybuilding as will become clear in due course.)

In his first appearance at the Olympia in 1969, Arnold lost to Oliva, but the 23-year-old Austrian returned a year later and toppled the seemingly unbeatable Myth. So on to Paris and 1971; the year in which the IFBB made a watershed decision that triggered a restructuring of the sport to set in place the landscape we have today over 43 years later.

At that time the NABBA (National Amateur Bodybuilders Association) Mr. Universe staged annually in London since 1950 was recognized as the sport’s premier title. In fact the 1950 and ’51 renditions only had an amateur division with the NABBA Pro Mr. Universe being introduced in 1952. All the top stars of the post-war era saw success at the NABBA Pro Universe as the supreme accolade available in the sport. This verified by the likes of Steve Reeves (1950), Reg Park (1951, ’58, ’65), Bill Pearl (1961, ’67 & 1971) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (1968, ’69, ’70) winning’s NABBA’s top contest.

Joe and Ben Weider were determined to alter bodybuilding’s terrain and so in 1965 they created the Mr. Olympia contest as the IFBB flagship with the deliberate strategy of positioning it to one day pre-empt the NABBA Pro Universe. In that era bodybuilders were free to enter the NABBA Universe and the IFBB Olympia. Indeed Arnold had won the NABBA Pro Universe from 1968 through 1970 while still participating in IFBB events. Then in late 1970 the IFBB made a crucial decision. They issued an edict that declared anyone entering contests or making guest posing appearances at another federation’s events would be suspended from IFBB competition.

ARNOLD: LONDON CALLING

Prior to this ruling Schwarzenegger was preparing to defend his NABBA Pro Universe crown in 1971 and he would tell me years later. “If there was ever one contest I wanted to enter it was the 1971 NABBA Pro Mr. Universe in London because Sergio Oliva and Bill Pearl had entered. I’d never competed against Bill – he was the only top guy of the time I hadn’t beaten. Bill was like the king of that conservative world of NABBA bodybuilding. They considered the IFBB and the Weiders as radical -- trying to shake up their traditional world. Sergio was big and Bill was big and cut, but I was even bigger and more cut. I consider 1971 to be my best ever year as I was totally ripped at 246 pounds. And I just felt that I would go to London and destroy those guys. And then Ben Weider intervened and said the IFBB had voted to disqualify any athlete going into non-IFBB contests. So I never got the chance to beat Bill Pearl.”

In defiance of the ruling Oliva entered the NABBA Pro Universe which was staged on September 17, a week earlier than the Olympia. He finished second to Pearl, and therefore the former Olympia champ found himself banned from the Paris contest. The Myth was miffed and made it known. Franco Columbu was also barred from competing due to participating in a non-sanctioned event and others like Roy Callendar met a similar fate.

THE PENDELUM SWINGS

One could be forgiven for thinking that the ruling backfired due to Arnold being the sole competitor in Paris, while in the London Universe the top three in the Tall Class read, Bill Pearl (1st), Sergio Oliva (2nd), Reg Park (3rd) with the Short class being won by Frank Zane ahead of five others. However come 1972 and the Olympia outgunned the Universe. The top five at that year’s main IFBB event was (in order) Schwarzenegger, Oliva, Serge Nubret, Zane and Columbu. While the London pro bash had a less stellar line-up with Dennis Tinerino winning the Tall Class and Zane winning the Short Class and overall. Never have figured out how Zane (I’ve asked him) who finished fourth at the 1972 Olympia escaped IFBB disqualification for entering the NABBA event that same year. Maybe the IFBB allowed him to do it to show that their fourth placed man could beat the best in NABBA?

Whatever, the 1971 Olympia and Arnold’s first defense represented a groundbreaking moment in bodybuilding’s history, with the ramifications being that the following year the 1972 Olympia established Joe Weider’s brainchild as the contest that decided the best built man on the planet and its been that way ever since. In fact it’s sad to report that the 2011 NABBA Pro Universe was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship, and it didn’t return until 2014. and is not on the calendar for this year.

AND SO TO 2015

Looking back 43 years to that one-man Mr. Olympia, which could have been held in a phone booth (if its’ good enough for Superman it’s good enough for Arnie), and the paycheck was $1,000, it’s a sobering reflection that this coming September 17-20 in Las Vegas, instead of one competitor there will be as stated before 140 or so combatants vying for honors, with that $1.1 million waiting to be distributed to the Olympian flexers. Like the infant Superman’s flight from Krypton, we’ve come a long way baby.



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