The irony that Sergio Oliva was born on the fourth of July, 1941, is lost on no one who knows the man or his reputation. For throughout his six decades Sergio has shown nothing if not a burning desire for his own independence, the very kind the forefathers of America, his adoptive country, proclaimed their right to 165 years earlier. But when Fidel Castro’s opposition movement overthrew Cuba’s Batista government in 1959 Sergio suddenly found his homeland was no longer a place where personal freedoms could be savored.
A prodigiously gifted athlete from childhood, Sergio realized that his involvement in state sponsored sport could be his ticket to, if not freedom itself, then the opportunity to escape the stifling confines of the Cuban working class. Blessed with an almost preternatural combination of strength, speed and flexibility, Sergio wisely decided to channel his efforts into Olympic-style weightlifting.
Not surprisingly, he took to the sport immediately and, by the age of twenty, had already become Cuba’s top lifter and consequently its 198-pound class representative in the 1961 Pan American Games held in Kingston, Jamaica.
From Jamaica Sergio emigrated to the United States; first to Miami, where he performed odd jobs ranging from TV repair to unloading trucks. Then, in 1963, he made his way north to Chicago.
It was at Chicago’s Duncan YMCA that the weightlifter was introduced to the sport of bodybuilding by top local bodybuilder Bob Gajda. Gajda recognized the young man’s incredible physical potential and took him under his wing. As predicted, Sergio’s muscles ballooned immediately under the unique stresses of a bodybuilding regimen. He took to bodybuilding as an eagle to soaring and by the end of the year had won his first title, Mr. Young Chicagoland.
By 1966 Sergio Oliva had had enough of the vicissitudes of the AAU and decided to turn professional by joining the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB). In short order he won the 1966 Mr. World and 1967 Mr. Universe titles and finally, with little resistance, the 1967 Mr. Olympia title. Only four years after getting his start in competitive bodybuilding Sergio Oliva was the undisputed king of the walk.
While Sergio handled his teutonic threat to win his third consecutive Olympia, the lessons learned in defeat served the young Schwarzenegger well the following year as he came back to edge out Sergio in one of the closest results in the sport’s history.
Sergio, disappointed but undaunted, redoubled his efforts and returned to the Olympia stage in 1972 bigger than ever, and ready to upset the applecart of the now two-time defending Mr. Olympia Schwarzenegger.
But it was not to be. Whether it was due to politics, as some assert, or Arnold’s uncanny ability to will himself to victory, Sergio, now known as The Myth, would take the runner-up spot that night in Essen, Germany, despite reaching his all-time best condition.
It was a huge blow to the man, one which would ultimately lead him out of the IFBB and into relative bodybuilding obscurity for the next 12 years.
Stephen L. Reeves was born on January 21, 1926 and was an American bodybuilder and actor.Born in Glasgow, Montana, Steve Reeves moved to California at the age of 10 with his mother Goldie.After his father Lester Dell Reeves died in a farming accident.
Reeves developed an interest in bodybuilding while in high school and trained at Ed Yarick's gym in Oakland. By the time he was 17 he had developed a Herculean build, long before the rise in general interest in bodybuilding. After graduating from high school, he entered the army during the latter part of World War II, and served in the Pacific.
After his military service, Reeves invested in an acting career. In 1954 he had a small role in his first major motion picture, the musical Athena playing Jane Powell's boyfriend. The same year Reeves had a small role as a cop in the Ed Wood film Jail Bait. This is one of the few movies where his voice was not dubbed.
In 1957, Reeves went to Italy and played the lead character in Pietro Francisci's Hercules, a shot-on-a-shoestring epic based loosely on the tales of Jason and the Argonauts, though inserting Hercules into the lead role.
Later in his life, Reeves promoted drug-free bodybuilding and bred horses. The last two decades of his life were spent in Valley Center (Escondido), California. He bought a ranch with his savings and lived there with his second wife Aline until her death in 1989. On May 1, 2000, Reeves died from complications of lymphoma.
Roy "Reg" Park a.k.a "reg the leg" was born on 7 June 1928 , from Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, was a former bodybuilder, businessman and film actor.He dedicated his teenage years excelling in football. He had no interest in bodybuilding until, at age 16, Park met a muscleman named David Cohen. Upon learning that Cohen lifted weights at his friend's house, Reg Park joined in with curiosity.Upon discharge from the military in 1948, he saw his very first physique contest. This was the inaugural NABBA Mr. Universe contest, in which John Grimek edged out over Steve Reeves in controversial fashion. It was this contest that inspired Reg Park to compete himself.After one year of hard training, Reg Park earned the title of Mr. Britain in 1949. He then subsequently spent six months in the United States . There, he met up with publisher Joe Weider, who began to feature the Englishman prominently in his muscle magazines.He cemented his superstar status by winning the 1958 AND 1965 NABBA Pro Mr. Universe titles. Standing 6'1" and with a top weight of 250 pounds, Park was known for his muscular mass that was the forerunner to modern bodybuilding today. Park was also renowned for his strength, which he often demonstrated in contests and strongman exhibitions. It is on record that he was the first bodybuilder to bench press 500 lbs.As an actor, Park made five films — all Italian Hercules sword and sandal.Park died on November 22, 2007 in his home in South Africa, after an eight month battle with metastatic melanoma (a form of skin cancer).
Eugen Sandow often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding" was born on April 2,
1867 in the ancient German city of Konigsberg in East Prussia - today it is part of Russia.
His real name was Friedrich Muller.Fortunately, Sandow was blessed with a great natural physique and the brains to use it.
The young man left his birthplace with a circus that was passing through.He became an acrobat,
honing his skills as an athlete and a performer as he traveled from place to place.He was also improving his body.
The gymnastics and acrobatics were hardening and defining his muscles to a remarkable degree.
but the circus in which he worked went bankrupt this made the turning point in his life,
he was taken by Louis Attila, a professional strongman and early instructor in physical culture.Attila trained sandow.Later
After this brief training period, the two men went from city to city displaying their feats of strength and making a scanty
living from the infrequent bookings in second-rate music halls.By 1889 Sandow and Attila had separated,
though they occasionally kept in touch by letter.Then he was joined by Florenz Ziegfeld and he started to exibit his own
physic and earned money.Sandow married the daughter of an English photographer and settled in London where
he opened an 'Institute of Health' in St James Street.
He was the author of several books on physical fitness, regimen and diet.
As recognition of his contribution to the sport of bodybuilding, a bronze statue of Sandow sculpted by Frederick Pomeroy
has been presented to the winner of the Mr. Olympia contest, a major professional bodybuilding competition sponsored by
the International Federation of Bodybuilders, since 1977. This statue is simply known as "The Sandow"
He died in London on October 14, 1925 of a stroke, age 58.
THE one who made the sport bodybuilding more successful and famous Mr arnold schwarzeneggar.In 1947 july 30 for a policeman's son born in a tiny village near Graz, Austria, Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger has done pretty well for himself.he won Mr.EUROPE in 1966 and later he won Mr.UNIVERSE( five times ),Mr.WORLD,Mr.OLYMPIA(seven times).Later he retired from competitive bodybuilding and started doing movies in hollywood.Conan the barbarian was his first commercial successful movie which made an opening gross of $39.6 million.In 1983 arnold became a U.S citizen at the shrine auditorium in Los Angeles.He got married with Maria marry and had four childrens Katherine Eunice Schwarzenegger,Christina Maria Aurelia Schwarzenegger,Patric Arnold Schwarzenegger,Christopher Sargent Shriver Schwarzenegger.And later with his interest in politics,he was elected as California's 38th Governor.But still with his passion and love for bodybuilding he promote the sport by conducting arnold sports festival once in a year.He is well respected by bodybuilders of all times.HE IS A LIVING LEGEND. BY-BAZIL .
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