Tag: steroid

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger German born July 30, 1947 is an Austrian-American actor, filmmaker, businessman, author, philanthropist, activist, politician, and former professional bodybuilder and powerlifter.^[He served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 to 2011.

Schwarzenegger began lifting weights at the age of 15. He won the Mr. Universe title at age 20 and went on to win the Mr. Olympia contest seven times, remaining a prominent presence in bodybuilding and writing many books and articles on the sport. The Arnold Sports Festival, considered the second most important professional bodybuilding event in recent years, is named after him. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest bodybuilders of all-time, as well as the sport’s most charismatic ambassador

Mr. Olympia

Schwarzenegger’s goal was to become the greatest bodybuilder in the world, which meant becoming Mr. Olympia.^[ His first attempt was in 1969, when he lost to three-time champion Sergio Oliva. However, Schwarzenegger came back in 1970 and won the competition, making him the youngest ever Mr. Olympia at the age of 23, a record he still holds to this day.^[

He continued his winning streak in the 1971–74 competitions. In 1975, Schwarzenegger was once again in top form, and won the title for the sixth consecutive time, beating Franco Columbu. After the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, Schwarzenegger announced his retirement from professional bodybuilding.^[

Months before the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest, filmmakers George Butler and Robert Fiore persuaded Schwarzenegger to compete, in order to film his training in the bodybuilding documentary called Pumping Iron. Schwarzenegger had only three months to prepare for the competition, after losing significant weight to appear in the film Stay Hungry with Jeff Bridges. Although significantly taller and heavier, Lou Ferrigno proved not to be a threat, and a lighter-than-usual Schwarzenegger convincingly won the 1975 Mr. Olympia.

Steroid use

Schwarzenegger has admitted to using performance-enhancing anabolic steroids while they were legal, writing in 1977 that “steroids were helpful to me in maintaining muscle size while on a strict diet in preparation for a contest. I did not use them for muscle growth, but rather for muscle maintenance when cutting up.”^] He has called the drugs “tissue building”.^[

In 1999, Schwarzenegger sued Dr. Willi Heepe, a German doctor who publicly predicted his early death on the basis of a link between his steroid use and his later heart problems. As the doctor had never examined him personally, Schwarzenegger collected a US$10,000 libel judgment against him in a German court. In 1999, Schwarzenegger also sued and settled with Globe, a U.S. tabloid which had made similar predictions about the bodybuilder’s future health.

List of competitions^[

Year	Competition	Location	Result and notes
1965	Junior Mr. Europe	Germany	1st
1966	Best Built Man of Europe	Germany	1st
1966	Mr. Europe	Germany	1st
1966	International Powerlifting Championship	Germany	1st
1966	NABBA Mr. Universe amateur	London	2nd to Chet Yorton
1967	NABBA Mr. Universe amateur	London	1st
1968	NABBA Mr. Universe professional	London	1st
1968	German Powerlifting Championship	Germany	1st
1968	IFBB Mr. International	Mexico	1st
1968	IFBB Mr. Universe	Florida	2nd to Frank Zane
1969	IFBB Mr. Universe amateur	New York	1st
1969	NABBA Mr. Universe professional	London	1st
1969	Mr. Olympia	New York	2nd to Sergio Oliva
1970	NABBA Mr. Universe professional	London	1st (defeated his idol Reg Park)
1970	AAU Mr. World	Columbus, Ohio	1st (defeated Sergio Oliva for the first time)
1970	Mr. Olympia	New York	1st
1971	Mr. Olympia	Paris	1st
1972	Mr. Olympia	Essen, Germany	1st
1973	Mr. Olympia	New York	1st
1974	Mr. Olympia	New York	1st
1975	Mr. Olympia	Pretoria, South Africa	1st (subject of the documentary P
1980	Mr. Olympia	Sydney, Australia	1st (subject of the documentary