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Arnold Schwarzenegger Bodybuilding |
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1st - 1980 Mr. Olympia |
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| No one was expecting this and when they found out it was actually happening, they all believed it was just a joke. Turns out, the joke was on them. |
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| Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to be taking the flight to Australia with the bodybuilders competing in the 1980 Mr. Olympia; he was to be an on-air commentator for CBS sports – nothing more. Sure he was looking bigger then ever since his retirement in 1975, but word was that he was preparing to portray Conan in a big-budget film, so it made sense he would bulk up for the role. However, once the plane toughed down in Australia, it had become evident that Schwarzenegger was also there to compete, to which a number of competitors didn’t take kindly |
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| Before the contestants could even take their frustrations to the stage tempers flared during the athletes meeting. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried using hit “psych out” tactics against the guy believed to be his chief competitor, Mike Mentzer. |
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Although the Austrian Oak seemed to always get away with his mind games in the past, Mentzer wasn’t about to give Arnold a pass on his comments about Mike’s “belly”. It took a determined Ben Weider to prevent a fistfight between the two. |
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Arnold Schwarenzegger would go on to win his seventh and final Olympia in Australia. Dickerson would finish second, defending champ Zane third, Coe fourth and Mentzer fifth. A case could be made for any of the other four of the top five finishers to have been awarded the Sandow that year. Yet this day many people aver that Schwareznegger, despite being well off his best, was indeed good enough to beat the rest that day. |
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The final decision would send Mentzer into retirement and cause Zane and Coe to sit out the following year’s contests in protest. Arnold Schwarzenegger himself would never compete again, instead turning to contest promotion, acting and politics. To this day, the 1980 Mr. Olympia is the most discussed debate and dissected contest in bodybuilding history. |
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