The 1970 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held in September 1970
at The Town Hall in New York City, New York. It was the 6th Mr. Olympia competition held.
The 1971 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held September 25, 1971 at the Maison de la Mutualité
in Paris, France. It was the 7th Mr. Olympia competition held.
The competition was a disappointment to many because three of its four competitors were disqualified before the event,
leaving Arnold Schwarzenegger to win the contest unopposed. It was the first time the IFBB barred contestants from any of its events.
The IFBB's effort to get bodybuilding represented in the 1976 Olympics required the organization enforce its constitution to give it
parity with other official international athletic organizations. Sergio Oliva was disqualified from entering the Mr. Olympia because
he competed in an unsanctioned contest (NABBA Mr. Universe). Roy Callender and Franco Columbu were disqualified from the IFBB Mr.
Universe (held concurrently with the Olympia) for also entering unsanctioned contests. "If bodybuilding is to become an Olympic Games
event it must have an amateur division and it must have rules and regulations specifying who is eligible or not to compete in amateur
and professional categories," insisted IFBB President Ben Weider in the keynote speech opening the contest.
The 1972 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held in October 1972 at the Handelshof
in Essen, West Germany. It was the 8th Mr. Olympia competition held.
The 1973 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on September 8, 1973, at the Brooklyn Academy of
Music in Brooklyn, New York. It was the 9th Mr. Olympia competition held. The prize money for this event went down from previous years,
from $1000, to only $750. Arnold gave a short speech and complained about this after he won the competition.
The 1974 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on October 12, 1974 at the Felt Forum at Madison
Square Garden in New York City, New York. It was the 10th Mr. Olympia competition held.
The 1975 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held November 8, 1975 in Pretoria, South Africa. It was
the 11th Mr. Olympia competition and the feature event of the 1975 IFBB International Congress.
The event was filmed for the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron which featured the rivalry between competitors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou
Ferrigno as they trained for the contest. Although not released until two years after the event, the success of the film made Arnold
Schwarzenegger an international celebrity, contributed to his success as Hollywood actor, and helped establish bodybuilding as a professional
sport. The final decision between over-200 winner Schwarzenegger and under-200 winner Columbu was very close: 4 judges voted for Schwarzenegger, 3 for Columbu.
The 1980 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on October 4, 1980, at the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.
The event was one of the most debated competitions in bodybuilding history. While training for his acting role in the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian, Arnold Schwarzenegger stunned the bodybuilding world by unexpectedly coming out of retirement and entering the Mr. Olympia contest one day prior to the event and after having trained for only eight weeks prior. When asked about his decision to enter the competition, Arnold said "we're going to start shooting the first few scenes (of Conan) in October, and so I really wanted to be muscular because the idea was that Conan was a very muscular, heroic looking guy, and that I should be in top shape... the closer I came to this competition more people started speculating on the idea that I would be competing and the more I started thinking about the possibility. And so around 3 weeks or 2 weeks ago I decided, well, I think it would be a kind of an interesting challenge to do something in 8 weeks that most of the guys do, preparing a year or two years in advance."
Frank Zane, the defending three-time Mr. Olympia champion, entered the contest after recovering from a life-threatening injury. Although Zane had completely recovered and had retained his definition, much of his muscular size from the year before was missing. Other favorites at the competition, including Mike Mentzer, Chris Dickerson, and Boyer Coe, were in excellent condition making the 1980 event one of the most competitive Mr. Olympia contests.After the final judging, Arnold was declared the winner. The decision was criticized by competitors and attendees, because Arnold lacked his usual size and muscular definition. Many audience members booed as the results were announced. After accepting the runner-up position, Dickerson jumped off stage yelling "I can’t believe it!". Although Coe and Mentzer were tied for fourth in scoring, Mentzer was given the fifth place award. Mentzer was outspoken in his belief that he was the victim of politics and conspiracy. Zane reportedly threw his trophy against the wall backstage, though Zane himself claimed he had dropped it. During his acceptance speech, Arnold acknowledged how close the decision was, saying "I have to be very honest, that this was the highest level of competition that I have ever faced in any competition in my life".
In the aftermath of the competition, many of the competitors, including Frank Zane, Coe, Mentzer, and Walker, vowed to boycott the 1981 contest. CBS Sports attended and filmed the 1980 contest but decided not to air the contest on broadcast television as planned. It was the last time the Mr. Olympia contest was filmed by an American broadcast television network. It was after the event intended host Ken Squier witnessed Racecam at the Hardie-Ferodo 1000, leading to it being used for the 1981 Daytona 500.
1966
Mr Europe (1), Winner
Mr Universe - NABBA, Tall, 2nd
1967
Mr Universe - NABBA, Overall Winner
Mr Universe - NABBA, Tall, 1st
1968
Universe - IFBB, 2nd
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Overall Winner
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Tall, 1st
1969
Mr Europe - IFBB, Overall Winner
Mr Europe - IFBB, Tall, 1st
Mr International - IFBB, Overall Winner
Mr International - IFBB, Tall, 1st
Olympia - IFBB, 2nd
Universe - IFBB, Overall Winner
Universe - IFBB, Tall, 1st
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Overall Winner
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Tall, 1st
1970
Olympia - IFBB, Winner
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Overall Winner
Universe - Pro - NABBA, Tall, 1st
Mr World - AAU, Professional Overall Winner
Mr World - AAU, Pro Tall, 1st
1971
Olympia - IFBB, Winner
1972
Olympia - IFBB, Winner
1973
Olympia - IFBB, Winner
1974
Olympia - IFBB, Overall Winner
Olympia - IFBB, HeavyWeight, 1st
1975
Olympia - IFBB, Overall Winner
Olympia - IFBB, HeavyWeight, 1st
1980
Olympia - IFBB, Winner