After the 1980 Mr. Olympia, a contest now referred to as "The Sydney Affair" by those in the bodybuilding community, all eyes were on Columbus, Ohio in October of 1981. In the months following the most controversial Mr. Olympia contest of all time, the rumors of the contest being fixed had surfaced throughout the bodybuilding magazines.
At the young age of 14, I talked my parents into driving to Columbus, Ohio so I could witness the 1977 Mr. Olympia contest in person. This was the year that the movie "Pumping Iron" was released and I was one of the few bodybuilders who sought out the only theater in town playing this little-known art house film to learn about the fascinating sport of bodybuilding.
If there was ever a year when bodybuilding finally arrived, 1977 was the year. In January of 77, the movie "Pumping Iron" was released in selected theaters throughout the country. This docudrama introduced the strange world of bodybuilding to an unsuspecting public that knew little about exercise at the time and even less about muscles.
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was training hard at World Gym in the summer of 1980, many wondered if the former King of Bodybuilding was planning a comeback by entering that year's Mr. Olympia contest. For the first time since he retired in 1975, Arnold and his partner, Jim Lorimer from Columbus, Ohio, would not be promoting the Mr. Olympia contest
The biggest contest in the bodybuilding world was mired in controversy as the 1980's began. After a decade that included Arnold Schwarzenegger's lock on the Mr. Olympia title for six straight years (1970-1975) followed by a single win in 1976 from the Austrian Oak's best friend Franco Columbu, Frank Zane wrapped up the decade by holding back the mass monsters to decisively win bodybuilding's top title three impressive years in a row (1977-1979).
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