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Top 30 Mr Olympia Of All The Time – 2021 Updates
Are you interested in bodybuilding contests? Then you have probably heard of the toughest competition of all time in the world of bodybuilding. Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend is an international bodybuilding competition. The winner of this competition is awarded the Mr Olympia title.
The competition is annually held in Las Vegas, and it is the most prestigious event in the fitness industry. As the date of 2021, Mr Olympia, is approaching closer, we thought of looking once at the past Mr Olympia winners.
Who Are The Top 30 Mr Olympia Of All Time?
Since 1965, many bodybuilders have won this prestigious title. Some have won this competition many times in a row, and some have won it the most times. Let’s look at some of these greatest bodybuilders now.
1: Ronnie Coleman
You may be surprised to know that Coleman considered bodybuilding for the first time just because he was lured with a free gym membership offer. Ronnie Coleman held the Mr Olympia title for 8 years in a row. Fans know him the best as a real-life version of The Hulk due to his superhuman physique. He also holds the record of the most wins in IFBB with 26 titles.
2: Jay Cutler
Jay Cutler won the Mr Olympia title 4 times in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. He was only 33 years old when he won his first-ever Mr Olympia title. Unlike Coleman, Jay Cutler wanted to excel in the field of bodybuilding himself. Although he had a degree in criminal justice, he is the 3rd Mr Olympia to win the title in consecutive years.
3: Lee Haney
One of the youngest Mr Olympia winners on this lit is Lee Haney. He won the title for the first time when he was 19 years old. He also wins the title 8 times like Ronnie Coleman, but he won it long before Coleman did. Currently, he does own two gyms in Atlanta. He now works as a coach and as an instructor and trains many athletes.
4: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Before retiring from the world of bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger wins the title of Mr Olympia 6 times in a row. But, overall, he won the title 7 times. He started bodybuilding at the age of 15. But, the Austrian Oak did not only shine in bodybuilding. Instead, he was an established name in the film industry, real estate, and finally, California governor.
5: Dorian Yates
With 6 Mr Olympia wins, Dorian Yates becomes a prominent name in the history of bodybuilding. When he entered the stage for the first time, the world witnessed a new definition of mass. He spent most of his teenage years coming in and out of prison. He became the most famous bodybuilder of all time due to his charismatic persona on stage.
6: Frank Zane
Frank Zane is the 3 times winner of the Mr Olympia title. His name becomes even more famous in bodybuilding because he is one of the 3 never to defeat Arnold Schwarzenegger. Zane is the best definition of old-school muscle. That’s because even with 6 days of training a week, he managed to bring notable changes in his physique just before the competition.
7: Shawn Ray
Did you think any of these Mr Olympia winners would fail to qualify for the competition due to a drug test and still come back? Well, Shawn Ray is your man then. He won the title in 1991 after failing to succeed in the previous year. He also managed to come in the top 5 of this competition 12 consecutive years.
8: Dexter Jackson
He may have won the Mr Olympia title once, but he has the highest record of 29 professional wins in the bodybuilding world. Fans know him the best with his nickname ‘The Blade’ because of his lean and sharp physical features. He has recently retired from the bodybuilding world in 2020 at the age of 51.
9: Sergio Oliva
He is best known as ‘The Myth’ in the world of bodybuilding, and he was the first to beat our favorite Arnie at the Mr Olympia competition. Although he had significant genes, Sergio’s physique looks effortlessly intense in the competition. Oliva did not have any professional coach, and he trained exclusively in his unique methods for the competition.
10: Franco Columbu
The 2 times Mr Olympia winner, Columbu, is sadly no more with us because he passed away in 2019. He was the best friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, which is a rare thing to see in bodybuilding. Apart from being a prominent name in bodybuilding, he also held a unique world record of blowing up a hot water bottle until it exploded in 55 seconds.
11: Phil Heath
Another seven-time Mr Olympia winner on the list is Phil Heath. We know him as the ‘Big Ramy,’ and he won the title for the first time when he defeated Jay Cutler. His journey is truly inspiring, from a Varsity basketball player to a world-famous bodybuilder. People still acknowledge how he improved his glue spread, which became the deciding factor for his victory.
12: Larry Scott
How can we list the top Mr Olympia winners and not consider the first-ever winner of this competition? The Golden Boy won the inaugural title of this eminent competition in 1965 and inspired many people to see bodybuilding as a career option. He won the competition consecutively for 2 years before retiring. He stands out to be an excellent inspiration for Arnie.
13: Chris Dickerson
The 1982 Mr Olympia winner, Chris Dickerson, is not only known for his excellent performance at the bodybuilding competition. He was also the first winner from the black community people and the LGBTQ community. In addition, he was the oldest winner of this competition because when he won Mr Olympia, he was 43 years old.
14: Samir Bannout
This Lion Of Lebanon won the Mr Olympia title in 1983. He decorates the hall of fame in IFBB with his extraordinary performances over the years in the bodybuilding world. Unlike many others on the list, Bannout always wanted to be a bodybuilder from an early age. He had competed with some of the best bodybuilders of history.
15: Shawn Rhoden
The 2018 Mr Olympia winner, Shawn Rhoden, is also the winner of 27 professional titles. He beat the seven times winner Phil Heath in the 2018 fight and won the title. However, due to some serious allegations of assaulting a female protege in the competition, he was banned in 2019.
16: Brandon Curry
The 2019 Mr Olympia winner Brandon Curry is an American professional in the bodybuilding world. He has a symmetrical physique, which makes him a new name in this world. He has a current net worth of $25 million, and he also competed in the 2020 fight. He had to fight with the 7 times winner Phil Heath, but the reigning champion was not nervous in this fight.
17: Kevin Levrone
Kevin Levrone never won the Mr Olympia title, but he blamed it on the IFBB politics. Despite not winning the competition, he managed to come in the top 5 many times. He has competed in more than 50 IFBB pro competitions. Nobody yet has come even closer to being in the top 3 of so many professional matches like him.
18: Lee Labrada
The CEO of Labrada Nutrition had never won Mr Olympia’s title but was always in the top 5 positions. From 25 events of his life, he managed to secure the top 5 positions in 21 of those events. He was one of the top 4 contestants in 7 consecutive Mr Olympia competitions, which is a record itself.
19: Flex Wheeler
Many recognized bodybuilders like Wheeler could never win the title because the running legends were still competing. Despite never winning the title, Wheeler was the runner-up in the 1993, 1998, and 1999 Mr Olympia contests. He has many other professional designations in his name, which leaves the fans in awe of this genuinely symmetrical body.
20: Rich Gaspari
Like many other unfortunate entries in Mr Olympia’s title, Gaspari never won the competition. However, he held the runner-up title in 3 years consecutively. Once he retired from professional bodybuilding, he established the brand Gaspari Nutrition.
21: Albert Beckles
Beckles has managed to stay 6 times in the top 5 positions of the Mr Olympia Competition, but he could not win the title. However, his crisp body has been a reigning trademark in the professional bodybuilding world. He retired from this profession at the Chicago Pro Invitational in 1992 after winning the fight in a legendary style.
22: Nasser El Sonbaty
In more than 33 shows of his 16 years of bodybuilding career, Naseer always managed to earn the 2nd or 3rd rank. He was placed in the top 5 contestants of the Mr Olympia competition 6 times. This legendary fighter ended his career in bodybuilding at the 1999 Arnold Classic.
23: Chris Cormier
In his very first Mr Olympia of 1994, he came 6th. However, he managed to win many other professional bodybuilding titles in his long career. Cormier always wanted to be a bodybuilder, and he rose to fame against many people’s doubts. Ex. Mr Olympia Dorian Yates was his coach.
24: Kai Greene
In the 2012, 2013, and 2014 Mr Olympia competition, Greene came 2nd every time, and he hasn’t competed since. Therefore, people consider Greene as one of the best bodybuilders who never won this prestigious competition. However, after a lot of speculation for the 2021 competition, we can expect to see Greene reappear on this stage.
25: Victor Martinez
The 2007 Mr Olympia runner-up was the most significant career highlight in Martinez’s bodybuilding life. His loss to Jay Cutler was quite controversial, and many fans saw him as the winner that year. In addition, he has won the Arnold Classic championship quite a few times, which also marks some of his significant career moves.
26: Serge Nubret
Nubret also never won the Mr Olympia title, but he is so far the best knows last-minute entry to compete against our favorite Arnie. From 1972-1975, Nubret constantly competed against Arnie but lost with a whisker. One of the few bodybuilders who believed in the coordination of mind, body, and spirit was Nubret. He died in 2011.
27: Robby Robinson
The Black Prince currently has a net worth of $1.5 million, making him one of the wealthiest bodybuilders. However, despite many professional wins, he also never secured the Mr Olympia title itself. However, he even got suspended from entering the competition when he complained against the IFBB authority of mistreatment.
28: Mohamed Makkawy
This bodybuilder was an Olympic-level weightlifter, so that you can imagine his roots in bodybuilding. He secured the 2nd rank to Frank Zane in the 1977 Mr Olympia fight. Many people still consider Mohamed as a tough competition to beat in bodybuilding. However, even his loss to Zane is also regarded as rare.
29: Harold Poole
The first bodybuilder to compete in Mr Olympia 3 times in a row is Harold Poole. He never won the competition but managed to leave a lasting impression due to his impressive feats. Until the age of 19, he never missed a single day of working out. He took 8 years of rigorous training before he appeared in this competition.
30: Dennis Wolf
Wolf’s 4th rank holder in the 2015 Mr Olympia competition has many other professional victories in his name. He has always wanted to be a professional in bodybuilding. Since he does it for a living, you can imagine his dedication. Only one slip in 2009, but the rest of Wolf’s career has always remained at the top.
Conclusion
On this list, we have mentioned some of the top names from the bodybuilding industry. Some of them have won the Mr Olympia title, and some have not. Whatever the case is, their stories continue to inspire us because they never once looked back in their life when they faced failure. If you have any further questions on our champions, please post them in the comment section.
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