the infamous 1980 Mr. O

[gjoe]

1980 Mr. Olympia Standings

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Held in the thrilling spectacle of the Sydney Opera House in Australia on Saturday, October 4th. Prejudgin was at 2pm. Bill Pearl was the IFBB Head Judge. It was held on the same weekend as the famous Muhammad Ali - Larry Holmes title fight in Las Vegas, which Ali lost. Arnold entered the contest in the last 24 hours, to the surprise of many, who wondered why would he want to try and destroy his perfect record. After the Olympia, Frank Zane asked Arnold why he came back to compete, and Arnold said "To get back at Mike Menzter and Boyer Coe. To show them they can't get away with knocking me and my training". Arnold wanted to show them that you could go into the Olympia on a very positive note without criticizing others, and win.

Before the contest, an ultimatum, in the form of a petition, signed by all of the competitors, except Arnold, read 'The following Mr. Olympia competitors are in favor of abolishing the two weight classes, and replacing them with one open class." The message in the petition was implicit: one class or no contest! However, Arnold would not budge, and the meeting between the bodybuilders and the judges got quite ugly, almost violent as 15 bodybuilders turned against Arnold. Finally, Joe Weider got involved, talked to Arnold, and Arnold withdrew his objection. The Mr. Olympia event became a one class contest again.

The judges for this contests were Reg Park, Mits Kawashima, Albert Busek, Dan Howard, Brendan Ryan, Jacques Blommaert and Mike Walczak. Before the contest, no one complained about the judges. Afterwards, well.... lets just say this was one of the most controversial Olympias ever. Arnold was not in his best shape, and the 15 other competitors knew it. Even Arnold realized he was only in 90% shape.

When the top five were called out, things started to get bad. Mike Menzter in 5th place. The judges had to be joking. Mike was in the prime of his bodybuilding career, better than last years Olympia. Mike would say later "So ludicrous was the decision that, really; all I could do was laugh. I will tell you, somebody out there really wanted me crushed out completely". Boyer's reaction was a little different. "Is there no justice" Boyer demanded to know as he sent chairs flying into walls. Frank Zane accepted his trophy with a calmer demeanor, yet later shattered his trophy into hundreds of pieces by hurling it to the asphalt of the opera house parking lot. Dickerson accepted second place with a sharp "Oh no", and vanished into the night.

And Arnold. Arnold was booth by over 40% of the 2000 fans in the opera house. All 15 competitors are unanimous in their beleif that slecting Arnold was a bad decision on the part of the judges. Even the CBS Sports crew were shocked, expecting Mike Mentzer as the champion. Even Bill Peark (who did not vote), said he would never have picked Arnold.


1980 Mr. Olympia Results
Place Name Country
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger USA
2 Chris Dickerson USA
3 Frank Zane USA
4 Boyer Coe USA
4 Mike Mentzer USA
6 Roger Walker Australia
7 Roy Callender Canada
8 Dennis Tinerino USA
9 Tom Platz USA
10 Danny Padilla USA
11 Ed Corney USA
12 Tony Emmott England
13 Roy Duval England
14 Casey Viator USA
15 Samir Bannout Lebanon
16 Ken Waller USA

[MrBest]

1980 Mr. Olympia Standings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Held in the thrilling spectacle of the Sydney Opera House in Australia on Saturday, October 4th. Prejudgin was at 2pm. Bill Pearl was the IFBB Head Judge. It was held on the same weekend as the famous Muhammad Ali - Larry Holmes title fight in Las Vegas, which Ali lost. Arnold entered the contest in the last 24 hours, to the surprise of many, who wondered why would he want to try and destroy his perfect record. After the Olympia, Frank Zane asked Arnold why he came back to compete, and Arnold said "To get back at Mike Menzter and Boyer Coe. To show them they can't get away with knocking me and my training". Arnold wanted to show them that you could go into the Olympia on a very positive note without criticizing others, and win.

Before the contest, an ultimatum, in the form of a petition, signed by all of the competitors, except Arnold, read 'The following Mr. Olympia competitors are in favor of abolishing the two weight classes, and replacing them with one open class." The message in the petition was implicit: one class or no contest! However, Arnold would not budge, and the meeting between the bodybuilders and the judges got quite ugly, almost violent as 15 bodybuilders turned against Arnold. Finally, Joe Weider got involved, talked to Arnold, and Arnold withdrew his objection. The Mr. Olympia event became a one class contest again.

The judges for this contests were Reg Park, Mits Kawashima, Albert Busek, Dan Howard, Brendan Ryan, Jacques Blommaert and Mike Walczak. Before the contest, no one complained about the judges. Afterwards, well.... lets just say this was one of the most controversial Olympias ever. Arnold was not in his best shape, and the 15 other competitors knew it. Even Arnold realized he was only in 90% shape.

When the top five were called out, things started to get bad. Mike Menzter in 5th place. The judges had to be joking. Mike was in the prime of his bodybuilding career, better than last years Olympia. Mike would say later "So ludicrous was the decision that, really; all I could do was laugh. I will tell you, somebody out there really wanted me crushed out completely". Boyer's reaction was a little different. "Is there no justice" Boyer demanded to know as he sent chairs flying into walls. Frank Zane accepted his trophy with a calmer demeanor, yet later shattered his trophy into hundreds of pieces by hurling it to the asphalt of the opera house parking lot. Dickerson accepted second place with a sharp "Oh no", and vanished into the night.

And Arnold. Arnold was booth by over 40% of the 2000 fans in the opera house. All 15 competitors are unanimous in their beleif that slecting Arnold was a bad decision on the part of the judges. Even the CBS Sports crew were shocked, expecting Mike Mentzer as the champion. Even Bill Peark (who did not vote), said he would never have picked Arnold.


1980 Mr. Olympia Results
Place Name Country
1 Arnold Schwarzenegger USA
2 Chris Dickerson USA
3 Frank Zane USA
4 Boyer Coe USA
4 Mike Mentzer USA
6 Roger Walker Australia
7 Roy Callender Canada
8 Dennis Tinerino USA
9 Tom Platz USA
10 Danny Padilla USA
11 Ed Corney USA
12 Tony Emmott England
13 Roy Duval England
14 Casey Viator USA
15 Samir Bannout Lebanon
16 Ken Waller USA

interesting

[krs128]

strong bump is strong

[Arsenal01]

interesting

wtf dude?

[willldabeast]

only 6 years ago thread about a contest 30 years ago. well played

[hittman]

only 6 years ago thread about a contest 30 years ago. well played

i will bump this in 2030

[Darren in Gym]

lol no one commented on it for 6 years....awesome. and if u actually look at the video and pics from 1980 arnold destroyed everyone, it wasnt even close

[DavisForman]

lol no one commented on it for 6 years....awesome. and if u actually look at the video and pics from 1980 arnold destroyed everyone, it wasnt even close

Agreed. I don't understand why people think it was such a big conspiracy. The original issue was that he missed the entree deadline but Weider still let him compete, and then somehow that turned into he didn't deserve winning.

[BigJayNJ]

Agreed. I don't understand why people think it was such a big conspiracy. The original issue was that he missed the entree deadline but Weider still let him compete, and then somehow that turned into he didn't deserve winning.

It's laughable that people made any beef about it. The IFBB rule book is an absolute joke. If you heard about what went on back in the late 90's into 01' it's no surprise. Levrone competed without a valid IFBB pro-card. Cutler failing the "diuretics test" and taking 2nd haha

Regardless, Zane and Dickerson couldn't stand with Arnold. Simply blew both of them away.

[DavisForman]

It's laughable that people made any beef about it. The IFBB rule book is an absolute joke.

And from what I am aware of, the organizer of the show (in that case, Weider himself) is allowed to admit one bodybuilder that has not qualified. I don't know if that is allowed past the deadline, but if it is, why did people make such a big deal about it?

[Superfly1]

And from what I am aware of, the organizer of the show (in that case, Weider himself) is allowed to admit one bodybuilder that has not qualified. I don't know if that is allowed past the deadline, but if it is, why did people make such a big deal about it?

because Arnold came in and won, and Mike whinged and moaned because he believed his distended gut was still better then a smaller arnold (compared to 75) if Arnold was second there would of been no deal what so ever

[BigJayNJ]

And from what I am aware of, the organizer of the show (in that case, Weider himself) is allowed to admit one bodybuilder that has not qualified. I don't know if that is allowed past the deadline, but if it is, why did people make such a big deal about it?

It's mostly the cry babies like Shawn Ray and/or 2nd, 3rd, 4th place.

Shawn Ray beefed about the the 2001 Olympia I believe. He was a rule book dork. His argument was:

"Well Jay failed the diuretic test and took 2nd, Levrone didn't have a card and took 3rd so I should have been 2nd behind Ronnie" LOL

Most people don't know the rules. Weider seemed to make him up as he went along. Whatever could line his pockets the best was what he did.

I think that's what may have happened in 02, who knows though.

The refreshing thing to see is that Arnold, despite all the BS, WAS the better physique.

[Natural_O]

I recently talked to Bill Pearl, who was at the 1980 Olympia (in fact, he was a judge but then withdrew because he was helping Chris Dickerson get ready for the contest) and he told me that he had Arnold in fifth. Bill said he was the one who broke up the fight between Arnold and Mentzer. He also said Arnold could be a vicious manipulator, tearing down his fellow competitors in order to get an edge. He told me that Arnold had Mentzer in tears and Zane was almost in tears during the contest.

[Darren in Gym]

I recently talked to Bill Pearl, who was at the 1980 Olympia (in fact, he was a judge but then withdrew because he was helping Chris Dickerson get ready for the contest) and he told me that he had Arnold in fifth. Bill said he was the one who broke up the fight between Arnold and Mentzer. He also said Arnold could be a vicious manipulator, tearing down his fellow competitors in order to get an edge. He told me that Arnold had Mentzer in tears and Zane was almost in tears during the contest.

Maybe Bill was bias considering he was on Dickerson's side? I wasnt there lmao...i wasnt even born...but when you look at the pics and the vid footage its clear that Arnold dominated. Unless it was a completely different story in real life then i didnt see arnold losing, and he definetly wasnt fifth.

Its also well known that Arnold was ruthless, he constantly degraded franco and so beat him. Arnold not only had the physical edge but the mental one. Im an HIT trainer and have nothing against Menzer or his training but arnold won that night.

[socket]

Wow, really strong bump

I always thought Arnie looked the best at that show. But because he wasn't near his peak of 74-75, I think that's why so many other competitors were P'od. And Mike Mentzer was at his best form of all time(IMHO). So if you look at it from the point of view that you should improve each show, I can see why the other guys who had made improvements since the previous O would be mad if a guy won who actually took a step back.

[Zeneth]

Arnold dwarfed everybody else on stage and was leaner than ever. Sure, he wasn't at his best, but that's irrelevant - you're judged against your competition, not your physique from past years.


I've got a lot of respect for Bill but I'm flabbergasted he had him fifth. Who was ahead?

As for Mentzer, he liked to bitch and whine about Arnold's behavior for the following 2 decades. At the same time, he'd stoop to calling him a ''German son of a bitch,'' amongst other things.

[cramron]

Wow Ken Waller dropped out of his prime really fast! 16th PLACE WOW!

Ya Arnold was the best in 1980! Every single fiber of muscle was seperated from the next. He was incredibly shredded. His emaciated forearms were still much larger than Mentzers swollen beefy forearms. Arnold was just structurally too big to lose that contest.

[DavisForman]

As for Mentzer, he liked to bitch and whine about Arnold's behavior for the following 2 decades. At the same time, he'd stoop to calling him a ''German son of a bitch,'' amongst other things.

I can't even believe he thought he should have won.

1) Think about the judging back then. The two most important areas were Chest and Biceps, and Mentzer's chest was shameful. There's a number of natural guys on this forum with a better chest than he had. I think today, even with legs and back being so dominant, you would still be hard pressed to win an Olympia with a terrible chest. If Mike Mentzer had won, it would have been the most undeserved Olympia win in history.

2) He had a gut in the Golden Age of bodybuilding. In an era famous for streamline waists, how did he honestly expect to win when his stomach was further out than his chest? It amazes me how many people think he should have won.

[ste247]

It's mostly the cry babies like Shawn Ray and/or 2nd, 3rd, 4th place.

Shawn Ray beefed about the the 2001 Olympia I believe. He was a rule book dork. His argument was:

"Well Jay failed the diuretic test and took 2nd, Levrone didn't have a card and took 3rd so I should have been 2nd behind Ronnie" LOL

Most people don't know the rules. Weider seemed to make him up as he went along. Whatever could line his pockets the best was what he did.

I think that's what may have happened in 02, who knows though.

The refreshing thing to see is that Arnold, despite all the BS, WAS the better physique.

agreed in a interview this week on md were ray interviews levrone ray still bangs on about jay failing his diuretic test lol, he is juat bitter he got striped of his arnold title for failing the roids test lol........plus arnold won hands down in 1980 he wasnt at his best but deserved winner, mentzer did us all a favour by never compeating again in protest, i bet he regreted that decision later in life.

[Natural_O]

I've talked to a few people on IronAge as well as Bill Pearl and Boyer Coe and they said that Arnold's legs were so thin and underdeveloped at that contest, that they didn't think he deserved to win. I guess pictures and video don't tell the whole story.

[MrBest]

Agreed. I don't understand why people think it was such a big conspiracy. The original issue was that he missed the entree deadline but Weider still let him compete, and then somehow that turned into he didn't deserve winning.

he didnt deserve competing

[DavisForman]

he didnt deserve competing

Lol, troll much?

[lotus_esprit5]

I've talked to a few people on IronAge as well as Bill Pearl and Boyer Coe and they said that Arnold's legs were so thin and underdeveloped at that contest, that they didn't think he deserved to win. I guess pictures and video don't tell the whole story.

It's not just pics and vids, his legs did look pretty small at that show. Arnold's legs were never very thick but, if he took a step backwards in size at the 1980 Olympia, his leg development took two steps back. Although maybe they looked even worse in person. His back also lost more size than the rest of his body, I thought.


I do think Arnold deserved that win. When you see a pic of him posing by himself at that show he looks WAY smaller than he did in 74-75 and it does make you wonder how he could have won, but when you look at him next to the other top guys that year somehow he still looks better than anyone else. Mentzer looked better from the back, I thought, but other than that Arnold had him beat.

[Zeneth]

[Webb]

1 Arnold Schwarzenegger USA. Was he an american in 1980 ?

[purdey]

arnold wasnt as good as the 74 or 75 arnold, but he was still better than everyone at the 80, those pics prove it.

[heavy2healthy]

The abc wide world of sports was there filming it for tv. But they felt it was a fix and it was the last bodybuilding competition covered by a major tv channel and they never showed it. I had read that a while ago. But who knows its all so subjective.

[Natural_O]

The abc wide world of sports was there filming it for tv. But they felt it was a fix and it was the last bodybuilding competition covered by a major tv channel and they never showed it. I had read that a while ago. But who knows its all so subjective.

It was actually CBS but, you're right, they didn't air it.

[Natural_O]

1 Arnold Schwarzenegger USA. Was he an american in 1980 ?

He got his U.S. citizenship in '83.

[T3mpest]

He got his U.S. citizenship in '83.

seems like everytime people post pics from this show its Arnold standing relaxed. He's a few inches taller than everyone and is therefore bigger. He also was good at staying tight between poses. Anyway, bigger guys often look like winners until you see them actually flex next to one another, wide and tall does alot for basica appearance. I'd like to see the actual mandatories with them next to each other. Roger Walker looks better with the pic of him arnie and metzer next to each other. He's got enough height to match him in width, equal chest and better legs.