the infamous 1980 Mr. O

[YAMBOLAN]

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.

...And Boyer had underdeveloped back and delts,Mentzer-underdeveloped pecs,Dickerson-underdeveloped arms and Zane was underdeveloped everywhere.So,even though Arnold had his flaws everyone else had theirs too and he was still the clear winner IMHO.
I understand why the others were pissed though,they prepared hard for that contest and then,all of a sudden Arnold came out and humiliated them by winning with only 8 weeks of training after 5 years of retirement.

[Youngshredder]

Bump

[Salden]

" Arnold was booth by over 40% of the 2000 fans in the opera house "

I have the video from this contest but did not hear the boos , only cheers by the crowd....
Bill Pearl was never an Arnold fan.

Mike was in the prime of his carreer, but not the best
Arnold dwarfed him.

[KevinSorbo]

lmao @ any idiot thinking Mentzer should have won..nice gut and lack of pecs Mentzer.. Im convinced that the whole "controversy" story was made up as a conspiracy theory because Arnold is miles ahead of everyone else at that competition in both the videos and the pictures. Looks like the other guys were just jealous that they hadnt progressed in 5 years and couldnt beat an 80% Arnold.

[FAN0FdaSport]

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.

ahahahaha

haha

[gomez26]

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.

in the film total rebuild pearl speaks before the contest saying how he doesnt think arnold should win because the sport has moved forward in 5yrs etc. so he clearly made up his mind before he even stepped onstage which shows his prejudice. not surprising, since he was prepping the runner up.

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.

i really cant believe how ppl can make such statements, choosing to believe the 'opinion' of those with conflicting interests over both photo & video evidence. i know ppl can have bad/good photos etc but with video as well together with a large number of photos to compare we can get a good idea of what went on. yes it was clear arnold was not as huge as he was in the past (which is what his enemies focus on) & his legs were not his strong point. but its also clear from the evidence that he has the best overall package.

[Natural_O]

in the film total rebuild pearl speaks before the contest saying how he doesnt think arnold should win because the sport has moved forward in 5yrs etc. so he clearly made up his mind before he even stepped onstage which shows his prejudice. not surprising, since he was prepping the runner up.


i really cant believe how ppl can make such statements, choosing to believe the 'opinion' of those with conflicting interests over both photo & video evidence. i know ppl can have bad/good photos etc but with video as well together with a large number of photos to compare we can get a good idea of what went on. yes it was clear arnold was not as huge as he was in the past (which is what his enemies focus on) & his legs were not his strong point. but its also clear from the evidence that he has the best overall package.

If you're talking about me making the statements, I always thought Arnold looked like the winner from the pictures and video I saw. However, I have talked to many people who were there including Bill Pearl, Boyer Coe, Samir Bannout, photographers, etc. ALL of them told me Arnold should not have won. Samir was really smooth at that show and he was not close to being in the finals but he told me Arnold shouldn't have been in the top five. He said Arnold was his hero but he was small and smooth that day.

[DavisForman]

If you're talking about me making the statements, I always thought Arnold looked like the winner from the pictures and video I saw. However, I have talked to many people who were there including Bill Pearl, Boyer Coe, Samir Bannout, photographers, etc. ALL of them told me Arnold should not have won. Samir was really smooth at that show and he was not close to being in the finals but he told me Arnold shouldn't have been in the top five. He said Arnold was his hero but he was small and smooth that day.

Then how did he win if no one thought he should have been first?

[Olle111]

He had ****ing 2 inches deeper chest wtf...

[Shortfuze]

Arnold and Mentzer almost got physical in the 1980 Olympia.

[Natural_O]

Then how did he win if no one thought he should have been first?

Most of the judges were good friends of his. Here is my article about the contest including the judges scores -

http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/joh...revisited.html

[KevinSorbo]

Most of the judges were good friends of his. Here is my article about the contest including the judges scores -

http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/joh...revisited.html

how do you account for Arnold dominating the lineup in every single picture and video from pretty much every single angle and pose?

[FAN0FdaSport]

This is the funniest controversy I have ever heard of. To think that so many full grown men would be in such denial of losing something so horribly.

[DavisForman]

Most of the judges were good friends of his. Here is my article about the contest including the judges scores -

http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/joh...revisited.html

Friends or not, he deserved to win.

I'm so tired of hearing this 'pictures and videos don't tell the true story' crap. Sure, maybe we aren't getting a perfect 3D look, but Arnold is dominating the lineup from every single angle. I haven't seen a single comparison where Arnold didn't look like the clear Mr. Olympia. What would seeing it live have done for my point of view? Would Mentzer no longer have a gut and suddenly grow a chest that could rival Arnold's? Obviously not.

This whole conspiracy theory is nothing more than a myth. Arnold upset a whole lot of people by coming back to competition, his fellow competitor's were pissed that they weren't going to win, he added insult to injury by playing his mind games before the show, and when he finally did win, these ridiculous myths came out, most spawned by they very same competitor's that he beat.

Arnold was not 100% in 1980, but he was still better than everyone else on that stage and that is all that matters.

[flangmasterj]

Arnold and Mentzer almost got physical in the 1980 Olympia.

Ken 'Got yo t-shirt!' Waller had his back.

[mikieson]

in some cases you can argue about who should have won. Yates,Coleman era..BUT in this contest, there is NO contest at all. It didnt matter if the judges were Arnolds family and friends or complete strangers. HE WON no questions about it. Anyone that does not see this is blind..

[Zeneth]

It isn't even like it is a close call. Arnold dwarfed the entire lineup.

I think the ''controversy'' all stems from the fact a guy who had been retired from competition for 5 years and had barely had any time to train was still able to wipe the floor with the top guys. It looks bad on the sport and the level of the competitors so it suited a lot of people to claim some sort of fix.

[lee4]

has arnie himself ever addressed this looking back?

[FAN0FdaSport]

has arnie himself ever addressed this looking back?

Yeah, check it out!

[roybatty6]

Arnold wins.

I am biased, as he stayed with my uncle/aunt when he was over for the 80 Olympia.

[BartPimpson]

Arnold wins.

I am biased, as he stayed with my uncle/aunt when he was over for the 80 Olympia.

Awesome! Do you have any pics?

[roybatty6]

Awesome! Do you have any pics?

Yeah mate just posted one on my FB.

[flangmasterj]

Yeah mate just posted one on my FB.

Cool.......can we see it please?

[roybatty6]

Cool.......can we see it please?

Here you go brah.

Here is Arnold and my Aunt.

This was taken at my Uncles gym.

[FAN0FdaSport]

Cool pic

Was that around the time of the olympia? Arnold's face doesn't look sunken like the show pics

[roybatty6]

Cool pic

Was that around the time of the olympia? Arnold's face doesn't look sunken like the show pics

Dunno how long he was out here for.

[flangmasterj]

Here you go brah.

Here is Arnold and my Aunt.

This was taken at my Uncles gym.

Very cool. Thanks.

[Natural_O]

Friends or not, he deserved to win.

I'm so tired of hearing this 'pictures and videos don't tell the true story' crap. Sure, maybe we aren't getting a perfect 3D look, but Arnold is dominating the lineup from every single angle. I haven't seen a single comparison where Arnold didn't look like the clear Mr. Olympia. What would seeing it live have done for my point of view? Would Mentzer no longer have a gut and suddenly grow a chest that could rival Arnold's? Obviously not.

This whole conspiracy theory is nothing more than a myth. Arnold upset a whole lot of people by coming back to competition, his fellow competitor's were pissed that they weren't going to win, he added insult to injury by playing his mind games before the show, and when he finally did win, these ridiculous myths came out, most spawned by they very same competitor's that he beat.

Arnold was not 100% in 1980, but he was still better than everyone else on that stage and that is all that matters.

Hey, I'm a HUGE Arnold fan and I always thought he looked like the winner too from the video and pictures I've seen. I wasn't there though and most of the people who I talked to who WERE there said he didn't deserve to win. Some of them were competitors and some were not. I'm just repeating what I heard. I was at the 1981 Mr. Olympia where Franco won, Tom Platz was third and Danny Padilla was 5th. Most of the people who see pictures from that show think Padilla should have won. I was at the show and Platz was definitely the winner all the way. Danny was ripped and super lean but he looked almost gaunt in person and didn't have the impact that Platz did. Some people who only see the pictures see it in a different way so being at the show in person does give you a different perspective.

[YAMBOLAN]

in the film total rebuild pearl speaks before the contest saying how he doesnt think arnold should win because the sport has moved forward in 5yrs etc. so he clearly made up his mind before he even stepped onstage which shows his prejudice. not surprising, since he was prepping the runner up.


i really cant believe how ppl can make such statements, choosing to believe the 'opinion' of those with conflicting interests over both photo & video evidence. i know ppl can have bad/good photos etc but with video as well together with a large number of photos to compare we can get a good idea of what went on. yes it was clear arnold was not as huge as he was in the past (which is what his enemies focus on) & his legs were not his strong point. but its also clear from the evidence that he has the best overall package.

I have talked to many people who were there including Bill Pearl, Boyer Coe, Samir Bannout, photographers, etc. ALL of them told me Arnold should not have won.

I recall reading interviews with Roy Callender(who placed seventh that day),Robert Nailon(one of the photograpfers) and various forum statements from Vince Basile(also photographer at the contest).ALL of them stated that Arnold deserved to win.
Anyway,the other competitors should have been rather happy instead of jealous that Arnold won in 80.If he lost he would have come back again in 81,this time at his best and would have wipe the floor with all of them.

[JPL79]

Contests in the modern era are close, this 1980 contest is not. Arnold made these guys look inferior. Clearly, they were all mad simply because they were beaten by a guy 5 years retired.

I always said it was too bad Arnold retired so early. He would likely be an 11 time Mr. Olympia assuming he would've won '76-'79 and retired after '80. That's nuts. And a record that would have held forever. Instead, Arnold's early retirement handed two other men the chance to hold the record, which stands at 8.