Bodybuilding history: 5 major controversies

Bodybuilding history is about more than stage lights, muscle mass and trophies. It has always had its share of disputes, disgruntled athletes, fractured alliances and decisions still debated years later. Here are five old but revealing episodes from a longer list of controversies compiled by Flex magazine.

Why is bodybuilding history so heated?

Bodybuilding is an unusual sport because winning does not simply come down to the kilos on a bar or crossing a finish line. Onstage, competitors are judged on their physique, symmetry, dryness, posing and overall impression. That means those on the losing side can always ask: did the judges see what the audience saw?

That is precisely how major controversies arise. Some begin with a single pose onstage. Others start at a meeting where someone wants to overhaul the existing system. Others still unfold in a courtroom, because in bodybuilding’s early days, bare skin and physical education were even considered dangerous practices.

Honestly, these stories are interesting even if you do not know every name by heart. They show how much the sport has changed and how sport, business and ego can collide in very human ways.

Bodybuilding history and five famous controversies

15. Kal Szkalak and the “crucifixion” pose

Kal Szkalak was one of the most talked-about names in the second half of the 1970s. He burst onto the scene in 1976 when, at 23, he won the AUU Mr. America title. The following year, he also won the heavyweight Mr. Universe title, defeating Mike Mentzer.

His legs were not considered among the best in the sport, but his upper body was impressive. That earned him a place among the standout bodybuilders of the “disco years.” In 1978, Szkalak tried to establish an association for professional bodybuilders, but the plan fell through. That same year, he competed at Mr. Olympia and placed fifth.

When his placing was announced, Szkalak reacted immediately. He adopted the pose of Jesus on the cross: feet together, arms outstretched to either side and head drooping to one side. He later explained that he felt the bodybuilding establishment had crucified him. Translator’s note: as I understand it, he felt his placing was unfair.

Szkalak never competed in the IFBB again. It was his first and last IFBB professional contest. He was 25 at the time.

14. Jay Cutler narrowly lost to Ronnie Coleman

The 2001 Mr. Olympia was one of those evenings when the audience sensed a major change was coming. For the previous three years, it had seemed that no one could dethrone Ronnie Coleman. Yet after the first two rounds, Jay Cutler was ahead on points.

Cutler brought tremendous mass and very good muscle separation to the stage. After the first two rounds, he held a six-point lead that already seemed almost decisive. Word was spreading that a new Mr. Olympia was about to be crowned.

On the evening of the finals, Coleman turned things around. He won both the posing round and the “posedown,” narrowly relegating Cutler to second place. Some were happy; others were angry. The simple truth is that a result like this stays with bodybuilding fans for a long time.

13. A swift end to a new professional league

Athletes and officials gathered shortly before the Florida Pro Xtreme Challenge, held on 1 May 2004. Wayne DeMilia, then the Mr. Olympia promoter and vice president of the IFBB professional league, wanted to make a major move: separate the professional league from the IFBB.

The new organization would have brought together professional bodybuilders, some officials and promoters. The idea sounded ambitious, but reality proved harsher. This house of cards collapsed within days.

Even three weeks later, at Night Of Champions, some supporters were still wearing T-shirts bearing the words “Pro Division.” But DeMilia had already lost his position. He was out of the IFBB, and his plan never really got off the ground.

12. Bernarr MacFadden was arrested

By today’s standards, bodybuilding’s early history was surprisingly fraught. At the beginning of the twentieth century, pioneering bodybuilding promoter Bernarr MacFadden was arrested twice. The first arrest was on an obscenity charge.

In 1905, Madison Square Garden hosted one of the first bodybuilding shows. Men and women there dared to reveal a little more than just their arms and legs. That was enough to get the event shut down. It sounds strange today, but society viewed the human body very differently at the time.

The second arrest came in 1907, when MacFadden published an article about sexually transmitted diseases in his magazine “Macfadden’s Physical Culture.” He was convicted of writing and publishing obscene material and sentenced to two years of hard labor. He appealed the decision. When the case became a national scandal, President William Howard Taft apologized to him in 1909 for what had happened.

11. Joe Weider versus Bob Hoffman

The fiercest battle in bodybuilding was not fought between two athletes in posing trunks. It was fought between two businessmen in suits. On one side were Joe Weider and the IFBB; on the other, Bob Hoffman and the AUU.

Their war of words dragged on, accompanied by a string of lawsuits. At the height of the feud in the mid-fifties, Hoffman went so far as to print insults and post them in public. All kinds of vicious allegations were made, including claims that Weider was a communist stooge.

By the early sixties, however, the Weiders had won the war. They secured their place in bodybuilding history, and the IFBB grew into a force with worldwide influence.

What do these stories from bodybuilding history teach us?

So what actually happens when an athlete feels they have been judged unfairly on stage? Usually, a story lives on. Sometimes, so does the hurt. Kal Szkalak’s pose was both a protest and a piece of theater, but it worked because everyone understood what he meant.

The Cutler–Coleman controversy shows another side of the sport. In bodybuilding, the same physique can strike different judges in different ways. One sees mass, another sees dryness, a third sees command of the stage. That does not make the sport any simpler, but it does make it tense.

The DeMilia case is a reminder that sport is not just sport. Organizations, power, money and influence all play a part. To change an old system, you need more than a good idea. You also need support.

A practical look at past bodybuilding controversies

These stories are worth reading without rushing to judgment. Some of the people involved were products of their time. Some were simply very stubborn. Some were defending their businesses, others their pride as athletes.

If you look at bodybuilding today, the same issues are still there: judging decisions, the balance of power between leagues, athletes’ rights and public trust. The stage, the cameras and the speed of social media have changed. The human side is much the same.

To be continued…

FAQ

Why is there so much controversy in bodybuilding?

Because the result depends on the judges’ assessments. Conditioning, proportions, stage presence and posing cannot be measured as precisely as running times or the weight lifted in weightlifting.

Was the 2001 Mr. Olympia result unfair?

That is still debated today. Jay Cutler led after the first two rounds, but Ronnie Coleman gained the edge he needed in the finals and won.

Why do old bodybuilding stories matter today?

They help you understand how the sport has grown. Bodybuilding history shows that there has always been as much drama backstage as on stage.

Translated by: Janar Rückenberg

Source:Turg.Fitness.ee

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