1980 and 1981 saw the most controversial events at the prestigious bodybuilding competition, Mr. Olympia. In 1980, Arnold Schwarzenegger won the Mr. Olympia after he had taken a retirement from bodybuilding in 1975 and shifted to Hollywood. None of the bodybuilders knew Arnold would be competing again.
After the disappointing 1980 Mr. Olympia for other bodybuilders, in a turn of events, the 1981 Mr. Olympia was no different. The 1981 competition witnessed Schwarzenegger’s best friend, Franco Columbu, winning the prestigious title. Mr. Olympia’s favorites, such as Frank Zane, Mike Mentzer, and Boyer Coe, boycotted the 1981 Mr. Olympia. However, after all of this, what went down for fan favorite Mike Mentzer?
In a recently resurfaced video of Mike Mentzer, he is seen talking about the 1980 and 1981 Mr. Olympia. He spoke about the controversies that led him to retire from competitive bodybuilding. During the 1981 Mr. Olympia that Mentzer boycotted, it was clear to everyone that Columbu did not deserve to win. Instead, Danny Padilla, Roy Callender, and Tom Platz were favorites to win the prestigious title.
“Everybody was telling me, Franco would win, obviously, ’cause Arnold is his buddy. And I said, No, there’s no way they’re going to be two years in a row, it be a slack on the face.”
When Franco came onto the stage, he had no cuts on his leg at all. His upper body was fantastic, and his arms were better than ever, but his posing wasn’t that great. The audience did not applaud him, and when the winners were announced, the dissatisfied audience started leaving and booed the event.
Mr. Universe, Dennis Tinerino, also opened up on the issue and how Mr. Olympia was judged unfairly for two years in a row. With this fiasco, most people started to feel the Mr. Olympia contest did not mean anything anymore. After all this, Mike Mentzer announced his retirement from bodybuilding, as he had seen enough.
After his retirement, Mr. America/Mr. Universe, Danny Padilla, opened up about what Mentzer felt about the sport and his advice to him. According to Danny, Mentzer always wanted to revolutionize the sport of bodybuilding that he loved the most.
Padilla suggested to Mike that the best way to get even was to win the competition, as he had the power and the physique to do it all. Mentzer, however, couldn’t accept it. The sport he loved the most, all of a sudden became evil instead of his home.
“The fact that two years in a row, the sport that he loved the most, to him, it was like it was like denigrated. It was like, how could they do this to bodybuilding? It really f***ed him up to the point where he lost total respect for the sport.”
Moreover, Menter said that people are starting to control the sport. They didn’t see it as a sport in itself but as a bonanza to be capitalized on through fitness and training in general. The interest was not in developing the sport but more in making it commercial. Mentzer, who worked with CBS and ABC as well, once disclosed how commercially dominant the sport of bodybuilding had become.
“I’m not stupid enough to think that the pulse of bodybuilding is going to skip a beat just because Mike Mentzer’s gone.”
Furthermore, Menzter added that he did not want to dampen the enthusiasm of young bodybuilders. To Mike, bodybuilding is the greatest sport in the world. You can gain a lot from it, like improving one’s character and helping you teach discipline and self-control.
It teaches you that the only things that are worthwhile in life are gained through personal effort and sweat. Mike, however, was always open about his feelings. He said what he felt was right, even about the sport he loved.
“I don’t accept this tacit code that most other top bodybuilders have, in which they believe that we should never say anything negative about the sport. No matter what it is, if that continues to be the orienting philosophy of those involved in the sport, then the sport will, in fact, die.”
Tom Platz, a colleague of Mike Mentzer, once shared one of the reasons for his sudden demise
Tom Platz, having shared the stage alongside stalwarts like Mike Mentzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Frank Zane, knew a lot about behind-the-scenes rivalries. He once shared the reason behind Mentzer’s sudden demise. One reason was the contrast between workout methodologies. Schwarzenegger preferred a six-day workout, whereas Mentzer opined to have it for just 2 or 3 days.
Schwarzenegger’s approach later saw criticism in print, and some witnesses shared the backroom arguments of Arnold against Mentzer. Platz stated that they made up years later. He also added that the other reason could be that he carried anger with him at all times, as he thought he had lost the championship title multiple times even though he was the best suited for it.
