In 1967 Sergio Oliva, one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever grace the sport, won the Mr. Olympia. The previous two years Larry Scott had won the title but, following Scott’s retirement, the floor was open for Oliva to step into the spotlight.
The Cuban bodybuilder, and former Olympic weightlifter, was himself new to the Olympia fold. The previous year he competed in the Olympia but failed to dethrone the competition’s first Champion, Scott. 1967 was, however, the year of the ‘Myth’.
Only four years into his bodybuilding career, a point I’ve written about elsewhere, Oliva’s win in 1967 was the first of his three Olympia titles. What makes 1967 extra special is that, for many decades, footage of the competition was lost. If you check out Youtube and other sites what you will find is plenty of images but no video footage. For a sport like bodybuilding, the lack of video evidence makes it difficult for us to understand one’s overall presentation on stage. Heck even early 1900s physical culturists, Eugen Sandow and George Hackenschmidt, have leftover videos we can access.
Last month Jarret Hulse from the Ironhistory forum rediscovered footage from the 1967 Olympia. It is downright marvelous. I have written a lot on this website about my love of the Ironhistory forums. The members there have always been supportive and I would encourage you all to check it out. It is the world’s largest forum for the history of the Iron Game. Below you can check out the first few minutes of the footage which features legends like Oliva, Harold Poole, Frank Zane and many others. Enjoy!
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Professor!
This is like someone leaking unreleased mixtapes. but for history junkies. Nonetheless, I could definitely understand the magic of bodybuilding back then —
Just to add context It was not until the UFC brought MMA to the world stage did people get familiar with all the different styles of fighting, and that was in the 90’s. There’s this constant evolution for it to this day.
But just imagine the thinking of an individual going to their first bodybuilding show and it’s Oliva that they see.
Great Content!
Haha that is so on the money! I cannot imagine the awe seeing Sergio in the flesh would have brought
Thanks for the shout out Conor! I was (and still am) pretty excited myself.
He is really great. Thanks for Sharing!