Congratulations to the true 1980 Mr. Olympia winner Mike Mentzer!

[Danjo]

Arnold even at 80% still won that show. For me the film really tells without question he should have won. Everyone looked like crap next to him. Zane was ripped but to small. Dickerson looked fantastic but next to Arnold you couldn't give it to him. Danny looked good but he was to smooth. Mentzer didn't come in second or third or even forth. He was fifth in the contest. I know his fans a rabid but there is no way he should have won.

EXACTLY....I am a Mentzer fan but Arnold won fair and square...

[MCWAY]

Arnold totally destroyed Mentzer in '80.

Even if Arnold weren't there, Mentzer got beaten hands down by both Chris Dickerson and Frank Zane (who beat him previous year).

Mentzer just didn't have it, that day. No amount of revisionist history changes that. Mentzer would NOT HAVE BEEN MR. OLYMPIA, Arnold or no Arnold).

How do you lose to Zane and expect to beat Arnold?

[NarcissisticDeity]

Even if Arnold weren't there, Mentzer got beaten hands down by both Chris Dickerson and Frank Zane (who beat him previous year).

Mentzer just didn't have it, that day. No amount of revisionist history changes that. Mentzer would NOT HAVE BEEN MR. OLYMPIA, Arnold or no Arnold).

How do you lose to Zane and expect to beat Arnold?

I agree you can bitch & moan all you'd like about Arnold not being first but Mentzer sure as fuck wasn't

[Vince B]

I took a lot of photos at the 80 Olympia. B & W during the prejudging and colour slides at the evening show. I took one of Mike that could be used to support the argument that he was the best guy there. Trouble was Chris, Frank and Arnold looked better. Boyer posed to perfection. What can I say, there were several top contenders that year. As a spectator and photographer there is no way I would have placed Mike first. Dickerson was the inform guy and posed like a champion.

[andreisdaman]

I took a lot of photos at the 80 Olympia. B & W during the prejudging and colour slides at the evening show. I took one of Mike that could be used to support the argument that he was the best guy there. Trouble was Chris, Frank and Arnold looked better. Boyer posed to perfection. What can I say, there were several top contenders that year. As a spectator and photographer there is no way I would have placed Mike first. Dickerson was the inform guy and posed like a champion.

awesome pics of Mentzer

[Croatian]

awesome pics of Mentzer

Well Vince, I was at the Opera House too & Arnold's "victory" was a joke.
Australian suppose to be judges Frank Burwash & Jan Jansen, left early because they realized what was going on.
Jan told me that Paul Graham inform him 2 weeks before contest about Arnold's entry.
Actually apartheid's Mr.Olympia 1975 was more controversial, Serge Nubret as a black man simply could not win there.
Liked or not Reg Park (organizer of Olympia) was a part of that oppressive regime.

[FitnessFrenzy]

Mikes problems with alcohol and amphetamine have been well documented.  But why didnt anybody recognise that his self-destruction was imminent?Surely somone in the industry could see that this guy was spiralling out of control?  Just a pity that he could not have been saved from himself.

Mike is one of Pro Bodybuilding's nut-jobs!  Yes, a true and  intelligent nut-job!

They did not care.
Same as with everything else in the world. If you don't take care of yourself, nobody else will, unless they get paid to do it.

[Vince B]

Well Vince, I was at the Opera House too & Arnold's "victory" was a joke.
Australian suppose to be judges Frank Burwash & Jan Jansen, left early because they realized what was going on.
Jan told me that Paul Graham inform him 2 weeks before contest about Arnold's entry.
Actually apartheid's Mr.Olympia 1975 was more controversial, Serge Nubret as a black man simply could not win there.
Liked or not Reg Park (organizer of Olympia) was a part of that oppressive regime.

Neither Frank Burwash nor Jan Jansen judged the 80 Olympia. Neither did Peter McCarthy who was supposed to judge. I was standing with Frank and Peter at the Opera House just before the prejudging and someone told Pete the meeting had already began. He wasn't pleased to hear that and raced off to the meeting only to be told he was late so
would be used only as a spare judge! This was unadulterated bullshit. Peter was Mr Australia several times and well respected in Australia. Who did they use in his place? Young Brendan Ryan who won a controversial Junior Mr Australia. As it turned out Brendan put Arnold first and didn't tie anyone with him in any rounds. So Brendan's vote was very important in the results. Peter didn't put Arnold first and we will never know the outcome had they used him instead of Brendan. Brendan was mates with Arnold and I heard that he
stayed with Arnold in LA when he visited the states. Anyway, most of the judges were mates of Arnold....or business associates in the sense that they had put on shows where Arnold appeared.

After the show finished I didn't talk to many who thought Arnold was the winner. Guys from my gym favoured Chris Dickerson. Some of us went on the harbour cruise for competitors, judges, officials and guests. I met Joe Weider and talked to Casey Viator and many other champs. That was a great outing. Mentzer, Zane and a few other disgruntled competitors didn't show up. Robert Nailon drove Frank Zane back to their hotel but Christine told Robert Frank didn't want any company. So Robert missed the cruise, too, and he wasn't pleased about that. Arnold and Frank stayed at the downtown Hilton whereas most of the contestants were staying at a big hotel at Bondi Beach. Frank wouldn't stay there because of the cockroaches. They are huge in Australia and quite scary if you haven't seen them before.

I developed my photos of the pre-judging and after comparing everyone from the photos concluded that Arnold was the best. Not by much by just enough to justify his winning. To me bodybuilding was mostly about size with shape and aesthetics next. Arnold dwarfed everyone with his huge arms and chest. His calves were big, too. Then you had his reputation. So the unthinkable didn't happen in Sydney and it remains one of the most controversial contests even to this day. I have the original judges sheets somewhere but the results were published in the magazines so that isn't a secret. Danny Padilla impressed me in the photos and I wondered how he would have placed in a contest where they used photos because, size for size, he was the biggest and most proportionate guy there. As it was he wasn't placed in the top 6.

The trouble with the IFBB judging system is that they can correct small 'errors' in judging. How do they do that? Well, if a contest is close they can talk to judges between the judging and show and sometimes adjustments are made so that 'correct' results occur. The posedown is essentially a rejudging of the show and some judges have changed votes then. How anyone can judge guys is a posedown is a mystery to me but history shows that the posedown occasionally altered results from the pre-judging.

I knew about Arnold enterring weeks before the contest. We sold 200 tickets to the show and I had to visit Paul at home when he lived near Bondi.  

Peter McCarthy can be seen to the left of Mike's head in this photo. So he was at the meeting and could have been clued into what he missed.

[Vince B]

Examine the judges' results and you have to shake your head. Albert Busek should have been replaced because he literally wasn't separating the competitors. He gave out 17 maximum 20 scores in the three rounds. Something like 58 maximum 20 scores were handed out by the 7 judges over the three rounds. That isn't separating the competitors. Placings instead of points would have avoided the mess that resulted in the 80 Olympia. Ben tried to impress the Olympic committee by having this system. Over in England they already had a fair system in the NABBA Universe. We still have controversial contests to this day. Bill Pearl did win over Sergio at a Pro NABBA Universe so controvery does occur in England, too. The IFBB Olympia was controversial many, many times over the years. Mid seventies to 1982. Remember when Sergio wasn't allowed to compete in 1971? So on and so forth. Not anything the IFFB should be proud of. A total revamp of the organization would help but the whole shebang is too far gone to reverse the damage done over the years.

Arnold, Chris, Frank, Boyer, Mike, Roger, Roy, Dennis and even Ed Corney scored at least one perfect 20 score in the contest. What does that tell us? It was a close contest. Any one of the finalists could have won.

[Figo]

Coe got a gift IMO

Dickerson looked great

Mentzer looked fantastic by himself, when compared, his flaws stood out

Zane, although I'm a big fan, shouldve pulled out after the accident, and come back strong in 81. Its a pity, because he was in phenomenal shape and bigger than ever, even with the 'fix' , he may have just looked too good for an underpar arnie.

Arnold is arnold, it is what it is. He sells. He put bbing on the map, and made weider rich

[Jon Harridan]

Mentzer should indeed have won.

[MB]

1980 was made into a big deal because Arnold was involved, but Franco's win in '81 was more controversial. 

[kimo]

yes size mattered too much back ten . arnold lacked professionalism at that show . his arms were great but i dint agree he was as good as 1975 .. in 1975 he already played catch up and came in lighter than usual to win . at 226 pounds he was still great . in 1980 . he had his reputation . no surprising he was booed . arms and chest .. his chest was not as great as usual either . but nobody among the finalist dickerson mentzer or zane had a great side chest either . coe was a bit better here ..he was lucky this time . it was 32 years ago ....

[NarcissisticDeity]

yes size mattered too much back ten . arnold lacked professionalism at that show . his arms were great but i dint agree he was as good as 1975 .. in 1975 he already played catch up and came in lighter than usual to win . at 226 pounds he was still great . in 1980 . he had his reputation . no surprising he was booed . arms and chest .. his chest was not as great as usual either . but nobody among the finalist dickerson mentzer or zane had a great side chest either . coe was a bit better here ..he was lucky this time . it was 32 years ago ....

Arnold wasn't competing against Arnold 1974/1975 that's irrelevant 

[oldtimer1]

That's why I'm a fan of Olympic lifting and running. The winner lifts more and the fastest comes in first.

[Dr.Mabuse]

That's why I'm a fan of Olympic lifting and running. The winner lifts more and the fastest comes in first.

Even that can be controversial.

Remember the Olympic Press?  In the end it looked more like a standing Incline Press.

...Or in swimming, with the competitors that wear special swim suits to reduce drag/resistance.  Now everyone wears them, but is it fair?

Seen the shoes that the modern day sprinter wears?  Put them on a competitor from 50 years ago along with today's accurate timing equipment and I wonder how much we have really progressed!

Back to the topic at hand.  IMHO: I think Arnold should have won, but Mentzer was robbed being put in 5th.  He should have been pushing Arnold for the top spot!

[andreisdaman]

Even that can be controversial.

Remember the Olympic Press?  In the end it looked more like a standing Incline Press.

...Or in swimming, with the competitors that wear special swim suits to reduce drag/resistance.  Now everyone wears them, but is it fair?

Seen the shoes that the modern day sprinter wears?  Put them on a competitor from 50 years ago along with today's accurate timing equipment and I wonder how much we have really progressed!

Back to the topic at hand.  IMHO: I think Arnold should have won, but Mentzer was robbed being put in 5th.  He should have been pushing Arnold for the top spot!

I agree with this...but to me its kind of irrelevant..I think the real issue is SHOULD ARNOLD HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO COMPETE IN THE FIRST PLACE???...didn't he pull some strings to get into the competition???

[gracie bjj]

1980 was made into a big deal because Arnold was involved, but Franco's win in '81 was more controversial. 

no doubt about franco,s win being shady, franco was the man in the 70,s but he looked horrible in 81. besides his bitch tits his legs look like spaghetti standing next to the golden eagle.

[ARNIE1947]

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[ARNIE1947]

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[ARNIE1947]

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[Pet shop boys]

About the booing at the 80 Olympia. When Arnold was announced the winner there was a lot of booing but there was also cheering. The booing faded and the cheering continued. Arnold was very popular in Sydney. A lot of bodybuilders weren't happy with the result. I gave the contest to Arnold and it was confirmed after looking at all the photos I took at the judging and evening show. He had the best arms and chest and his back and calves looked good, too. Only his thighs let him down a bit. Dickerson had small arms. Zane wasn't very big. Coe had few abs. Mentzer had a gut in some poses. Walker was blocky. Callender wasn't as sharp as he was in 79. Tinerino was perhaps the hardest guy but somehow wasn't near the top. Danny was the biggest, size for size, but was totally overlooked and never compared. Platz was weak in his upper body. Waller wasn't that cut. And so it goes.......Arnold first and the rest second.

Interesting and valuable view , thanks.




WOOOOOSSSSSHHHHHHHHH

[gracie bjj]

although arnold was about 85% of the 75 arnold, it was still good enough to win that day imo

[Figo]

1980 was made into a big deal because Arnold was involved, but Franco's win in '81 was more controversial. 

the contest promoter arranged a nice little show for franco

[_bruce_]

Great info Vince!