"At the 1970 Mr Olympia, the judges called Sergio Oliva and me together at the end of the evening. It was clear that the scores were close, and I was wondering, What can I do to convince the judges it's not close, and that I'm ahead of him?
I wasn't that convinced myself, but I had to psych myself up because he looked awesome. They called for us to free pose [posedown] together.
This was my last chance.
"We posed and posed. He'd hit a back shot, I'd hit a front lat spread. He'd come back with a thigh shot, I'd hit an arm shot. He'd throw in a side chest - all this stuff was flying around like crazy. Finally, Sergio leans over to me and says, 'I'm wiped out. Let's walk off' I said, 'You're right, this is too much' He waved [goodbye] to the crowd.
I made one step to the right [as if to leave the stage] and Sergio walked offstage to the left. I stayed onstage and gestured in his direction [as if to ask] 'Why is he leaving? Why is he surrendering? I hit some more shots and the crowd was chanting, 'Arnold! Arnold! Arnold! Then I bowed and walked offstage.
I became aware at that point in my career how quick improvisational tactics are crucial to winning a contest when it's close"
