Sergio Oliva - High Quality Sergio Oliva PICS You May Not Have Seen!!!

[Bosch]

1981? Sergio and Robby

That's some long ass arms and enormous triceps on Sergio.
Man won genetic jackpot.

[gracie bjj]

That's some long ass arms and enormous triceps on Sergio.
Man won genetic jackpot.

sergio said his muscle bellies and insertions where so long and full he couldnt flex his bicep fully,he could only flex his arm halfway in the double overhead double bicep pose ,i agree about the genetic jackpot,God musta been drunk when he was molding Sergio and didnt realize he poured to much Testosterone and Growth Hormone into him

[funk51]

i still dont know how pearl beat oliva in 1972,sergio is better imo.even a young arnold is better than pearl at his best

arthur jones wrote an article about that contest pondering that same question how pearl won. no one would publish it. pearl's account was that sergio unknowingly disrespected one of the judges.

[funk51]

Robby didn't like Weider at all due to the whole Weider bust debacle, Sergio wasn't fond of him, and Serge didn't like him either.
that's four dudes right there with issues with Weider...makes you wonder.

[kimo]

sergio problem was that he was often too smooth they said . average posing .in yop shape like he was in 1972 in germany and a couple of other times he was amazing

[Ronnie Rep]

Line up of Bodybuilding legends.

[Galvatron]

Sergio was great but many times he would come in soft. But he also had injuries that held him back, for example already before he was shot by his wife he had a gunshot wound on his arm. Later on shoulder injuries etc.

[Howard]

Ok, that's funny but c'mon.
Why is it anytime a classic, vintage BB pic is posted, some douche chimes in with how gay it looks?wtf

I swear , if I didn't know better I'd think these getbiggers were total closet cases...oh, wait a min

[oldgolds]

I walked about a mile through a Chicago ghetto to see Sergio train at the Duncan Y(1967)....Did this 3 days in a row, and he mostly just slept on the incline board..

[Galvatron]

I walked about a mile through a Chicago ghetto to see Sergio train at the Duncan Y(1967)....Did this 3 days in a row, and he mostly just slept on the incline board..

Can you tell us some more about what his workouts looked like?

[oldtimer1]

Here's some stuff off the top of my head about him.

Many don't know that he won his Olympia titles while working long hard hours doing manual labor. He was a cop later on. He wasn't a special or class II cop like Coleman but a regular cop. Oliva was always a working man. In Cuba he worked the sugar cane fields and he was in the army.He escaped Cuba being on the Olympic weightlifting team when he was very young. They had a meet in Jamaica and he ran for it when he saw an American embassy. He also was shot twice. One I can't confirm in Cuba where he was shot in the arm in the military. You can see a huge scar in many of the pictures. The second is confirmed when his wife took his service revolver and shot him point blank range with a 158 grain hollow point plus P .38 special in the stomach.  

When he first came to America he competed in the AAU Mr. America but back then even when he was justified in winning they never let a black bodybuilder win and he wasn't going to be the first. They also had to Olympic lift the day of the contest  to get athletic points to prove they weren't mirror athletes. Of course he had no trouble with that.  

He competed for so many years in various states of condition. A few of those years around 72 or so he was insane. So few pictures are around of him at his peak. I search the internet but I can't find the pictures I'm searching for. In one interview I have in one of my old magazines he said his top competing weight was 254lbs. Most say 230 something but that's what he said. They also credit him with being 5'10" but a few around him said he was more like 5'8". What's the truth? I don't know. All I know is that he was huge with a tiny waist. He was the myth.

[oldtimer1]

Sergio the cop.

[oldtimer1]

Olympic lifting for athletic points in the AAU Mr. America contest?

[oldtimer1]

Sergio the first time he saw a getbigger.

[oldtimer1]

Front lat

[oldtimer1]

A smooth Sergio losing to a huge ripped Bill Pearl. Shortly after this Sergio took his physique to another level. 

[oldtimer1]

Sergio toward the end of his long career of competing.

[Vince B]

Here's some stuff off the top of my head about him.

Many don't know that he won his Olympia titles while working long hard hours doing manual labor. He was a cop later on. He wasn't a special or class II cop like Coleman but a regular cop. Oliva was always a working man. In Cuba he worked the sugar cane fields and he was in the army.He escaped Cuba being on the Olympic weightlifting team when he was very young. They had a meet in Jamaica and he ran for it when he saw an American embassy. He also was shot twice. One I can't confirm in Cuba where he was shot in the arm in the military. You can see a huge scar in many of the pictures. The second is confirmed when his wife took his service revolver and shot him point blank range with a 158 grain hollow point plus P .38 special in the stomach.  

When he first came to America he competed in the AAU Mr. America but back then even when he was justified in winning they never let a black bodybuilder win and he wasn't going to be the first. They also had to Olympic lift the day of the contest  to get athletic points to prove they weren't mirror athletes. Of course he had no trouble with that.  

He competed for so many years in various states of condition. A few of those years around 72 or so he was insane. So few pictures are around of him at his peak. I search the internet but I can't find the pictures I'm searching for. In one interview I have in one of my old magazines he said his top competing weight was 254lbs. Most say 230 something but that's what he said. They also credit him with being 5'10" but a few around him said he was more like 5'8". What's the truth? I don't know. All I know is that he was huge with a tiny waist. He was the myth.

I had Sergio and Arleen in my gym in 1981. I knew that relationship wouldn't last. The only thing they had in common seemed to be bodybuilding. But, what do I know? Sergio was taller than me and I am 5' 9 1/2". He liked to wear these boots with heels that made him over 6 feet. Quite the impressive man on or off the stage. I think he claimed to weigh about 240 with a small waist. He got 'beat' by his mate Bob Gajda for the AAU Mr America in 1966. In those days they had an interview and I imagine Sergio lost points because he was Spanish speaking. Chris Dickerson in 1970 was the first black to win the prestigious Mr America title. Sergio badly wanted that title so insisted he enter the IFBB version much to the dismay of the other guys. He won the Mr America and Mr Universe titles that day and never looked back.

Then along came Arnold and Sergio started losing a few contests. Arnold was a smarter operator and we now see how that made a huge difference in those days. I have watched the scene for over 55 years and the controversies never end. However, it sure was a pity that racial prejudice stopped plenty of black guys from winning titles in America in those days. They could do okay in the NABBA Mr Universe in London. Yet even there things were not always fair. Many believe Bill Pearl was given a gift when he won over Sergio for the Universe professional title.

Sergio was an interesting guy. He figured if you were the best you should win the title. He didn't kiss ass and didn't think he had to. He conveniently got booted out of the IFBB which helped Arnold win year after year. It didn't help the sport and what was supposed to be an open contest for the top guys in bodybuilding soon turned into something that reeks of favouritism and who knows what else? Nothing has changed and controversies continue and will be with us for as long as the same people run the sport cult pageants.

I Photoshopped Sergio on One Mile Beach in Forster a few hours north of Sydney. Aussies pronounce it Foster.

[Vince B]

A smooth Sergio losing to a huge ripped Bill Pearl. Shortly after this Sergio took his physique to another level.  

I don't agree. Bill was hardly that defined, either. One curious thing about Pearl's condition is that he seldom had any cuts in his thighs.

When they posed Sergio was clearly superior and much bigger and had a better taper.

The celebrated French judge claimed that Sergio's head was too small so he placed Bill above him. Gotta feel for hapless Sergio.

[SomeKindofMonster]

I think Sergio was great but not the best genetics of all time.
In most of his pictures his back is relatively shallow and his back lat spread
was not that great.
There are a few pics where his back looks great but in the majority
it is not that impressive.
His did have some of the greatest genetics for delts though.
No site injections back then just humongous delts that Ronnie couldn't
match until site injections.
His arms were huge but lacked a great deal of separation.
His structure was near perfect for BB and besides a lack of great conditioning
everything else is true but a less than stellar back is a huge flaw.
Just going through google his back shots account for about 10% of the pictures
and ther's a reason for that.

[gracie bjj]

Can you tell us some more about what his workouts looked like?

yea man im thinking the same thing,i wanna hear more about what exercises sergio did,how he trained,his personallity ect,the more info the better

[gracie bjj]

I think Sergio was great but not the best genetics of all time.
In most of his pictures his back is relatively shallow and his back lat spread
was not that great.
There are a few pics where his back looks great but in the majority
it is not that impressive.
His did have some of the greatest genetics for delts though.
No site injections back then just humongous delts that Ronnie couldn't
match until site injections.
His arms were huge but lacked a great deal of separation.
His structure was near perfect for BB and besides a lack of great conditioning
everything else is true but a less than stellar back is a huge flaw.
Just going through google his back shots account for about 10% of the pictures
and ther's a reason for that.

i have to disagree about sergios back looking shallow in any shots,and he prolly had the sickest rear lat spread even to this day.over all sergios back especially around the 1972 was insanely good,arnold even said that when he saw sergio the first time and sergio walked by him arnold couldnt believe his own eyes on the width and thickness of sergios back,he said sergio hid his body under along butchers coat and didnt look that big at all,then sergio said to arnold"take a look at this shot after he took off the butchers coat and arnold said right then and there it was over,arnold said sergio beat him before the contest even started. arnold even looked at franco and said "it musta been the lighting to make him look that wide ,right? franco was in awe himself and neither could say a word just stand there in AWE of the man they called the MYTH.i think it was 69 that happened also,it was when arnold won the universe and sergio was entering the MR O,sergio beat the young austrian oak mentally and physically that year.arnold learned a lesson in the real meaning of mental warfair in bodybuilding that year

[gracie bjj]

Ok, that's funny but c'mon.
Why is it anytime a classic, vintage BB pic is posted, some douche chimes in with how gay it looks?wtf

I swear , if I didn't know better I'd think these getbiggers were total closet cases...oh, wait a min

i agree howard,these classic shots and stories about the REAL bodybuilders are just great,id rather read these threads than talk about(whos better ronnie or dorian )or (whos better dorian or jay )i really like these old posts on sergio,arnold,viator,waller,grant,franco ect,i cant blame the younger generation in a way cause they werent even born yet,never mind training in that era. but all in all i still like to hear about reeves and pearl and the guys even before me, them oldtimers trained hard and relied more on hard work than drugging hard,i have much respect for the bodybuilders of yesteryear

[funk51]

three other bbers of color who got shortchanged by the aau[hoffman]

[Donny]

nice physique with a tight waist. great pic Funky