THE WIZARD OF OZ
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s win at the 1980 Mr. Olympia staged in the glamorous environs of the Sydney Opera House in Australia raised a storm of controversy that still reverberates today. Here’s an in depth look at the event.
By Peter McGough
THE FIGHT
It was mid-afternoon on Friday October 3, 1980 and Arnold Schwarzenegger, ensconced in his suite at the Sydney Hilton Hotel, was transfixed by the drama being played out on the TV screen in front of him. The live images were those of Larry Holmes pummeling an over-the-hill and spent Muhammad Ali in their world title fight in Las Vegas. (In Vegas it was 9.00pm Thursday October 2, which meant that given the separation of 18 time zones it was 3.00pm Friday October 3 in Sydney.)
Ali – bereft of his long-gone float like a butterfly skills – took a terrible shellacking before his trainer Angelo Dundee called the fight off at the end of the 11th round. It was a pitiful sight for all observers (even Holmes seemed reluctant to hit Ali as the fight approached its end), as it was clear a great champion had gone to the well once too many times. Ali’s demise in the desert heat must have rung symbolic warning bells for Schwarzenegger. After all wasn’t he known as the Muhammad Ali of bodybuilding, wasn’t he like the Louisville native, his sport’s most charismatic and famous champion? And now hadn’t he seen Ali’s legend along with his body take an awful beating? Hadn’t he seen an icon humiliated and rendered mortal to an adoring public?
The next day Schwarzenegger, at age 33, was due to compete for the Mr. Olympia title five years after taking his sixth victory at the sport’s most prestigious contest. He was set to make a sensational comeback but 24 hours prior to the event, very few people knew of his plan. Mindful of the carnage he had seen beamed from Vegas, he still had time to pull out; still had time to avert an Ali like collapse of a golden career. But with the self-belief that had dictated his career the future Governor of California decided that the show must go on and in many ways what was to happen over the next 36 hours was indeed a show: Perhaps the greatest ever rendition of The Arnold Schwarzenegger Show.
ARNOLD, FRANK & SYDNEY
Eight weeks prior to the 1980 Mr. Olympia contest, after three years of typical Hollywood “tell your peeps to call my peeps” negotiations, production for the movie Conan The Barbarian, with Arnold in the lead role, had been given the green light. Shooting would begin in late October of that year and the muscular demands of the role compelled Arnold to launch into an intensive workout blitz at World’s Gym, Venice with the aim of returning his then streamlined dimensions toward a semblance of his previous Olympia winning physique.
With muscle memory kicking in, allied with Arnold’s ferocious commitment to grow, word soon spread around the village that is bodybuilding that Arnold’s sudden gym activity meant he was Olympia bound. When asked, he scoffed at such suggestions, affirming that each rep was in pursuit of a Conan type physique while at the same time stating he would be at the Olympia, but only in the role of doing color commentary for CBS who had covered the event in recent years.
It was early August 1980 when Frank Zane having just finished a workout thought to himself, “Oh shit! Another eight weeks of this.” The then 38 year old had won the previous three Mr. Olympias and in doing so launched the Zane Era in which he symbolized a classical look that attracted praise from the mainstream and bodybuilding’s core audience alike. Even today Zane’s physique is Exhibit A for lobbyists calling for a return to aesthetic and healthy bodybuilding.
That fateful August afternoon he went to the pool at his Palm Springs home for his daily tan. He recalls what happened next: “I sat in this lightweight chair by the pool and as I did it slid on the wet Astroturf by the side and I fell onto the lip of the pool which hit me right between the legs and smashed my bulbous urethra. Blood was gushing from my penis. I was rushed to hospital and was in for four days with a catheter attachment … it was horrible.” It was also, for a short time, a life-threatening situation.
A few days after leaving hospital the bleeding started again and more treatment was required. By the time his condition stabilized two weeks had passed and Zane had lost 15 pounds of muscle. The scuttlebutt around Venice was, forget a fourth title, the odds are he wouldn’t even be able to compete in Sydney. Contemplating what to do Zane did what most of the top guys of that period did – he consulted with Arnold.
He explains why: “Since his competitive retirement Arnold was the go-to guy before contests. Everyone went to him for advice. They’d do their posing routine and he’d point out every little thing that was wrong. I called him and he said, ‘Yeah, the word is out at Gold’s that you took so many steroids your dick started to bleed.’ I asked him what he thought I should do. He told me, ‘You should go to Australia and defend your title.’”
Arnold’s “advices” sort of confirmed what the triple Mr. O had been thinking: He had the tickets, he had six weeks left to whip myself in shape, why not?
In that same conversation Zane asked Arnold if he was entering the Mr. Olympia. Back came Arnold’s standard Getting in shape for Conan/CBS commentary answer. At the time the questioner had no reason to doubt what the man he considered a friend told him.
Whatever Arnold’s thought process was at the time, one can speculate that it may have crossed his mind that a sub par Frank Zane showing up in Sydney would be to the advantage of the comeback aspirant. He may have mused that once he (Arnold) stepped onstage he would be the focus of attention, but that would be followed closely by how he compared to the defending champ Zane; who had defined the post-Schwarzenegger era. That’s the way it works: the man who wears the crown is the target. That’s who the judges compare everyone else to. Those who had seen Zane at six weeks out were amazed at the shape he valiantly attained by contest time. But at 180 or so pounds, ten pounds lighter than his 1979 form, he was not the force he would have been at his best. Zane’s accident was really strike one for Arnold.
SECONDS OUT: DING! DING!
The fifteen official entrants scheduled to contest the 1980 Mr. Olympia showdown duly arrived in Sydney a few days before October 4. They were still unaware that there would be a 16th contender entering at the 11th hour.
Boyer Coe, who was destined for fourth place, first heard about Arnold’s participation on the morning of the contest. Bill Pearl (who withdrew from being head judge) called him in his hotel room and said, “I just want to let you know that Arnold is gonna enter the contest.” Pearl also added that Arnold wanted the competition to be run under the format of two classes: under 200 pounds and over 200 pounds, with the two class winners posing off for the title. The contest had been conducted along those lines from 1974 through 1979. But after the ’79 Olympia it was decided to go back to the open class as the situation could occur where the second placed guy in the lighter class may be better than the winner of the heavy class and/or vice-versa.
Only when Arnold – complete with gym bag -- showed up at the competitors meeting shortly before Saturday afternoon’s prejudging did the rest of the field know he was in.
Arnold’s immediately called for a return to having two classes in the contest. It transpired that Arnold was the only one in favor of maintaining the two-class system. To cut to the chase Coe addressed the meeting as follows: “Fifteen of us want it one way, Arnold’s the only guy wants it another way. Why not let Arnold explain his reasoning.”
Arnold snapped back, “Boyer why don’t you act like a man.”
Before Coe could respond Mike Mentzer jumped into the fray. This is how Mentzer recalled what happened next. “I interjected and asked Arnold why he was so reluctant to see the open class introduced. For some reason, that question pissed him off and he barked at me, ‘Mike Mentzer, we all know Zane beat you last year because you have a big stomach!’
"I was seated 20 feet away from Arnold, who was standing holding court, and I perhaps allowed that comment to irritate me too much, as on impulse, I bolted toward him. As I approached him, I decided I wouldn't hit him.” At that flashpoint moment someone stepped in between the two and defused the issue. Coe recalls that the peacemaker was Bill Pearl; others cite Joe or Ben Weider. Whatever, at that juncture Arnold withdrew his plea for two weight classes and some sort of peace was restored.
So why was Arnold so strongly opposed to an open class? Some say he saw the greater threats to him coming from under 200 pounders like Dickerson and Zane and felt he would have a better chance standing against only one of them at the end when his size and height would be thrown more advantageously into sharp relief. That may be the case but what can’t escape scrutiny is the theory that he just wanted to show up at the meeting and press more buttons than an overworked elevator operator and if the other guys had been in favor of two classes then maybe he would have argued for one class. Perhaps the whole point of creating the altercation was to deflect his rivals from the intense inner mental concentration that is de rigueur for bodybuilders in the hours before competition. As it was his rivals perhaps left the meeting with dark thoughts of Arnold, and not fully focused on their own preparations. Mission accomplished?
ZERO HOUR
As the competitors changed backstage Boer Coe remembers his first sight of the 1980 model of Schwarzenegger. “He looked very light, particularly in the legs and was lacking the thickness we’d come to expect.” As for Coe himself, the then 34 year old was, at 208 pounds, to many observers in the shape of his life.
When Zane eventually saw a betrunked Schwarzenegger he thought the former champ would be, “Sixth. He looked puffy early on, like he was holding water. Then he sweat so much during the prejudging that he did look better by the night show. But he still wasn’t Arnold. It’s like you’re out of it for five years and you train eight weeks …. C’mon?”
Estimates of what the late entrant weighed varied between 217 and 225 pounds. In winning the 1975 Olympia Arnold had been around 230 pounds. In 1974, which many cite as Arnold’s best year, he was 240 pounds. His bodyweight in 1975 was light for him as earlier in the year he had to reduce his physique to appear in the movie Stay Hungry, and then in three months put size back on to compete at that year’s Olympia in South Africa. In fact the only reason he did compete in ’75 was because producer George Butler made the contest the backdrop for Pumping Iron.
Arnold’s performance during the contest was unorthodox to say the least. Call it arrogance, call it unsporting, but maybe finally call it generalship. When asked to hit certain compulsories – side triceps for instance – he would instead do one of his trademark poses: like front double biceps, side chest, single arm biceps, and three-quarter back shots. Despite the streamlining elsewhere he was still impressive in those shots and, true to the template of his life, played to his strengths and ignored his weaknesses.
Bodybuilding's showcase muscles are the biceps and chest. Arnold had arguably the best biceps and chest the sport has seen, even to this day. Coincidence? Gimme a break! Arnold has street and gym smarts. His bodybuilding master plan was uncomplicated. Go for the jugular with the best showcase muscles around; exploit your strengths, ignore weaknesses, let the charisma ooze out. Never change a winning formula; modify, improve, but don't abandon. Never, ever, give any indication other than that the rest of the guys are only there for second place. Inspired by the opulent surroundings of the Sydney Opera House he executed his lifelong strategy and parlayed those show-stopping biceps and pecs into a winning position. How else to explain how a less than stellar Arnold returned to the Olympia in 1980 to take the most controversial win in the contest's history? What critics discount is the all-enveloping Arnold "I'm first, who cares who's second?" aura that just becomes irresistible.
As George Butler aptly phrased it: “If you want to beat Muhammad Ali on points, you’ve got to beat him by ten points. Likewise if you want to beat Arnold Schwarzenegger in the grandeur of the Sydney Opera House, you have got to beat him by a distance. You can't just be a little better.”
History records that Arnold Schwarzenegger won his seventh Mr. Olympia title on October 4, 1980 and also that for just about the first time in his career he was booed. Didn’t matter to Arnold, all that mattered was that he won. End of story. Bodybuilding contests, box-office returns, elections for state Governor – all that history remembers is the winner. Arnold didn’t really fixate on who was best, what was of paramount importance to him was who was “Number One” or as his iconic t-shirt shrieked “Numero Uno.”
In being called third, Zane was, “Really depressed. There’s a story that I left the stage and smashed my trophy. But what really happened is that I set the trophy down backstage – I really didn’t want it – and it sort of just fell over and the top came off. I left the hall went back to the hotel, drank a bottle of wine and fell asleep.”
In assessing his 1980 physique Zane says, “The main thing is, I think I got compared to the way I looked the year before. In Sydney I was ripped: Showing maybe even more muscle but I was smaller than ‘ 79. I felt that in 1980 I was still in really good shape, but not as good as ’79 when I was outstanding. And everyone knew what I had been through and my face, which was like a death mask, showed it. All that stress … my God, I almost died and then eight weeks later I was competing. Who would do that except a fool? In retrospect the best thing I could have done was not compete in 1980 and then come back in 1981.”
WHY DID HE DO IT?
In reflecting on the 1980 Olympia one has to ask, why did Arnold enter? He knew he couldn’t be at his all-time peak, and was risking defeat and a denting of his reputation. Zane feels he has at least part of the answer: “I think one of the reasons is he wanted to get even with me for something I said at the previous year’s Olympia. Now, let me tell you, Arnold has helped me a lot, both before 1980 and since. In 1979 he was really helpful to me. He was doing CBS commentary for the ’79 Olympia and he really built me up with his on-air comments. As I came offstage with my third Sandow I was feeling really good and maybe a little cocky. As Arnold came forward to interview me, He asked, ‘Frank, how does it feel to win Mr. Olympia for the third time?’ And, I answered, ‘Arnold it feels even better than when I beat you for [the 1968] Mr. Universe.’ I know he hated me saying that. It really bugged him and I think to get back at me for that remark was part of his motivation to enter the 1980 Mr. Olympia.”
Zane may not be far off the mark. In a February 2006 interview the Governor said the following: “Why did I do the comeback? It was a combination of things. The first and most important thing is that I was training for the Conan movie. At the same time I thought it was a good idea to compete because these guys had been saying in interviews that today’s bodybuilders are much better than when Schwarzenegger was around and I think we could all beat him now. That motivated me to jump in. [Ed’s note: Zane’s previously quoted comment and Mike Mentzer’s criticizing Arnold’s volume approach to training seemed to be the main targets for what the Governor said.]
In the same interview he went on to say, “Was it the right decision? I couldn’t tell you that today. It might have been the wrong motivation. The fact of the matter was I was an established bodybuilding champion who had crossed over into the entertainment field. And now I’ve been making money from movies so [others thought] why would I take the title away from the guys?
“I always had a big ego and that also came into play. So I competed, and I barely won -- I barely won. It was a hair-raising experience. I remember Bill Pearl came to me [after the prejudging] and said I was in third. I said to myself there is a chance to make up the deficit in the evening pose-off. I remember I did everything I could, no matter what it took to pose and pose and pose and to look as comfortable as possible and to be as good as possible in the evening to make up those two points and actually win.”
Responding to Pearl’s summation Arnold berated himself: “I immediately accused myself of being a major idiot. ‘Loser Arnold. You idiot: You ‘re going to lose this. Didn’t get your act together.’ [It was] self-punishment right away. Which I’m always very good in doing – beating up on myself. Then I immediately snapped into gear and said, ‘Now I have just to do everything I can do to pull this off – I have one more chance in the evening show.’ And I was very fortunate that I pulled it off and that I lost enough fluid. In the afternoon I had so much fluid and then with all this posing [I lost the fluid] I got really ripped. So by the time the evening came around I was in better shape than the afternoon and won.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
Leaving Sydney Zane was still a little perplexed as to why Arnold – whom he considered a friend – hadn’t told him he was making a comeback when he (Zane) had asked him point-blank eight weeks before the contest. He got his answer two months after the event when he and Arnold had breakfast at The Rose Café in Venice.
Zane recalls that meeting. “We got around to talking about why he didn’t tell me he was competing. The Carter vs. Reagan election had just taken place and Arnold said, “If prior to the election Carter had gone to Reagan and told him exactly how he planned to win the election, Reagan would have been a fool not to take advantage of that knowledge and use it for his benefit.’” Zane pauses before continuing, “Arnold then came up with a classic line as he said, ‘Frank, competition is about strategy; it’s not about friendship.’ That nailed it. And I got it. He was right – you can’t confuse the two.”
Decades removed from events how does Hall-of-Famer Frank Zane look back now at what transpired at the 1980 Mr. Olympia contest. “First of all I would like everyone to know that Arnold has helped me a lot. He is a friend in my book so it all balances out. Basically the lesson learned is, if you are smart, never compete against Arnold, because you won’t win – you just won’t win.”
