Arnold Schwarzenegger won his seventh Mr. Olympia and officially retired from professional bodybuilding.
Unlike the 1975-1979 Mr. Olympia contests which had two weight divisions (above and below 200lbs), this contest had no weight divisions, returning to the 1965-1973 format where large and small bodybuilders competed directly against one another.
The loss and resulting controversy had a major impact on Mike Mentzer personally and professionally; it would be the last time he competed in professional bodybuilding, and he swore until the day he died that the event was rigged.
According to Chris Dickerson, "the promoter was a real low life, a bigot, who had a real dislike for me –partly on racial grounds and partly for my sexual orientation." Paul Graham even told another official that "Chris couldn't win because he was a fag."