Hard to criticize Mike's physique in 1980. The whole show was a travesty.
I wrote an article about the judging at that contest but no magazine would publish it. I finally gave it to Mike at Gold's Gym in 1991.
I remember after the contest that it was hard to know where to place Arnold. Sergio and Arnold dominated bodybuilding from 1967 until the late seventies.
The judging process with those silly rounds contributed to the controversy. NABBA had already developed an excellent process but Ben Weider tried to
impress the Olympic Games officials by having a system similar to ice skating, gymnastics and diving.
What should have happened in 1980 was that after the first competitor was scored in each round the judges committee would meet and give the competitor a corrected score.
For example, if the competitor scored 20 out of 20 it would be adjusted to a lower score to enable a higher score if another competitor surpassed that first competitor. They didn't
do this so what happened was that a judge would give several competitors the same maximum score. That isn't separating the competitors.
The round should have been a guide to select the finalists. Once selected then comparisons would be made and all the finalists placed first, second, third, and so on.
The ugly truth is the selection of judges shouldn't be the responsibility of the promoter. Definite no, no. A committee should select the judges and no one else.
1980 saw Paul Graham promote the Olympia and his former house mate, Arnold, entered secretly. That isn't fair to the others who competed. No wonder so many are pissed off,
and rightly so.
