1981 Olympia - Mr. Olympia Score Sheets Analyzed

[Natural_O]

Season Three of the Bodybuilding Legends Podcast - 1981 Mr. Olympia starts off with an interview with head judge Roger Schwab who analyzes the judges score sheets to see where each judge placed the top competitors in probably the most controversial Mr. Olympia contest ever.

http://bodybuildinglegendsshow.com/the_podcast_test/season-three-episode-one-roger-schwab/

[NotMrAverage]

Thanks! I listen to it right now. Very wierd olympia 4 sure.

[DroppingPlates]

From what I've heard from 'Nick's strength & power', was that Arnold was one of the promoters of this 'O edition. Is this true, and if so, in which way was he exactly involved?

[Las Vegas]

Wow, nice little lumps on Franco.

WTF

[Dan-O]

It should have been:

1.  Roy Callender
2.  Danny Padilla
3.  Tom Platz
4.  Jusup Wilkosz
5.  Chris Dickerson

Columbu was in decent shape but was glaringly incomplete.  He should've beaten the out-of-shape guys who placed at the bottom of the list, but that's all.

[Megalodon]

From what I've heard from 'Nick's strength & power', was that Arnold was one of the promoters of this 'O edition. Is this true and if so, in exactly which way was he involved?

Schwarzenegger co-promoted the 1981 Mr. O with Jim Lorimar at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus Ohio, where he and Lorimar hold all the Arnold Classics.

[DroppingPlates]

Schwarzenegger co-promoted the 1981 Mr. O with Jim Lorimar at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus Ohio, where he and Lorimar hold all the Arnold Classics.

Thanks, I wasn't sure about this since I've never read or heard it from other sources. That fully explains why Franco 'won'...

[Natural_O]

From what I've heard from 'Nick's strength & power', was that Arnold was one of the promoters of this 'O edition. Is this true, and if so, in which way was he exactly involved?

As DroppingPlates said, Arnold was the promoter of the show along with his partner Jim Lorimer. However, if you listen to the interview with Roger Schwab, you'll hear that Arnold had nothing to do with the final decision. All the judges scores were printed in the magazines after the show and that is what we analyze during our interview.

[DroppingPlates]

As DroppingPlates Megalodon said, Arnold was the promoter of the show along with his partner Jim Lorimer. However, if you listen to the interview with Roger Schwab, you'll hear that Arnold had nothing to do with the final decision. All the judges scores were printed in the magazines after the show and that is what we analyze during our interview.

(fixed)
I haven't found the time to listen yet. It's impossible to prove that the judges were influenced by Arnold's participation, but we all know that there's only a handful of IFBB officials and promoters. Often in a small group the ties are pretty close.

[NotMrAverage]

I think this must have been a very hard olympia to judge. Noone really stood out. I think Danny padilla or callender looked best though. Worst year in o history.

[Natural_O]

In the interview with Roger Schwab, we go over each judges scores. A big problem with the show (as with the 1980 Mr. Olympia) was the choice to use the points judging system instead of the placement system.

[Never1AShow]

I always heard it was that different judges had different guys in first but Franco had the most seconds so he added up to the winner.

[Dan-O]

Thanks for sharing this, John--according to your interview, Roger Schwab would have scored it thusly if he were a judge (which he was not):

1.  Danny Padilla
2.  Tom Platz
3.  Roy Callender--Schwab said he looked great from the knees up but was lacking in the calf department.
4.  Chris Dickerson--Schwab said, in retrospect, he might have made a mistake and maybe Wilkosz should have placed 4th (Jusup placed 6th when it was all over).
5.  Franco Columbu--Schwab said his chest was obviously great but his legs were nowhere near the top competitors, he had a bad case of gyno, and he probably should have taken 5th or 6th.

Roger also laid some of the blame for the outcome at the feet at the competitors--at the pre-show competitors meeting, not one competitor raised any objection about the judging panel.  Schwab said in his opinion, there should have been.  He basically said that Franco Fassi (Italy), Dom Certo (USA), and Doug Evans (Wales) probably didn't have business judging a contest of this caliber.  Fassi was buddies with Arnold and Franco and scored Columbu first.

[Cableguy]

It should have been:

1.  Roy Callender
2.  Danny Padilla
3.  Tom Platz
4.  Jusup Wilkosz
5.  Chris Dickerson

Columbu was in decent shape but was glaringly incomplete.  He should've beaten the out-of-shape guys who placed at the bottom of the list, but that's all.

Swap Roy and Danny.

[Dan-O]

Swap Roy and Danny.

It's a tough call.  Roy had more of the freak factor going on with his upper body.  Danny was just...perfect.  Absolutely nothing missing, and he shocked everyone by coming in the best shape of his life.  Platz had made such huge improvements over his 1980 showing, but he still wasn't quite there, and sadly never would get there after tearing his biceps before the 1982 show.

[Natural_O]

Thanks for sharing this, John--according to your interview, Roger Schwab would have scored it thusly if he were a judge (which he was not):

1.  Danny Padilla
2.  Tom Platz
3.  Roy Callender--Schwab said he looked great from the knees up but was lacking in the calf department.
4.  Chris Dickerson--Schwab said, in retrospect, he might have made a mistake and maybe Wilkosz should have placed 4th (Jusup placed 6th when it was all over).
5.  Franco Columbu--Schwab said his chest was obviously great but his legs were nowhere near the top competitors, he had a bad case of gyno, and he probably should have taken 5th or 6th.

Roger also laid some of the blame for the outcome at the feet at the competitors--at the pre-show competitors meeting, not one competitor raised any objection about the judging panel.  Schwab said in his opinion, there should have been.  He basically said that Franco Fassi (Italy), Dom Certo (USA), and Doug Evans (Wales) probably didn't have business judging a contest of this caliber.  Fassi was buddies with Arnold and Franco and scored Columbu first.

Thank you for listening to the show. I probably would have had it close to what Roger said. I was only 18 years old when I saw the show and the audience favorite was definitely Tom Platz so I probably would have had him in first. Roy Callendar was also really aggressive onstage and he was ripped so I was leaning toward him for 2nd and Danny 3rd. Now, in retrospect, looking at the pictures, Danny's physique looks perfect. Onstage at the show, he looked a little small and was sort of laid back, not as aggressive as Tom and Roy. After that, I had Chris in 4th and Franco 5th with Jusup 6th. Chris looked bigger and better in 1980 but he was ripped with good proportions. Franco looked really impressive but having no separation in his legs automatically made him 5th.