1947 Mr Universe
1 Steve Stanko
2 John Farbotnik
3 Eric Pedersen
4 George Eiferman
4 René Leger
- Jules Bacon
- Keevil Daly
- Joe Lauriano
- Juhani Vellamo
The "Mr. Universe" Contest !
by Bob Hoffman
Director of the 1947 World's Championships and "Mr. Universe" Contest
January 9, 1948
Mr. Bob Hoffman,
York, PA.
Dear Bob:
Say, Bob, what is all the mysterious whispering for in regard to the "Mr. Universe" contest? The Canadian magazine is to expose the "Mr. Universe" scandal. The "Iron Man" says of the contest, "The least said the better." The "Body Builder" avoids the contest, merely saying the greatest thrill they got in the show was the fact that John Farbotnik almost won.
None of these magazines, "Strength & Health" even, mention the judges of this contest. Why? As one of the judges I feel that I should know if something was wrong with the selection of Mr. Universe. Nobody offered me any bribes or promised me anything if I voted for a certain entrant.
I believe I am an unbiased judge and I will say that Steve Stanko was the outstanding physical specimen on the platform. Steve was in great shape that night and he had everything in great quantities.
If you know what the big mystery is will you let me know ?
After the Northeastern Ohio contest on January 18th in Cleveland I hope to have some good news for you as to prospects for the Olympics. The boys are training hard and I am waiting to see the results.
We wish you all at York a Happy and Successful New Year and the best of everything. God bless you all.
Lawrence (Larry) Barnholth
This is the first news we had that there was anything mysterious about the selection of Steve Stanko as Mr. Universe. In the opinion of the judges and about ninety per cent of the spectators, Stanko was the best man, that's all. This "Mr. America" of 1944, this former world's and U.S. weight lifting champion, this former world's strongest man, had enough stuff in the opinion of a plurality of the judges to win. For the benefit of those who are interested we will tell more details of the method used to select "Mr. Universe." There was so much to write about the weight lifting, that there was little enough space to cover all the details of the "Mr. Universe" contest.
First, the world's championships are conducted each year under the jurisdiction of the International Weight Lifting Federation. Although there are many weightlifting countries, the majority of the officers of this Federation are French. A Frenchman is president, and so he can be replaced in case of his death, the vice president is French too, and so they will understand each other, the secretary is French. Dietrich Wortmann and the writer are officers of the Federation, and so are men from a number of other countries. The French and International Federation were well represented here. From France there were N. Harasse the acting president, Eugene Gouleaux, the secretary, Jean Dame, and Robert Landesmann and four weight lifters. In all there were thirteen countries in the competition and each had one or more officials with the exception of Trinidad.
In selecting the officials, the judges and referees for the weightlifting championships, first the names of the qualified referees are placed in a hat. The writer of this article is a member of the International Board of Referees, served previously as an official in International Competition, so was among the names in the hat. The first name drawn is the referee for the 123 pound class, the second, the 132 pound class, the third, my own, the 148, next 165, then 181 and heavyweight. Referees not selected among the first six are chosen as judges, and then well qualified men, but those who have not ad the opportunity to serve as an official in International weight lifting competition, round out the remainder of the judges. Of the 18 officials who served, only Emmet Faris and the writer from the United States served as officials.
This is certainly the fairest possible way to select officials and there is no room for a just complaint. The "Mr. Universe" contest was being held fro the first time. It was such a great success, that it is sure to be a part of the world's weight lifting championships in the future. A recent letter from Mr. Oscar State, the secretary of the British Amateur Weight Lifting Association, brought the news that a "Mr. Universe" will be held in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
Physique contests were new to most of the men from other countries. In France and England they are well known. In Cuba too, but such a contest was unknown or little known in the others of the thirteen countries who were competing for the world's title. It was the plan of the committee in charge, all the members of the International Weight Lifting Federation, and practically all members of the United States, National Weight Lifting Committee, were aiding in the conduct of the great world's championships that there should be nine judges, each from a different country. But it was not possible to find nine judges with previous experience. The judges as selected by the two committees,the Internatoinal Committee headed by M. Harasse of France, and the national weight lifting committee of which Mr. Dietrich Wortmann of New York is chairman, the write, Emmet Faris of Cincinnati, Wilbur Smith of Pittsburgh, vice presidents, were as follows:
John Barrs, editor of Vigour magazine, England.
Robert Cayeaux, in charge of weight lifting in Paris ans the famous trainer of Charles Rigolot, France.
Bruno Nyberg, the coach and manager of the Finnish team.
Julio De Cespedes, the coach and manager of the Cuban team.
Bernard Mendonca of British Guiana, and the following four from the United States.
Larry Barnholth, of Akron, Ohio, member of the U.S. National Committee, and chairman of the Northeastern Ohio District.
Karo Whitfield, member of the national weight lifting committee for many years and chairman of the southern district, Atlanta, Ga.
Emmet Faris, nationals vice chairman of the U.S. weight lifting committee, and chairman of the southern Ohio District, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Art Gay, Rochester, New York.
Each of the men from other countries had one or more of their countrymen in the competition, with the exception of John Barrs of England. Time was short, the Pennsylvania Blue Law still in effect does not permit events of this sort on Sunday, and after midnight, Saturday night was Sunday. Therefore it was necessary to get the show over before 12. So there was not time to use the point system, but each official was told to pick the man he thought most deserving of the title.
Nine votes were cast as follows:
Steve Stanko 3
John Farbotnik 2
Eric Pederson 2
George Eiferman 1
René Leger 1
As regular readers will note, the first four were Americans who have fared well in national physique contests before. René Leger is the current "Mr. Canada."
While I was the director of the meet and served as Master of Ceremonies throughout the two days of the contest, I took practically no part in the "Mr. Universe" contest. I continued as Master of Ceremonies during all of the lifting as any who were there will agree that I am well qualified to do, I selected Jack Libertore of Columbus, O. to be Master of Ceremonies during the "Mr. Universe" contest. I had nothing to do with the selection of the judges for the "Mr. Universe" contest. I refused to serve as an official for there are always people who judge others by themselves, who cannot realize that there are fair and honest men in the world who would pick the man they consider to be best whether a member of the judges' team or not. Dan Parker, columnist of the New York Mirror, has made much of the fact during all of these years that Hoffman was one of the ten judges at Madison Square Garden when Grimek won the "Mr. America" crown of 1940. One judge cannot outjudge and outvote eight or nine others. But to avoid even the breath of suspicion of collusion, of unfairness, or of Ethiopians in the woodpile, as Parker phrased it, I have not been a judge in recent years.
I sat right down in the front row where I could enjoy the show, and enjoyed seeing these wonderful physical specimens as much as any. And when the show was overt, the votes were collected, with Wortmann, Faris, your editor, and Wilbur Smith of Pittsburgh, the national chairman and vice chairman, tabulating the votes. I noticed that of Steve's three votes, two seemed to be American, Larry Barnholth apparently voted for Steve. Art Gay told Johnny Terpak, the captain of the victorious U.S. weight lifting team, and the 181 pound world's champion, that he had cast his vote for Steve. So this would account for the second American vote. With the six votes we have mentioned there would be three others, and of course someone must have voted for Pederson and Eiferman. I noted that one of Steve's votes was in a foreign handwriting and said, Stanko, U.S.A. I couldn't be sure where this vote came from but I thought of the man from Finland. Those rugged men from the North admire Herculean strength and development, such as is possessed by Steve Stanko.
How the others voted I cannot say, I understand that John Barrs cast his vote for Farbotnik, I am told that my friend Robert Cayeaux voted for René Leger, the French Canadian.
I have offered you my opinion of how six of the judges voted. Who the others preferred I do not know. But it is interesting to note that all the judges were fair enough to recognize that there were men in the contest superior to their own entrants, and not one man voted for his own man.
John Barrs for one said, "if Grimek was in the contest he would have received nine votes", a unanimous decision, so wonderful was his display of muscle control offered while the votes were being counted. It has always been the opinion of the writer that Grimek is best, Stanko second, of the world's best built men. True enough Stanko has been unable to perform leg exercises for some years. His legs are still wonderful, good enough that he won the award, "Best Legs" in Pittsburgh, the year he won the "Mr. America" contest. His thighs are muscular, big and round, his calves wonderfully developed, his ankles slender.
Of the remainder I liked Farbotnik best, in spite of the fact that Al Stephans was wonderful in 1946 when he won the contest, I would have voted for Farbotnik. Pedersen is an extraordinarily muscular man and richly deserved to win the title "Most Muscular Man" last year, but I don't think he has the proportions, the posing ability, or the appearance to have won this contest. George Eiferman was good and so was René Leger. But so was Joe Lauriano who didn't get a vote, the "Jr. Mr. America of 1945," the third place man last year outscoring both Farbotnik and Eiferman, and Jules Bacon, the "Mr. America" of 1943 who won this title with Bob Hoffmann three thousand miles away. I mention this because so many people think that I selected the judges and the "Mr. America's" too. There were other good men in the contest. But only one can win, and I for one believe that the judges made the selection to the best of their abilities. Certainly a contest could not be staged in a better or fairer manner.
Poll
