"I
want to be the best-built man in the world!"
Hearing this from their 13-year-old son, Gustav and Aurelia
Schwarzenegger just sighed and shook their heads. They'd
always had their suspicions, but now those suspicions had
been confirmed. They started to look for "psychiatrist"
in the Graz Yellow Pages.
But Arnold was serious. At 14, he started an intensive
training program with Kurt Marnul, the former Mr. Austria.
At 15, he studied psychology with Dr. Karl Gerstl to learn
more about the power of mind over body. At 17, he officially
started his competitive career. And at 18, he got thrown
in jail.
OK, so getting arrested wasn't exactly part of the original
plan, but in many ways it couldn't be avoided. Here's what
happened: As a good citizen of Austria, Arnold was required
by law to serve a year in the army. Fine, he started serving.
He was assigned to be a tank driver. Fine, he started tanking.
He was forbidden to leave the base to compete in any stupid
bodybuilding competitions. Fine, he wouldn't leave the base
to compete in any stupid bodybuilding competitions. But,
hey, they didn't say anything about smart bodybuilding competitions,
did they? So one day, he slipped out of camp, hopped a train
to Stuttgart, and -- quite smartly -- won a trophy.
When
his commanding officers found out, they went ballistic.
Before he could say two words in his defense, they threw
him behind bars. His sentence: seven long days in the big
house. But a funny thing happened during that week. The
same officers that put him in there started looking at the
trophy he won. It wasn't just a little one. It wasn't just
a big one. It was the biggest one in all of Europe. Arnold
had won Mr. Europe Junior!
So naturally, after the hardened criminal had served out
his time, he was ceremoniously stripped of his tank driving
duties. For his "punishment", he was re-assigned to be an
official -- well, um -- bodybuilder. Surprised, Arnold tried
his best to look sad, and proceeded to spend the rest of
his military career training for competition.
After he left the army, it seemed like nothing could stop
him. In 1966, he stepped up from the junior division and
started competing in the big leagues. Too soon? Think again.
That same year, he won The Best Built Man in Europe, Mr.
Europe, and the International Powerlifting Championship.
Not bad, for a 19-year-old.
Then,
figuring he was on a roll, he flew to London to compete
in the Mr. Universe competition. This was it for Arnold.
Forget Mr. Europe. Forget Mr. America. This was Mr. Universe!
If he could win this title, he'd definitely be the best-built
man on Earth. (And on Mars, Venus, and Pluto, for that matter.)
Upon his arrival, he was mobbed by other bodybuilders and
fans from around the world. They had all been reading about
the young Austrian Oak. It was a heady experience. It was
the first time he realized that he was becoming internationally
famous. And now, here he was at the Mr. Universe contest.
He was pumped. He was ready.
He was slammed. By an American named Chet Yorton, who not
only had muscles and moves, he also had definition. More
than just a mountain of meat, he had chiseled his body into
a work of art.
So,
the next year, Arnold worked like a sculptor. Analyzing
every part of his massive frame, he invented new exercises
to separate and define the muscle groups. Then, in 1967,
he flew to London to compete in the Mr. Universe contest
for the second time. With his new, incredibly buff and polished
body, he knew he could beat Yorton.
But wouldn't you know it? Now there was a new contender
on the scene. Dennis Tinnerino, who had just won the Mr.
America competition, was in town. Everybody -- even Arnold's
closest friends -- thought that Tinnerino had him beat.
But Schwarzenegger thought otherwise. The morning of the
competition, Tinnerino casually asked him how he felt. In
response, the young Terminator leaned forward, locked him
with his eyes, and smiled that patented crocodile smile.
"Fantastic!" he whispered, "It's the kind of day when you
know you're going to win." (Was that a gulp, Dennie?)
That was the day when Arnold learned that you had to have
more than just a massive frame and totally tweaked muscles
to win. You also had to have the strongest will. Because
even though Tinnerino pulled off an incredible performance
and had a magnificent body, Schwarzenegger blew him right
off the stage. At just 20 years old, he was the youngest
Mr. Universe in history. Arnold had accomplished his dream.
Or
so he thought. Soon, he learned that there were actually
three Mr. Universes. Arnold had won the National Amateur
Bodybuilding Association title in the amateur division.
But there was also a professional division. To complicate
matters further, the International Federation of Bodybuilding
had a Mr. Universe competition of their own. He also discovered
that there was a Mr. World title and a Mr. Olympia title.
If he really wanted to accomplish his dream of being the
best-built man in the world, he would have to win them all!
Most other men would have packed it in. But Arnold just
packed his bags and flew back to Munich to train some more.
It was an incredibly intense period of his life. Besides
putting in four to six hours a day in weight training, he
was also going to business school, managing his health club,
and trying to remember what the word "sleep" meant.
But
the hard work paid off. In 1968, he flew back to London
and easily won the other Mr. Universe trophy. Now he had
both the NABBA Mr. Universe Amateur and Professional titles.
He also won the German Powerlifting Championship and the
IFBB Mr. International in Mexico. But he still needed the
Mr. Olympia title.
So, at 21, he moved to California to train with some of
the best bodybuilders in the world. He was 6 feet 2 inches
tall, 250 pounds, and had bigger measurements than anyone
else in the business. He'd studied with a dancer and now
moved like a big jungle cat. He'd taken charge of his music
and lighting and had a posing performance that was second
to none. He was pumped, he was chiseled, he was bronzed
from the sun. He looked like Michelangelo's David with a
tan. (Well, not exactly like David. Arnold always wore posing
trunks.)
Over
the next two years, he flew all over the world, winning
new titles and defending the ones he already held. In 1969,
he won the IFBB Mr. Universe - Amateur in New York and the
NABBA Mr. Universe - Professional in London. In 1970, he
again won the NABBA Mr. Universe - Professional in London
and the Mr. World in Columbus, Ohio. At the end of the year,
he had every title except Mr. Olympia. And Sergio Oliva
had been winning and successfully defending that title since
1967.
So now, it was down to two people. Everybody in bodybuilding
knew it. And it all came down to one event -- the 1970 Mr.
Olympia competition in New York. Arnold had prepared for
this moment all his life. He was ready and he knew it. He
didn't even bother to pump up like Sergio. He just focused
himself. And with just two minutes left before he had to
go on stage, he changed and oiled up.
The atmosphere was so supercharged that the police had
to keep fans from rushing the stage. There definitely were
two camps in the audience -- each chanting the name of their
favorite. But in the end, there was only one winner, one
trophy, and one name: Schwarzenegger.
And
so, in 1970, at the age of 23, he had achieved what he'd
set out to accomplish just 10 years earlier. He was, by
any and every measure, the best-built man in the world.
And he would continue to hold that crown for many years
to come. He won an unprecedented seven Mr. Olympia titles
before he retired. And the only reason he retired was that
he had begun acting in motion pictures and now he had a
new goal -- to be the most popular film star in the world.
Hearing this, his parents just sighed and started flipping
through the Yellow Pages again.
