To be Mr.Olympia and be the best bodybuilder in all the world, may ultimately be a matter of destiny. Sometimes there are structural deficiencies or lagging areas a man just can’t overcome, but not for lack of trying; and sometimes someone great just has the misfortune of peaking during the reign of someone better.
We celebrate five of those men, five men who trained the hardest in pursuit of the Sandow only to have it escape their grasp. It may be more instructive to examine their workouts than the workouts of those who beat them, for these five, whose Olympia journeys span more than three decades, simply tried harder. They trained with greater intensity, sometimes longer, often heavier, frequently smarter, but always they drove themselves toward bodybuilding’s summit. Forget that they didn’t make it. Only one man each year does. We celebrate the quest.
