Since I consider myself to be a really big bodybuilding fan, I decided to write, purely for varietyand lighten up, another article dealing with this particular sport. This time I would like to introduce you to the legendary bodybuilders who are still considered by many to be the uncrowned holders of the Mr. Olympia title.
Although they had several times to win this title at hand, none of them managed to dominate this competition and becameto become one of the few bodybuilders to win the title of the most prestigious bodybuilding competition.
1. Mohamed Makkawy
- Second place in 1983 and 1984.
- Samir Bannout and Lee Haney
Perhaps the least known, but no less exceptional bodybuilder on this list, is Mohamed Makkawy. This Egyptian-born bodybuilder was only 160 cm tall and his weight was around 70 to 74 kg. Despite this, he was able to challenge such legendary bodybuilders as Lee Haney, Frank Zane and Samir Bannout.
Makkawy was born in 1953 and started exercising at the age of 14. After just two years of training he managed to become a junior middleweight powerlifting champion. However, not long after, he traded powerlifting for bodybuilding. Inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, he began his quest for the perfect physique. In 1972, he participated in his first bodybuilding competition, where he came a respectable third place. After a few more competitions and constant improvement and refinement of his physique, his dream finally came true in 1976 when he won his category at the prestigious Mr. Universe, he became a professional bodybuilder.
Above all, he was distinguished by his incredible aesthetics, his preparedness and, last but not least, his great posing. Thanks to all these aspects, he was then able to regularly defeat much bigger and heavier bodybuilders. His most successful competition season was probably in 1983, when he managed to win four professional competitions. In that year he also narrowly missed winning the Mr. Olympia title, when he fell just short of the perfectly prepared Samir Bannout, finishing second. During his long and very successful career, he managed to win a total of sixsix professional competitions, four times in the top six of the Mr. Olympia, finishing second twice. He competed eight times against Lee Haney, the eight-time Mr. Olympia titleholder, and managed to beat Haney five times. From this point of view, it can be said that Makkawy was a better bodybuilder than the record holder of the number of Mr. Olympia titles.
Mohamed Makkawy was definitely one of the best bodybuilders of all time. He was always in perfect shape, he was regularly ranked at the top, and even withdespite his light weight and small height, he could beat much bigger and more powerful bodybuilders.
For me Makkawy is an absolutely fantastic bodybuilder, who despite his small stature had an incredible physique with which he outclassed many more powerful bodybuilders. He also had a great way of presenting his physique. He is one of the few bodybuilders whose posing I always like to watch. Plus, I'm fascinated by the fact that he beat Lee Haney five times.
2. Rich Gaspari
- Second place in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
- His conqueror: Lee Haney
Like Makkawa, the other two bodybuilders on this list regularly stepped on the heels of the stellar Lee Haney. The first is Rich Gaspari, also known as "The Dragon Slayer".
Gaspari was born in New Jersey in 1963, and his childhood here was by no means ideal. He was often ill and didn't have many friends. He spent most of his time alone and reading comic books. He was a huge fan of superheroes like Superman, Hulk and Batman. Above all, he was fascinated by their superhuman characters. When, not long after, he came across bodybuilding magazines in which he came across bodybuilding icons such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, it was decided what he wanted to do in the future.
After suffering from mononucleosis, he was advised by his doctor to start exercising and so Gaspari, determined to achieve his dream physique, started weight training at the age of 15. Already in high school, thanks to hard training, he excelled with a great physique and incredible strength. He himself later admitted that his body began to grow rapidly almost immediately, which only confirmed his incredible talent for the sport. He won his first victory in 1983 at the NPC Junior Nationals. This victory only confirmed that he had chosen the right path. Then a year later, thanks to his victory at the World IFBB Amateur Championships, he gained the status of a professional bodybuilder.
During his bodybuilding career, Gaspari has competed in a total of 28 professional competitions. He is the youngest bodybuilder to win the Mr. Universe contest, having dominated the competition at just 21 years old. He has narrowly missed winning the Mr. Olympia contest a total of three times and is also the first ever winner of the Arnold Classic.
Gaspari always knew he couldn't be the biggest and most powerful at 172 cm.the biggest bodybuilder on the stage, so he's always focused on being perfectly prepared. It can be said that he is one of the first bodybuilders who presented himself on stage in such a brutal form.
In addition to his fabulous physique, he also possessed tremendous strength. At the age of 20, he was able to perform 4 reps of 220 kg on the bench press or squat 300 kg. He was also one of the strongest bodybuilders of his time.
He finally ended his bodybuilding career in 1996 with a 12th place finish at the IFBB Florida Pro Invitational. Two years later, he then decided to start his own brand of supplements, which is still very popular today. Rich Gaspari is still a very active and well-known figure in the fitness industry today, while still being considered one of the best bodybuilders of all time.
Gaspari has always been a perfectly prepared phenomenal bodybuilder. What surprised me about him, however, was his incredible feats of strength, with which he could easily become a powerlifting icon in addition to a bodybuilding legend.
3. Lee Labrada
- Second place in 1989 and 1990
- Lee Haney
The last bodybuilder to regularly fight Lee Haney is Lee Labrada. On two occasions, this incredible bodybuilder almost had the Mr. Olympia title within his grasp. However, even he was unable to defeat Haney in this contest and dethrone him.
Labrada was born in Cuba in 1960. He started training at the age of 16 and after just two years of training he entered his first bodybuilding competition. He didn't place particularly well in the competition, but it was his first experience that motivated him to keep going and train harder than ever before.
After several years of hard training and strict dieting, he finally managed to win two junior competitions in 1983. Two years later he competed in his first international competition, the NPC Amateur Championships, and against all oddshe managed to win his category as a rookie and become a professional bodybuilder.
In his very successful 15-year career he eventually managed to win a total of 9 professional competitions, including such as Mr. He is also one of the few bodybuilders who managed to break into the top four at Mr. Olympia for seven years in a row. Of these, as I mentioned above, he has finished second twice, narrowly missing out on the Mr. Olympia title.
With his height of 167 cm and weight of around 85 kg, Labrada, like Makkawy or Gaspari, had to rely onon his impeccable aesthetics, perfect preparation and great posing. The right combination of these three aspects allowed him to regularly defeat much more powerful and bigger bodybuilders.
In 1995, he took part in his last competition, the Arnold Classic, and finished in an excellent fifth place. However, he was beginning to feel that his best years were behind him and decided to end his professional career. He didn't disappear from the fitness industry completely, however, instead Labrada started his own brand of supplements, which which, after only a few years, has become one of the fastest growing and largest brands of its kind in America. In addition, he is also still trying to pass on his experience to the younger generation. For this reason, he has even published several books on training and diet.
Thanks to his incredibly successful career, he is considered by many to be one of the best bodybuilders of all time. His legacy is then continued by his son Hunter, who became a professional bodybuilder in 2018. He is of course trained by his legendary father and in my opinion has a similarly promising and successful career ahead of him.
4. Shawn Ray
- Second place in 1994 and 1996.
- His conqueror: Dorian Yates
And here we come to the sheer icons of the sport, whose names are most often associated with the designation of "uncrowned Mr. Olympia" and are thus familiar to every fan of the sport. Next on that list can be none other than Shawn Ray, also known as the "Giant Killer".
Ray hails from California, where he was born in 1965. During his childhood, he didn't show much interest in sports or fitness. This eventually changed when he went to college, so he started going to the local gym. The results came very soon, his body responded extremely well to the training and Ray, so he started thinking about competing in bodybuilding. In 1983, he entered his first bodybuilding competition called the Orange Coast Championships, where he came in second place. Later that year, he won the California Gold Cup. Over the next five years he steadily improved and as a junior won almost every contest he entered, including competitions like the Jr. World Championships and Mr. California. At the age of 21, in 1987, he crushed everyone at the National Championships and achieved his dream status as a professional bodybuilder.
As a professional bodybuilder, he won titles from prestigious competitions such as the Arnold Classic and Night of Champions and an incredibleFor twelve consecutive years he has placed in the top five at the most prestigious bodybuilding contest, Mr. Olympia. Twice he finished second, falling short only to the legendary Dorian Yates.
Despite his short stature and weight, he was able to use his symmetry, his build and his and great conditioning, he was able to defeat much more powerful bodybuilders than himself. Even next to a massive, huge bodybuilder like the aforementioned Yates or later Ronnie Coleman, Ray looked incredible and was a very dangerous opponent.
He ended his bodybuilding career with a fourth place finish at the Mr. Olympia competition in 2001. Today, he is still a very well-known and active figure in the fitness industry. He has appeared in several well-known documentaries or TV shows, regularly does interviews for various brands, comments on what's going on in the bodybuilding world, and has even published a book on how to become a bodybuilder. He is currently working for Muscular Development. Because of his work in this magazine, he often publishes quite controversial statements for which he is regularly the target of criticism from many people in the industry. I'm not a big fan of his controversial statements either, yet no one canthat he is still rightly considered one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.
5. Kevin Levrone
- Second place in 1992, 1995, 2000 and 2002.
- Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman
Another bodybuilder who can't be missing from this list is Kevin Levrone. He was within reach of winning the Mr. Olympia title four times, which is why he is considered by so many to be the best ever uncrowned titleholder.
Levrone was born into a very large family in Maryland in 1964. He had five other siblings, yet his childhood was not a happy one. Both his parents died of cancer. In the beginning, his training was mainly to cope with his great loss. But as time went on, he began to take exercise and diet more seriously than ever before. He then got a taste of what it was like to train for and compete in bodybuilding competitions at several local bodybuilding competitions. He started his professional career in 1991 when he became a professional bodybuilder by winning the NPC Nationals.
However, after placing second at his very first Olympia in 1992, he tore both a small and large pectoral muscle while performing a 272 kg bench press. At the time, many people thought his promising career was suddenly over, but after several surgeries, hehe recovered very quickly and in 1993 he appeared in a couple of competitions only to return to the podium a year later at the Mr. Olympia and came in a great fifth place for him at that time. As I mentioned above, he eventually managed to finish second in this competition four times, twice behind Dorian Yates and twice behind Ronnie Coleman. In total, he managed to win an incredible 23 professional titles during his very long and successful career, including two at the Arnold Classic.
Levrone had a unique physique and always possessed especially huge shoulders. His "most muscular" pose is therefore still absolutely fantastic today. However, what he was never able to match bodybuilders like Coleman or Yates in was the back stance, in which a lot of and it's fair to say that was one of the reasons he never won the title.
Like many of the aforementioned, Levrone decided to start his own brand of supplements after his competitive career ended. This happened in 2015, and his brand has become very popular in that time, even in our country. He is also still very active not only in the bodybuilding world but also on social media.
Levrone has had an absolutely fantastic bodybuilding career and is rightfully considered one of the few bodybuilders who deserves to win the Mr. Olympia title at least once. To me, he is such an incredible figure in the sport who has forever made bodybuilding history with his results and physique.
6. Flex Wheeler
- Second place in 1993, 1998 and 1999
- His conquerors: Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman
Next on the list is none other than Kenneth "Flex" Wheeler, also known as "The Sultan of Symmetry". Flex is considered by many bodybuilders and fans to be the best everbodybuilder of all time, and arguably one of the reasons for this list.
Flex was born in California in 1965 into a very poor background and had a very difficult childhood. He even attempted suicide at the age of 12. Unfortunately, he didn't do well in school because of his dyslexia. The one thing he always excelled at, however, was sports, and he stuck to that. Before he started bodybuilding, he was very passionate about martial arts. However, bodybuilding eventually won out for him.
After a few years of competing at the amateur level, he managed to become a professional bodybuilder in 1992 when he dominated the NPC USA Championships. In his first year as a professional bodybuilder, he had incredible success, provingwinning four competitions in a row, including the prestigious Arnold Classic. In the same year, he also finished second in the Mr. Olympia competition as a complete novice.
In 1994, however, his first tragedy came in the form of a car accident that nearly cost him his life. Three years later, his car was carjacked, thwarting his plans to compete in the Mr. Olympia competition that year. This event further deepened the depression he was already in at the time. To make matters worse, another tragedy occurred when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of kidney disease. Competing at the highest level thus became life-threatening for him, yet he continued to race until 2003.
Despite all these tragedies and problems, Flex managed to win a total of 16 professional competitions during his career. He managed to win first place in events such as the French Grand Prix, Night of Champions and the Hungarian Grand Prix. He is also a four-time winner of the Arnold Classic and a five-time winner of the Ironman Pro. He has then placed second at Mr. Olympia a total of three times, once behind Dorian Yates and twice behind Ronnie Coleman.
Flex has always possessed a stunning and symmetrical physique, setting him apart from his conquerors Yates and Coleman. For many, Flex had a much better and more attractive physique. However, like Kevin Levrone, Flex lagged behind these two, especially in his back stance, and thus never reached the Mr. Olympia title. Coleman himself, however, declared Flex the best bodybuilder he had ever competed against on the stage.
Flex is still very active in the bodybuilding world today and even announced a comeback in 2017, when he, like Levrone, made his last appearance on the stage of Mr. Olympia, finishing 15th in the classic physique category.
Flex is now an absolutely legendary bodybuilder with an extremely unique physique. But beyond that, he also deserves tremendous respect for what he has accomplished in this sport despite so many complications and tragedies. I myself will always consider him the best ever uncrowned holder of the Mr. Olympia title.
7. Kai Greene
- Second place in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
- Phil Heath
His long ponytail and fantastic posing will be remembered by anyone who is even slightly interested in bodybuilding today. I'm talking, of course, about one of the most popular and well-knownbodybuilders of the last few years and that is Kai Greene, also known as "The Predator".
Greene was born in 1975 in Brooklyn, New York. He had a very rough childhood, becoming an orphan at only 6 years old and spending the next 10 years being raised by various foster parents. This resulted in his bad behaviour, which almost got him expelled from school several times. The only place he could get away from all his problems was the gym. After a few years of exercising, he quickly realized that he was blessed with amazing genetics. In fact, his body responded extremely well to training and he was able to build an impressive physique as a teenager.
It was thanks to his extreme genetics that he dominated practically all the competitions he showed up at while still in his teens. After several years of training and constantly improving his physique, he finally decided to try his luck in the NPC federation. After a couple of not-so-successful competitions, he finally managed in 1999winning the NPC Team Universe Championships in 1999, making him a professional bodybuilder.
The beginnings among professional bodybuilders were not easy for him, however. Greene did not give up and continued to train hard and diet strictly. Perhaps it was thanks to his doggedness that he was eventually able to make it big and become one of the best and most famous bodybuilders of all time. During his career, he managed to win several titles from competitions such as the Arnold Classic and the New York Pro. He even came second at the Mr. Olympia competition from 2012 to 2014, with many fans and bodybuilders predicting that he would dominate this competition sooner or later. However, due to controversial reasons, he did not compete in the following years at the Mr. Olympia, even after a very successful 2016, when he dominated the Arnold Classic, Arnold Classic Brazil and Arnold Classic Australia.
He has not appeared on the competition stage since 2016. On social media, though, he teases his fans or other bodybuilders quite regularly by saying he will be back. However, after so many years, more and more people are no longer believing it.
Aside from bodybuilding, Greene is also a versatile artist. As a painter, he has published his own comic book called "Chronicles of King Kai", regularly appears with hishis dance routines at various events, and he's also still trying to make it as an actor.
Greene has always possessed a formidable and unique persona. In competitions, he has been able to present this character with an incredible posing that is unparalleled in the world of bodybuilding. For me, he is such an amazing bodybuilder and a huge personality in the sport, whose ever-increasing popularity and popularity ...even a bodybuilder like his eternal rival and conqueror, the multiple Mr. Olympia, Phil Heath.
And with Kai Green, the list of the top 7 uncrowned Mr. Olympia titleholders ends. I just want to stress that this is purely my subjective choice. Of course, you may have completely different favorites. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this article and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask in the comments.
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Why can you trust us?
I've been aware of bodybuilding and weight training pretty much my whole life. My father is a huge bodybuilding fan. He used to take me to the gym with him when I was little and he even made a small gym in his basement. It was just a matter of time before I got interested in bodybuilding.
But for ten years I was actively involved in Taekwondo. It wasn't until 2015 that I decided to quit Taekwondo and start training full time. At the beginning I did everything just according to my father and then also according to my older brother, who is currently doing power triathlon. Gradually, however, I started to educate myself on training methods and diet.