With 5 Mr. Olympia and 6 Arnold Classic Titles, Meet the Most Decorated Wheelchair Bodybuilder of All Time

Life tests the strength and courage of people by presenting disastrous situations to deal with. But the world has plenty of stories where individuals defied all odds to create their life of choice. Harold Kelley is a striking example of such a champion mentality. Despite losing the gift of mobility in a tragic car crash, Kelly never left his passion for training at the gym and is now the most renowned wheelchair bodybuilder in history.

Harold ‘King Kong’ Kelley won most Wheelchair bodybuilding contests with 22 Pro wins. He is a 6x Arnold Classic champion and 5x Mr. Olympia in the wheelchair division. The bodybuilding icon is currently in Orlando to claim his next Mr. Olympia title, and bodybuilding enthusiasts are more than confident about his win. But how did Kelly end up in the wheelchair bodybuilding division?

The violent accident that hit Harold Kelley

Harold Kelley is a passionate bodybuilder who trained intensely at the gym. But in 2007, a serious car crash left his vertebrae fused, leaving his rear body paralyzed. While driving through Oklahoma, he veered to avoid hitting some deer on the road and ended up injuring himself. His wife and daughter were also in the car, which caught fire after the incident, but the family managed to escape. Kelley was shifted to the hospital in a helicopter, but his life would change forever. 

The doctors informed Kelley that he had his T11 and T12 vertebrae fused and had rods in place, and the accident left him immobile for life. While the bodybuilding icon was processing his situation, his nine-year-old son and his cousin visited him at the hospital and checked up on the bodybuilder. 

When Kelley asked his children at that moment if they were fine, they said that they were okay as long as he was okay. This gave him the push to pursue training again. “Honestly, right then and there, what I realized, lay back in my bed, if they are okay with it, I am gonna have to be okay with it. So, let me figure out what I need to do,” he said in an interview with Muscular Development. The transition to focus on positivity in the testing times happened at that “pinnacle” moment for Harold Kelley. 

Back to the gym with positivity

The bodybuilding icon decided to get back to the sport he loved and started training at the gym just two months after the devastating injury. However, he attributes his attitude to finding positives in the most negative situations to his childhood upbringing. The 6x Arnold Classic champion stressed his father’s role in inculcating the attitude that helped him not feel depressed after losing his ability to walk. 

“I’m originally from South Carolina, and I grew up in a small town called Bowman and on a farm. So, I’ve always been an underdog, you know what I mean, I’ve always been an underdog. I never had a whole bunch given to me. So, I always learn how to do without,” Kelley opened up in an interview with Generation Iron. 

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“My dad taught me, he’s a Vietnam vet, my dad taught me, don’t worry about what you can’t do, worry about what you can do, ” Kelley further added in the candid interview. These teachings were crucial in Kelley’s journey of moving on from the life-changing accident to become the G.O.A.T. of Wheelchair bodybuilding. So, when the doctors informed him of his disability, he still decided to change the things that he could change.

Soon, he found out about the Wheelchair class and was competing at multiple shows for over a decade. Earlier, Kelley used to train his legs extensively, but after the accident, he purely focused on upper body training like a contestant every time, despite being a multiple-time champion. His family played a huge part in his bodybuilding success.

Harold ‘King Kong’ Kelley credits his wife for his wins

Kelley is blessed to have Ana and his kids supporting him on his journey. The wheelchair champion’s wife, Ana, a competing bodybuilder, plays a significant role in the champion’s multiple trophies. Unlike other couples, Kelley and Ana bond by training together at the gym. 

“Training is so much of a big advantage in our marriage it’s ridiculous, it’s part of the glue. Even though we believe in Christ, we believe in god, that part right there (training) is high in our togetherness. We can hang out at the gym, we don’t have to go to the movies or figure out what to do. ‘Wanna work out, lets go!” Kelley stated while spilling the beans on his marital bliss.

Ana also meal preps for her bodybuilding husband. His kids are also enthusiastic about Kelley’s bodybuilding events and witnessed their father lift the Mr. Olympia trophy last year. Despite having a great support system in place, it is the mind that lets any bodybuilder win the match. 

The Champion mentality of the G. O. A. T.

Despite being the 5x Mr. Olympia champion, Harold Kelley trains like a new contestant each time he is prepping up for a show. “I don’t look at myself being a winner. I look at myself being a contestant. So, every year I train like I haven’t won. I train like it’s all over again,” he confessed to Generation Iron. 

This champion mentality to improve constantly allowed him to achieve the unimaginable in the wheelchair class of the sport. So, once he won a competition, the next day, Kelley would be lifting weights at the gym, focused on his next show. “It doesn’t matter how many times I win. Every show, I train for that show,” declared the Wheelchair bodybuilding champion.

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The 2023 Mr. Olympia is here, and Harold Kelley will compete for his sixth Mr. Olympia title in his class. While the other contestants are ready to give a tough fight, Kelley hopes to give his best in his fifties. Are you rooting for the G.O.A.T. of Wheelchair bodybuilding at this Olympia? Let us know in the comments below.