“Arnold Really Didn’t Deserve”: Rival Samir Bannout Claims Arnold Schwarzenegger Wasn’t Worthy of His 1980 Mr. Olympia Win

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former face of bodybuilding, never fails to hit the headlines even after retiring. His field of expertise is not one, but many; bodybuilding, acting, and politics are some of the prominent ones. Success comes with obstacles, that the muscle builder overcame perfectly. Arnold has also been a part of several feuds and controversies. Of all, his 1980 Mr. Olympia win tops the chart.

The controversy still holds the power to draw massive attention. Recently, bodybuilding champion Samir Bannout cleared the air and revealed the reality of 1980 Mr. Olympia.

1980 Mr. Olympia triumph Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger waved goodbye to competitive bodybuilding after bagging his sixth Mr. Olympia title. He defeated his best friend and strongest opponent, Franco Columbu, in the process in 1975. But what about the seventh title?

The seventh title came into question when Arnold surprisingly took part in the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Not only that, he even won the tournament, although he wasn’t in his best form. That alone generated many questions and doubts. Not only fellow competitors, but a few from the audience as well thought it was unfair.

Through the podcast, ‘The Muscle Maturity,’ the 1983 Mr. Olympia winner Samir Bannout unveiled a different side of the story. Nevertheless, even he thinks that “Arnold really didn’t deserve to win”.

“Arnold really wasn’t Arnold. He didn’t peak properly and part of that is the cortisol shot that he ended taking up,” the ‘Lion of Lebanon’ said about his idol. “Arnold was flat at that show. He did not bounce like the real Arnold.”

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Following this incident, many bodybuilders who were a part of the competition took retirement. It is not yet confirmed if it was a consequence of Arnold’s last bodybuilding victory. All in all, this became one of the biggest bodybuilding controversies to date. 

What initiated the controversy? 

Soon after retiring, The Terminator started promoting Mr. Olympia from 1976 to 1979, which helped increase the traffic. With more prize money, more competitors, and more popularity, Mr. Olympia became one of the most significant bodybuilding competitions.

The shooting for ‘Conan the Barbarian‘ was about to start before the 1980 Mr. Olympia. Therefore, Arnold started training hard and building muscles like never before. Nevertheless, according to Samir, he faced some issues with his rotator cuff that forced him to take the cortisol shot. It affected his body chemistry and made him retain more water than usual.

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Firstly, his sudden entry into the competition after his retirement, and secondly, his triumph despite having a flat body is what flustered the crowd. Furthermore, Arnold also had friends among the judges.

Nonetheless, Samir added that Arnold never slacked off from working hard. Do you think Arnold deserved the 1980 title?