“I Almost Lose My Eyes and Half of My Arms…”: Dutch Bodybuilder Stopped Competing in the Sport After Horrifying Incident

The 45-year-old Curaçaoan-Dutch bodybuilder, Roelly Winklaar, has been out of contention for more than a year. The jacked bodybuilder is popular for his toned physique. However, for some unfortunate reasons, he had to pull himself back from the sport. Recently, Winklaar was featured in William Bonac’s, Gye Nyame Podcast, where he opened up about various aspects of his bodybuilding career.

In the podcast, Winklaar also disclosed the reason behind his absence from bodybuilding competitions since 2021. 

The post-affect after more than a decade

In the podcast, the two pro bodybuilders talked about Winklaar’s beginning phase into the sport. The Beast opened up about the terrifying accident he had in 2007. As he disclosed in the podcast, The Beast wasn’t as engrossed in bodybuilding until the latter half of the 2000s. But what changed? In 2007, an incident happened that changed his life forever. It broke him then, built him later, and once again in 2021-22, bothered his career. 

Although Winklaar has talked about the shoulder injury, surgery, and the pain he was going through for the last couple of years, this time, he spoke about the over-decade-old reason which might be the root cause of the injury. While speaking about the injury, he recalled the life-threatening accident of 2007. He said, “I got in a very bad car accident, very bad accident, where I almost lose my eyes and half of my arm was–damaged.” 

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Further, he revealed the position he was in because of what he had to stop bodybuilding after Mr. Olympia 2021. Winklaar continued, “And I stopped with the sport because I can’t even move my shoulder, and I think that’s part of that whole thing that I have now too. But I stay like one year and a half, don’t train.” 

Moving on, let us have a look at his journey into pro bodybuilding.

Dutch bodybuilding prowess’s journey in bodybuilding

As Winklaar mentioned in this podcast, “I was not serious in the sport [at the time]. I wasn’t serious in the sport.” But a couple of years after his accident, one of the most famous teenage bodybuilders from Curaçao called him a skinny person. And there was no looking back from there. Winklaar challenged himself and became a pro bodybuilder in 2009.

Unfortunately, Roelly hadn’t won any Mr. Olympia or Arnold Classic titles yet. But he was a big challenge for some big names like Phil Heath, Kai Greene, and Late Shawn Rhoden. Moreover, his highest position in Mr. Olympia came in the year 2018, when he stood just behind Shawn Rhoden and Phil Heath.

What lies in the future for Winklaar is still uncertain. He is 45 now, and if he will be able to compete again or not is questionable. However, his journey in bodybuilding has been a challenging one, and he has overcome pretty well till now. Is it just a break or a full stop in his career? Only time will reveal. However, he works out and tries to stay in shape regardless of the shoulder pain.

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