Sergio Oliva

Cuban weightlifter and bodybuilder based in the United States since 1961, measures 1.78 meters, weighs 100 kg.

He was born in Guanabacoa, Havana, in a family with 22 siblings. He is a retired bodybuilder of Cuban origin. He won the title of Mr. Olympia in 1967 and maintained it in 1968 and 1969. He was known as The Myth, el Mito. He was the only one who surpassed Arnold Schwarzenegger in a competition for Mr. Olympia.

At 12 years old he worked with his father in the sugarcane fields of Guanabacoa. When he was 16 years old, his father suggested that he enroll in Fulgencio Batista's army. For not having a birth certificate, the recruiting officer took the word of Oliva's father and accepted that Sergio was old enough to join the army.

After 1959 Oliva stayed in Guanabacoa and went to the beach frequently, where he came into contact with a person who invited him to the local weightlifting club. After 6 months of training Oliva was clean lifting 300 pounds in the snatch and a total of 1000 pounds in the three lifts with a body weight of 195 lbs, considered middle heavyweight.

Sergio began his career as a weightlifter in Cuba where he was No. 1 in the 198 pound category and representative to the Pan American Games in Kingston, Jamaica in 1961 at only 21 years of age. While the Cuban team was in Jamaica preparing for the Central American Games, Sergio thought that this was not the sport he should dedicate himself to.

After obtaining political asylum in Jamaica, Sergio traveled to Miami where he earned a living for a time repairing televisions and unloading trucks.

In 1963 he moves to Chicago where he is introduced to the sport of bodybuilding at the local YMCA in Duncan where he trained under then-bodybuilder and future Mr. America Bob Gajda.

Sergio was already very famous before conquering the bodybuilding world as he was considered one of the ten best weightlifters in the world.

Once there, he started working as a police officer and began competing in weightlifting while molding a physique that many have defined as perfect.

Sergio began his bodybuilding career in the AAU, where he soon stood out and where judges saw him, not without reason, as a serious contender to win the most prestigious tournament in the world.

Fed up with various problems with the AAU, Sergio began processing his entry into the IFBB where a few months after being accepted, he won the IFBB Mr. World in 1966.

Sergio began to show great interest in Joe Weider's Tournament, the Mr. Olympia, which at that time was dominated by the great Larry Scott.

After that, and with his muscles in great shape, well proportioned and with mass beyond the normal, Sergio began to see the Olympia as something he could win if he continued doing things as well as he had been. Clearly, he saw himself with the possibility of taking it. Before going for the Olympia, Sergio won the IFBB Mr. Universe in 1967. Just four years after beginning his training – a record time unique and unmatched in the history of the sport by any other athlete.

The Mr. Olympia did not take long to arrive and he conquered it during the years 1967, 1968 and 1969, in the latter defeating the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, who would "take revenge" a year later by taking it from him in 1970.

The Cuban had proportions and symmetries in the dorsal line, pectorals, biceps, triceps, abdomen, quadriceps and especially calves.

After Arnold took the Olympia from him that year, Sergio left the IFBB and began his career in other federations (WBBG and WABBA).

At 43 years old, in 1984, and after conquering quite a few trophies in these two federations, he decided to return to IFBB and the Olympia (where many believe he made a memorable comeback), where he finished eighth in 1984 and eighth again in 85, which led Sergio to hang up his gym gloves.

Before making this decision, he tried his luck in film, where he made two films that went largely unnoticed and where Sergio saw it was time to make two decisions: leave professional bodybuilding and never make another film again.

In January of 1999 the 'Joe Weider Bodybuilding Hall of Fame / Joe Weider's Bodybuilding Hall of Fame' included one of its most important exponents: a Cuban with the name of Sergio Oliva.

Sergio became a Police Officer in the city of Chicago, after his retirement.

Even today he continues living in the same house where he settled some years ago, in Chicago.

Titles
1965 • AAU Junior Mr America - Most Muscular • AAU Mr America - Most Muscular
1966 • AAU Junior Mr America • AAU Junior Mr America - Most Muscular • AAU Mr America - Most Muscular • IFBB Mr World
1967 • IFBB Mr. Universe • IFBB Mr. Olympia
1968 • IFBB Mr. Olympia
1969 • IFBB Mr. Olympia
1972 • WBBG Mr Galaxy
1973 • IFBB Mr International
1974 • WBBG Mr International
1975 • WBBG Mr. Olympus
1976 • WBBG Mr. Olympus
1977 • WABBA World Championships
1978 • WBBG Mr. Olympus
1980 • WABBA Pro World Cup • WABBA World Championships
1981 • WABBA Pro World Cup