Oliva Sergio is an unrivaled legend among bodybuilders. Of course, this name is not as well known to the general public as the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but Myth, and it is under such a nickname that the hero of our story is known to professionals of this sport, is still considered one of the best bodybuilders.
Childhood and youth
Oliva Sergio was born in the Cuban capital of Havana on July 4, 1941, in the family of a sugarcane collector , and at the age of 12 he began to help his father on a plantation in Guanabacao. It was hard work, which, most likely, gave an impetus to the development of the athlete's muscle mass. Father played a huge role in Sergio's life, because on his advice, an athlete at the age of 16 joins Batista's army. Young age does not become an obstacle for the fighter against communism, because Father Oliva assures the officer that the future bodybuilder is already an adult, and the birth certificate has been lost. After the victory of Fidel Castro, the athlete leaves the army.
For some time, the future legend of bodybuilding is not engaged in anything specific. He spends most of his time on the beach, where he meets a friend who invited him to the weightlifting club. Over six months of training, Sergio achieves impressive results and enters the national league of athletes.
Escape from Liberty Island
In 1962, Oliva Sergio won second place in the Cuban National Weightlifting Championships, losing a small number of points to the leader - Alberto Rey James Hernandez. But after the winner was injured, Sergio sets off to represent his country in competitions in Jamaica. At the games, the athlete did a completely unexpected trick: waiting for the security to be distracted, the young bodybuilder escapes and goes straight to the American consulate, where he asks for political asylum. An interesting fact: after some time, the same trick was performed by another 65 Cuban athletes, including the whole team of weightlifters along with the guards.
New life
The first American city to meet the fugitive was Miami, Florida, where he settled after receiving Olive citizenship. Sergio began making a living repairing televisions. In 1963, the future champion moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he got a job in a steel mill. Despite a working day of 10-12 hours, the bodybuilder does not stop his workouts and does another 2-3 hours in the local gym. Such a busy schedule is bearing fruit, and soon Oliva is noticed by the famous local bodybuilder Bob Gaj, who makes Sergio his student.
Take off sports career
The athlete’s first success was the victory in the amateur junior competition “Mr. Young Chicago” in 1963. Sergio was noticed among professional athletes, and his name began to be used along with the names of such well-known bodybuilders as Larry Scott, Bill Pearl and Chuck Syps.
In 1966, Oliva joined the International Federation of Bodybuilding and won the title of “Mr. of Peace”. 1967 will be no less successful for Sergio, because it is then that the athlete receives the title "Mr. Universe". A very short period of time will pass, and Sergio will win the title "Mr. Olympia", and this is the maximum award for a bodybuilder. During his professional career, he will become the owner of this title three more times.
The victory in 1968 was especially significant for Sergio Oliva. The bodybuilder showed a result that is unsurpassed today, and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records. In 1969, the athlete defeated the young and ambitious Arnold Schwarzenegger, who by that time already had the four-time title "Mr. Universe."
Strip of failure
In the next, 1970, the future California governor with a minimal margin in glasses nevertheless takes away the title "Mr. Olympia" from Sergio. Oliva did not manage to take revenge in 1971, because due to participation in a competing competition, the International Organization of Bodybuilding imposed a ban on the performance of an athlete. Although a year earlier Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had made the same mistake, had no claims. In 1972, the movie star again won the victory, although it is still rumored that the case was unclean, because the judicial staff was changed literally at the last minute.
In 1973, after being disqualified, Sergio Oliva leaves the arena of professional bodybuilders, accusing the organizers of the contest of bias. For twelve years, the athlete worked as a policeman in Chicago, and also engaged in coaching and participated in bodybuilding contests organized by WBBG and WABBA.
Sunset career
In 1984, the 43-year-old athlete again returned to the professional podium. Sergio took only eighth place, because he was opposed by younger and more sophisticated opponents, although the audience met with indignation the decision of the judges. The performance of that day was remembered by many: Sergio brought his 4-week-old son to the podium and said: “There is no difference in what place I got. After all, even after 12 years, I’m still the same Myth for you. And who knows, maybe I have the future Myth in my arms. ”
Then the hall exploded in a storm of applause and applause. In 1985, Sergio again entered the professional podium, but got eighth place. After which the athlete finally stopped his career.
Sergio Oliva. Training
What is the phenomenon of this athlete? And how was he able to achieve such results? Of course, genetics and structural features of the body play a role, but Sergio's workouts yielded enormous results. The thing is that in the homeland of the athlete bodybuilding was banned. And after the flight, Sergio did not know English very well and repeated the exercises, watching other athletes in the gym. Unaware of this, Oliva used the Joe Weider multiset system, which boils down to increasing the amount of training.
Sergio practiced several hours a day, while training all the muscles at the same time. Oddly enough, but this scheme gave a tremendous result, without undermining the health of the athlete. So we can say that ignorance helped the legend of bodybuilding in his career, because who knows how the training would end in the right way.
On November 12, 2012, at the 71st year of his life, the legendary bodybuilder Sergio Oliva left this world. The cause of death is renal failure.