The greatest Mr. Olympia – Who’s your pick?
The Mr. Olympia event made its debut in 1965, with Larry Scott lifting the title for the first time.
Since 1965, only 18 men made it to the top, lifting the prestigious Sandow trophy, and earning the right to call themselves Mr. Olympia.
Several winners have won the title more than once, with the record of eight consecutive wins being shared between two bodybuilders, Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman.
But who is the greatest ever Mr. Olympia winner in the last 59 years, 1965 to 2023?
Before the 60th edition of the Mr. Olympia that takes place in 2024, Evolutionofbodybuilding.net analyzes and picks the best Mr. Olympia in the history of the event.
The Mr. Olympia – Who dominated the sport?
Larry Scott won the title in 1965 and 1966, while the massive Sergio Oliva won three consecutive titles between 1967 and 1969.
From 1965 to 1976, the winners did not have to compete against the huge lineup of bodybuilders that we are used to seeing in the modern era.
On two occasions, in 1968 and 1971, the defending champion was not challenged, and stepped on the Mr. Olympia stage alone, being declared the winner. In 1968, Sergio Oliva was declared the winner, and in 1971, Arnold Schwarzenegger won without being challenged.
The majority of bodybuilding fans, that have been following the sport for the past 20 or 30 years, believe Arnold Schwarzenegger is the greatest Mr. Olympia winner in the history of the sport.
Arnold is one of the main reasons the sport of bodybuilding and fitness are so popular in 2024, but this doesn’t mean Arnold is the greatest Mr. Olympia winner.
The greatest ever Mr. Olympia winner is not based on success off the stage, it must be decided solely on what happened on stage.
The most competitors that Arnold had to compete against between 1970 and 1975, were six in 1972, and 16 at the controversial Mr. Olympia in 1980 when Arnold made his return to the sport.
Arnold still is believed to have the best-developed and most aesthetic physique in the history of the sport, but when we analyze who he had to defeat to win the title, Arnold did not have a hard time winning his Mr. Olympia titles.
Arnold’s most difficult event was in 1980, and it’s still debated today if he should have won.
From 1977 to 1979, Frank Zane won three consecutive Mr. Olympia titles, to then lose to Arnold in 1980.
Franco Columbu won the very controversial Mr. Olympia in 1981, while Chris Dickerson won in 1982, and Samir Bannout lifted the Sandow trophy in 1983.
Bodybuilding would change drastically in 1984, when Lee Haney would go on to dominate the sport of bodybuilding for eight consecutive years.
In 1991, Lee Haney would win his last Mr. Olympia title, and retire unbeaten. In 1992, Dorian Yates would add the freak factor to the sport and win the Mr. Olympia title for six consecutive years.
Several injuries would force Dorian Yates to retire after his victory in 1997, and the title would be vacant in 1998. A man by the name of Ronnie Coleman, came out of nowhere to be declared Mr. Olympia in 1998, defeating several favorites that were picked to win the title.
Coleman continued the freak mass monster look that Dorian started in 1992. Coleman was big and conditioned, leaving all the other bodybuilders fighting for the second spot.
Coleman tied Lee Haney’s record by winning the Mr. Olympia for eight consecutive years, but he did not retire and ended up losing to Jay Cutler in 2006. Cutler ended up destroying Coleman’s dream of winning the Mr. Olympia title for nine consecutive years.
Jay Cutler made history by losing the Mr. Olympia title and winning it back the following year. Cutler won the Mr. Olympia title in 2006 and 2007, he lost in 2008 to Dexter Jackson, won it back in 2009, and finally defended his title in 2010.
In 2011, a young Phil Heath started his dominance, winning the title for seven consecutive years, matching Arnold Schwarzenegger’s record. Phil Heath had the goal of winning ten titles, but Shawn Rhoden would destroy his dream and defeat Phil Heath in 2018.
The Mr. Olympia title would be vacant again in 2019, due to Shawn Rhoden having some legal problems and was controversially banned from competing.
Brandon Curry went on to win the 2019 Mr. Olympia, and between 2020 and 2021, Big Ramy would finally reach the top and take home two Sandow trophies.
Iran’s Hadi Choopan would finally win a deserved Mr. Olympia title in 2022, but he was defeated by Derek Lunsford in 2023, in one of the closest decisions ever.
Who is the greatest ever Mr. Olympia?
After reviewing the 18 winners in the history of the Mr. Olympia event, based on the number of competitors, and the level of competition, only a few bodybuilders can battle it out to be declared the greatest Mr. Olympia winner.
When reviewing how many competitors, and the level of competition the winners had to defeat to win their Mr. Olympia titles, Evolutionofbodybuilding.net has selected five from the 18 winners, who stand out above the rest.
Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Phil Heath, have defended their Mr. Olympia titles for consecutive years and competed during the greatest eras in the history of the sport.
When analyzing the competitor lists between 1984 and 2017, Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman won their Mr. Olympia titles against the most difficult lineups in the history of Mr. Olympia.
Dorian Yates competed during the most competitive years in the history of bodybuilding. Between 1992 and 1997, Dorian Yates had to go up against the best bodybuilders in the history of the sport, such as Kevin Levrone, Lee Labrada, Shawn Ray, Nasser El Sonbaty, and several others.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Coleman had to go up against bodybuilders who used to defeat him on several occasions, such as Kevin Levrone, Flex Wheeler, and Shawn Ray. Jay Cutler would then be Ronnie’s biggest challenger, placing second on four occasions.
Another important fact is that during the years Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman dominated the sport, both Yates and Coleman were very close to losing, with many bodybuilding pundits still discussing the close battles during their reign.
And the greatest ever Mr. Olympia winner is…
This might be a controversial decision for many bodybuilding historians and pundits, but Evolutionofbodybuilding.net could not pick one outright winner and selected two Mr. Olympia winners who could be declared the greatest Mr. Olympia winner ever.
This site believes that Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman are the two bodybuilders that can share the title of the greatest Mr. Olympia winner in the history of the event.
Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman competed against the most difficult lineup in the history of the Mr. Olympia event.
When analyzing the quality of lineups that both Yate and Coleman had to compete against, the depth of competition is much greater than any other era of bodybuilding since 1965, when the Mr. Olympia contest first took place.
