1971 Mr. Olympia - Winner Arnold Schwarzenegger

The 1971 Mr. Olympia was held at the Maison de la Mutualite in Paris, France. This was the first year for the contest to be held outside New York and the 7th time the Mr. Olympia competition held. Even though the idea of settling it in Paris was great, the Olympia contest was a disappointment to many people because three of the four competitors were disqualified before the event.

This left Arnold Schwarzenegger to do a one-man show. While Sergio Oliva and Roy Callender were disqualified for entering unsanctioned meets, Franco Columbu was disqualified because he entered the AAU Mr. World contest the year before.

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According to Ben Weider, the IFBB President at the time, "if bodybuilding is to become an event in the Olympic Games, there must be some distinction between the amateurs and professionals, with proper rules and regulations that specify who is eligible or not eligible to compete in these categories."

So, the 1971 Mr. Olympia made Arnold take the title unopposed. Even though the competition was held a week after the NABBA Universe in London, Arnold showed 100% loyalty behind the IFBB and competed in the Mr. Olympia while other great champions for that year chose to avoid it.

As Arnold strode out to make his first defense of the Olympia this year, he went unchallenged in it. The situation was very similar to what happened to Sergio Oliva in 1968, however was not because his contestants thought Arnold unbeatable. Instead, it was because they thought that Arnold is deep-seated in the IFBB and because of the rivalry that occurred on a deeper and more intellectual level at the time.

This made it easy for Arnold to get the $1000 in cash and defend the Olympia title the first year, registered as the (second time) 1971 Mr. Olympia winner.

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