Results Oriented! Because Results Are All That Matter!: Hero Figure Franco Columbu

Bodybuilding

Columbu was born in Ollolai, Sardinia (Italy). Starting out his athletic career as a boxer, Columbu progressed into the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, powerlifting and later bodybuilding, winning the title of Mr . Olympia in 1976 and 1981. At 5 feet and 5 inches in height (some magazines reported as short as 5'3"), Columbu is shorter than most of his bodybuilding competitors, but that did not prevent him from achieving widespread success.

Columbu competed in the 1977 World's Strongest Man competition and was actually in first place in total points during the competition; a remarkable outing, considering that Franco weighed much less than all his competitors. Then came the refrigerator race, which called for a downhill race in which a heavy, bulky, unwieldy refrigerator is strapped to the racer's back. While actually ahead, Franco stumbled, and was shown on national television collapsing with a grotesquely dislocated leg. This ended his participation in the World's Strongest Man contest (in the end, he finished in fifth place). After a court settlement, he received a reported $1 million in compensation for his injury. It took six hours of surgery to remove all the muscle and fix his leg. Doctors told him he would never walk again, but Columbu fully recovered in three years. After Arnold Schwarzenegger's comeback victory in the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Franco followed suit and won the 1981

Mr. Olympia.

Columbu is a long time friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he met in Munich in 1965 and against whom he competed in several international-level bodybuilding competitions. For the Mr. Olympia competitions however, he competed in the under 200 lb (90.7 kg) category, whereas Schwarzenegger was in the over 200 lb category. The final champion was determined by a pose down between the two class winners. The IFBB has since abandoned weight classes. Arnold and Franco were inseparable during the early to mid-1970s and frequently trained together. Columbu served as the best man at the wedding of Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver in 1986. Columbu and Schwarzenegger had been encouraged to come to America by bodybuilding guru Joe Weider in 1969; Weider sponsored them with an $80/week stipend and the two European bodybuilders began a bricklaying and patio business called European Brick Worksin 1969, according to a report in The New York Times.

From the time he arrived in America in 1969, Franco Columbu was considered one of the world's strongest men. He held a number of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting world records. He also performed a strongman act in which he routinely blew up a hot water bottle by inflating it orally, lifted vehicles on stage (while someone else was changing a tire) and deadlifted over 700 lbs for repetitions. He designed a comprehensive workout for men in 1988 to flatten the stomach, narrow the waist, and eliminate love handles. He is both a chiropractor and a weightlifter and his career parallels that of American weightlifting champion Karyn Marshall, who has used chiropractic therapy to train for competitions and who became a chiropractor herself.

Bodybuilding titles

1966 Mr. Europe, 4th
1968 NABBA Mr. Universe (Most Muscular)
1969 IFBB Mr. Europe (Medium)
1969 NABBA Mr. Universe (Most Muscular)
1969 NABBA Mr. Universe (Short)
1969 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short)
1970 IFBB Mr. Europe (Short & Overall)
1970 AAU Mr . World (Pro Short)
1970 IFBB Mr . World (Short)
1970 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short & Overall)
1971 IFBB Mr. Universe (Short & Overall) *Disqualified for selling bodybuilding booklets - considered as a professional*
1971 IFBB Mr. World (Short & Overall)
1974 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight)
1975 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight)
1976 Mr. Olympia (Lightweight & Overall)
1981 Mr. Olympia

Powerlifting Titles

Champion of Italy
Champion of Germany
Champion of Europe

STRONGMAN

1977 World strongest man, 5th

Powerlifting Best Lifts

Bench press 525 Lbs / 238,35 kg
Squat (exercise) 665 Lbs / 301,91 kg
Deadlift 750 Lbs / 340,5 kg (in some training sessions, he was reported to have lifted over 780 Lbs / 354,12 kg, all at a bodyweight of less than 190 Lbs / 86,26 kg)