The 1986 Mr. Olympia is notable for several things. It was the third consecutive Olympia win by Lee Haney, as the 26-year-old established his dynasty and aura of invincibility on his way to a record eight Mr. Olympia titles. It was the first of three straight Olympias in which Haney’s former training partner, Rich Gaspari, just 23, was runner-up. It marked the highest placing for Mike Christian, the debut Olympia of Berry DeMey, and…wait, who finished sixth? So, let’s journey back to Columbus, Ohio, in the fall of 1986, a year of dominance for the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl, The Cosby Show in the ratings, Top Gun at the box office, and Lee Haney on the Mr. Olympia stage.
1986 MR. OLYMPIA: BACKSTORY
There are two other things that made this year’s Mr. Olympia unique. It was the sixth and final Olympia promoted by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Lorimer and held in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio—the future home of the Arnold Classic. It was also the first in which the overall prize money exceeded $100,000 and the winner received over $50,000. Vying for the $55K was Lee Haney, who had the great good fortune to arrive on the scene when the competition was thin—literally. After finishing third in his Olympia debut in 1983, Haney dominated the next two Olympias. In 1984, the 5’11” and 240-pound Haney measured eight inches and about 80 pounds more than runner-up Mohamed Makkawy. Could anyone challenge the reigning champ in ’86?
Maybe Haney’s rare combination of size and shape was untouchable then, it being too late for Arnold Schwarzenegger and too early for Dorian Yates. But if you couldn’t beat him at his game, try a different game. Could there be another way to dethrone the king? And that’s where Rich Gaspari came in. At a compact 5’7″ and 220-ish, he lacked Haney’s height and breadth and aesthetic flow, but he regularly displayed unparalled high-def conditioning. He’d been an eye-opening third in the Mr. Olympia the year before (his rookie season) and won the only two pro contests he’d entered earlier in 1986. He arrived in Columbus with all the momentum behind him. Here’s how Gaspari remembers that year:
“In the spring, I entered both the Los Angeles Pro and the Pro World contests, and won them both. I was now being looked at as the favorite to beat Lee that fall at the Olympia, not only due to the wins, but because I had taken conditioning to an unprecedented level at those shows by being the first bodybuilder to ever display striated glutes. At the same time, I knew I was up against men like Lee and Mike Christian who had superior genetics. They were taller and had naturally wide shoulders and small waists. When it came to shape and structure, they ruled. But I had great muscle density and detail, and paper-thin skin. These were two completely different looks, and who knew what the judges would go for?”
1986 MR. OLYMPIA: THE REST OF THE LINEUP
Outside of the top six—the posedown positions—five of the other nine bodybuilders were flexing in their first Olympias: Ron Love, John Terilli, Josef Grolmus, Eduardo Kawak, and Gary Leonard. American Ron Love was at the beginning of a very prolific career—an amazing 68 pro contests over eight years! He was almost always good, but seldom great (he won three of those 68). An eighth here was his highest Olympia placing. This was the first and last Olympia for Australia’s John Terilli, who was classically proportioned but undersized. On the other hand, the German Josef Grolmus (who passed away in 2020), had the size but lacked the cuts to place higher than 10th in this 15-man lineup.
Also notable were Tom Platz and Jusup Wilkosz, both of whom had been third in this contest before: Platz in 1981 and Wilkosz in 1984, his previous Olympia appearance. This was the final bodybuilding contest for Wilkosz, 37, who died in 2019; and the final Olympia for Platz, 31, who competed only once more (in his hometown of Detroit the next year). The popular Platz had been heralded as a future Mr. O five years prior, after a much better showing on the same Veterans Memorial stage, but a torn biceps effectively ended those dreams.
In seventh place was Bertil Fox, who was an enigma on and off stages. (He later served 25 years for a double murder, for which he was pardoned in 2022.) In some respects, Fox had the size to challenge Haney. He sported superior arms and traps and could at least equal Haney’s pecs and delts. But his lats and legs were narrow. Conditioning and posing were also liabilities. Despite a lot of hype, Bertil Fox never won an IFBB pro show, and his placings faded after this Olympia.
1986 MR. OLYMPIA: THE TOP SIX
Bodybuilding’s greatest one-hit-wonder was Peter Hensel. After winning the heavyweight class at the 1985 World Championships, this Mr. Olympia was the 30-year-old German’s pro debut. And he made the posedown, finishing sixth. So, only the beginning, right? Beginning and ending. Hensel had an aesthetic physique, but was somewhat slight for his height. He was near the bottom in his only other two Olympias, retired after 1988, and came back in 1992 for a couple more forgettable years of miserable placings. But Peter Hensel did have that one hit right at the beginning, flexing in the posedown with Haney and company on bodybuilding’s biggest stage.
On the other hand, 24-year-old Dutchman Berry DeMey was determined to stick around near the top for awhile. This was the second of four straight Olympias in which he made the posedown. At 6 feet and 230-ish, he had the height but not the size to challenge Haney. Still, he did it his way. DeMey sported exceptionally good legs for a tall bodybuilder in the ’80s and an aesthetic physique that he displayed via appropriately classical poses.
There was only one bodybuilder in the top six over 30, but he was way over. Albert Beckles was 48, and he’d been the runner-up behind Haney in this contest the year before at 47. Like always, Beckles brought the details: the pointy biceps, the deeply divoted back, the spaghettied deltoids, but he lacked the size to overtake the three, much younger guys ahead of him.
American Mike Christian, 30, at 6’1″ and around 240 had the upper body size to hang with Haney, but his legs lagged. Christian said of those years battling Haney: “In the competition, he had to be at his best, because with my 6’1″ frame, if I got my legs a bit better, he might have only come home with seven instead of eight of what I call those little men [Sandow trophies for winning the Mr. Olympia].” In his five Olympia appearances from 1985 to 1990, Christian made the posedown every time, but this bronze medal finish was the highest he climbed.
Rich Gaspari wasn’t quite as peeled as he’d been months earlier when he won two pro shows, but he was still the leanest guy on stage, and that, coupled with the dense muscle piled on his compact frame was good enough for second. He said of 1986:
“I was also taking advantage of my newfound demand by traveling all over the world doing seminars and posing exhibitions; places like Australia and Europe. Extensive traveling is never conducive to optimal training and eating….But as a pro bodybuilder, you only have a certain brief window of time when you’re in high demand to make good money. Long story short, I looked really good at that year’s Mr. Olympia, but I was a tiny percentage off the condition I’d shown in the spring. It was still good enough to take second place, which was quite an accomplishment for a 23-year-old kid. I was one step closer to my goal, and I felt my hard work would ultimately be rewarded with a Sandow.”
Lee Haney said of his former training partner: “You had Rich Gaspari, who didn’t have all the genetics working in his favor, but man would he get ripped! He was just…I mean ripped to pieces the entire time.” Haney was always a gracious winner, but then this year, like most years, there was little chance of him losing. In fact, he won with a perfect score. As he hit his stride and took home Sandow #3, he was far ahead of the competition. There was the X-frame, the flowing lines, the splintered pecs and delts when he crunched a most muscular, the ever-expanding wings when he unfurled his rear lat spread. Several challengers had bigger arms, but it didn’t matter. He had too much of everything else, and it all blended together too well. Mass with class. The 22nd Mr. Olympia was the third victory for Lee Haney, and still he had miles to go before he slept.
1986 MR. OLYMPIA RESULTS
October 11, 1986 / Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio
1. Lee Haney ($55,000)
2. Rich Gaspari ($25,000)
3. Mike Christian ($13,000)
4. Albert Beckles ($9000)
5. Berry DeMey ($6000)
6. Peter Hensel ($4000)
7. Bertil Fox
8. Ron Love
9. John Terilli
10. Josef Grolmus
11. Tom Platz
12. Jusup Wilkosz
13. Eduardo Kawak
14. Frank Richard
15. Marco Losito
Related content:
The 1984 Mr. Olympia (Haney’s first win)
The 1991 Mr. Olympia (Haney’s record-setting eighth win)
