Franco Columbu leaps for joy when he wins the 1976 Mr. Olympia and Ken Waller acknowledges the victory.
The 1976 Mr. Olympia was a bodybuilding watershed. The age of giants was over. No more Arnold Schwarzenegger, at least not on stage. He had retired after winning the previous six Olympias and was co-promoting this contest. No Lou Ferrigno, previously considered Arnold’s heir apparent. No Serge Nubret. Long gone but mythical was three-time champ Sergio Oliva. Those would’ve been the top heavyweights, crushing the two guys who competed. Instead, we made due with a very competitive lightweight division and—with no defending champ for the first time since 1967—the promise of a new Mr. O. It’s September 18, 1976, two months after America celebrated its bicentennial. All in the Family and Happy Days are TV sensations, “Play That Funky Music” is the number one song, and Rocky is on his way. Let’s journey to Columbus, Ohio, for the 12th Mr. Olympia contest.
COLUMBUS DAY
This was the first of four straight and six total Mr. Olympias staged in Columbus, Ohio, the future home of the World Pro Championships and then the Arnold Classic. So why did this unassuming, Midwestern city become the hub of elite bodybuilding competition? After all, the Olympia had previously been staged in monumental New York City (nine times), glamorous Paris, and the South African administrative capital of Pretoria. (And once in Essen, sort of the Columbus of Germany.) For “Why Columbus?” you have to journey back further still to six years prior.
1970 is when, two weeks before beating Sergio Oliva at the Mr. Olympia in New York, 23-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger beat him at the Pro Mr. World, staged at the Veteran’s Memorial in Columbus. Arnold began a friendship with the show’s promoter, Jim Lorimer, and he subsequently promised that when he retired from the stage he and Lorimer would stage contests in Lorimer’s Ohio hometown. So, here they were, producing together the first of nearly a half-century of professional bodybuilding contests in Columbus (Jim Lorimer died at 96 in 2022). The Veterans Memorial staging in 1976 even featured the same cloth backdrop of Grecian columns used in 1970.
1976 MR. OLYMPIA PRELUDE
Jack Neary wrote in Muscle Builder and Power of the tension backstage at the Vet on that September 18 just prior to the Mr. Olympia:
Franco is edgy. More so than the other six competitors. There has been a lot of negative energy directed his way the past few days, indicating that anyone should win but Franco. And yet it is Franco who is looked upon as the favorite. As the heir apparent to the retirement crown. In fact, this year’s Olympia buildup has been tainted with a gossipy strain which gave one an uncomfortable, two-faced, back-stabbing sort of feeling. Columbu was the brunt of most of it. He was breathing heavily and his eyes had a teary glaze to them.
UNDER 200 POUNDS
There were then two Mr. Olympia weight divisions with 200 pounds (90.7 kg.) as the dividing line. From just looking over the seven names in the lineup (five under-200, two over-200) it was clear that the winner of the lighter class would very likely win the overall title. Prejudging quickly confirmed this, and set up a duel of contrasting physique types for the under-200 crown.
Schwarzenegger and Lorimer had endeavored to modernize bodybuilding competition and turn the evening show into more of a theatrical experience. Writing in MuscleMag International, John Balik captured the first appearance of the five lightweights that fateful evening:
In the beginning, each man came from behind the posing platform, starting with lighting of such a low intensity that the body was more a memory than a reality, each of these superb men in a pose that he had made famous. The trademark pose was as identifiable as the champion’s name. As the intensity of the lights grew, the men stepped from a silhouette into the now-shining posing lights, hit two poses and immediately left to stand around the stage under colored spotlights that made the bodies almost grow and transform into sculptures of heroic proportions. The experience was totally electrifying.
The five lightweights were: Bill Grant, Ed Corney, Boyer Coe, Frank Zane, and Franco Columbu. Grant could battle Coe for the best biceps in the show, and his abs were also outstanding, but his legs lagged (his calves were broomsticks). The master poser, 42-year-old Ed Corney was second in this class the year before, but smoother against tougher competition this time. He would ultimately miss third place by one point.
Having won every non-IFBB title worth winning the previous four years, 30-year-old Boyer Coe was making his Olympia debut. Coe’s arms and legs were superb by the standards of the mid-’70s, but his torso lacked density by comparison. His abs were absent.
This came down to a duel between the aesthetic classicist Frank Zane and the densely-muscled Franco Columbu: an apple-versus-orange clash of physique types. An elite bodybuilder for more than a decade, the 5’9″, 34-year-old Zane was a three-time Mr. Universe. But he’d come in smooth the year before and received a humbling fourth (out of five) in the under-200 Mr. Olympia. This, his fifth Mr. Olympia entry, was the year he first put it all together and nailed what we now think of as the Zane look (associated today with both classic bodybuilding and men’s physique competition): crisp conditioning, whispy waist, flowing lines, artful posing. It would carry him to the Olympia title the next three years and nearly did so this year.
Sardinian-born Californian Franco Columbu was the only non-American in the lineup (he became a U.S. citizen in 1983). The 35-year-old was the pre-contest favorite after winning the under-200 division the previous two years and narrowly losing the overall in a 4-3 decision to Schwarzenegger the year before. At 5’5″, it seemed unlikely Columbu could cram much more muscle on his chest and back—his rear lat spread was the best pose in the contest—but he was a little blurrier than the year before (his lower body especially), and Zane exploited his weaknesses via the sharp contrast, making Columbu appear blocky, bow-legged, and smoothish, especially when they were standing relaxed. But then Columbu could make Zane appear thin by comparison when they crunched most musculars or unfurled lat spreads. Apple vs. orange.
Jack Neary said this about the top two in 1976:
Frank Zane and Franco Columbu are exact opposites in terms of physique style. The crowd was equally divided between the two, and even your average household pet could figure it was a contest between these two. If Secretariat were to be reincarnated as a human, he would come back as Frank Zane. Both bespeak of flowing lines and grace coupled with ripped, taut muscle. Zane was, as his card promised, ripped to the tits. [He had sent a gag card to Arnold stating this.] Standing relaxed, he came across as what this writer and a houseful of others thought was the perfect body. Flawless symmetry and shape. He even smiled for once. Franco Columbu was so wide and so profoundly-muscled that for a fleeting moment you weren’t sure as to what side was up. If Zane is a thoroughbred, then Franco is a Brahma. His lats were as thick as a Posturepedic mattress and as wide as a condor’s wingspan. The long haul from delt to delt across his two-ridged chest looked like a continental shelf….It filtered down to a matter of taste.
It was ultimately decided by a single point (187-186), with four judges for Columbu and three for Zane, a mirror of the overall decision the year before when four had been for Schwarzenegger and three for Columbu. Jack Neary captured the drama of the announcement:
Of course this was the moment. The next name called would be the runner-up, and it would only take as long as the nerve impulse to hit home before we realized who the champion was. [Emcee Len] Bosland said it clearly so there would be no mistake and with a shattering forcefulness. So that Frank Zane winced painfully as his name resonated across the auditorium….Zane was a disappointed man. But Franco waited until his name was called as the Under 200 champ before he leaped a couple of feet straight up, a puckish grin smeared across his face.
OVER 200 POUNDS
Just before the Mr. Olympia, the amateur Mr. International was staged. Robby Robinson, at 210 pounds, won easily. Six weeks later, he also won that year’s Mr. Universe (defeating Mike Mentzer). He’d win the Mr. Olympia over-200 class the next two years (and lose the overall to Frank Zane both times). If he would’ve entered this year’s Mr. Olympia instead of the the Mr. International, the 30-year-old “Black Prince” would’ve dominated the over-200 class and would’ve likely been deserving of the overall—though its just as likely the judges would’ve rewarded Columbu over an Olympia rookie. (Originally, only Mr. Universe winners qualified for the Mr. Olympia, and Robinson was not yet Mr. U. However, that qualification expanded with time. Bill Grant and Mike Katz were not Mr. Universes but were Mr. Worlds. So was Robinson.)
Instead, what we got was a no-contest between Olympia rookies: last year’s Mr. Universe, 6′ Ken Waller, and 6’1″ Mike Katz, fourth in that same heavyweight Mr. U class. In effect, it was a rematch of the shirt-stealing rivalry in Pumping Iron, but that classic documentary wasn’t released until the next year. Katz had considered entering the Mr. International instead of the Olympia as late as the evening before when he asked Arnold to help him choose. He would’ve been no match for Waller even if healthy, but Katz had injured his back training and needed cortisone shots to pose. Waller’s legs—well-developed by the Olympia standards of the ’70s—were his strength, but his upper body couldn’t compare with the goliaths of previous years. His over-200 win just made observers miss Arnold, Sergio, Serge, and Lou all the more.
COLUMBO IN COLUMBUS
As expected, once he got past Frank Zane, Franco Columbu defeated Ken Waller easily to become the fourth Mr. Olympia. The 1976 Mr. Olympia was never about under-200 versus over-200. The anticlimactic finale proved the weakness of the two-division Olympia format (used only from 1973-79). The 1976 Mr. Olympia was all about Columbu versus Zane. And observers and competitors continued the clash via words. In the same MuscleMag that featured the 1976 Mr. Olympia coverage, Arnold was interviewed and stated that he felt Zane should’ve won and not his best friend, Franco, who he said should’ve been battling with Boyer Coe for second. Unfortunately, there’s a scarcity of quality photos from the 1976 Mr. Olympia and no video. However, based on the available shots and eyewitness accounts, I, like Arnold, would’ve awarded the Under-200 and overall title to Frank Zane.
This was the fourth and final time Frank Zane faced Franco Columbu in a bodybuilding contest (all Mr. Olympias from 1973-76). Zane never placed ahead of Columbu. And, having achieved the shape of his life but still come up one point short, the Californian voiced his frustration in the aftermath of the 1976 contest:
“I can’t understand what one has to do to beat the guy. What do they see in the little guy that would merit him being Mr. Olympia? He doesn’t have the image for that title. But, you know, I had a dream which foretold all this. It was very strange. I dreamed he would come out of it arrogant. As much as I monitor and respect the dreams I have, I more or less didn’t think about it, because considering the shape I was in I couldn’t possibly conceive of losing to him. That was the last time I will compete. It really isn’t worth it to me anymore. I could get into that kind of shape again, but after all these years the motivation isn’t there.”
Frank Zane did compete again, six more Olympias, the last in 1983, and he won the next three: 1977-79. Although he never defeated Columbu on stage, he ultimately beat him in the record books: three Olympia titles to two.
The new Mr. Olympia, Franco Columbu, said this soon after winning:
“I am retiring now. I finally won the one title I really wanted. I do not agree that it was that close. One point. I think from the start people were out to have me lose. But when you are as good as I was, even a little prejudice won’t beat you. Frank Zane was in the best shape of his life and I told you he would be the toughest guy. It is too bad for him I had to beat him when he was so good, but I still think he was too skinny. The pictures will show.”
Franco Columbu did retire, and after dislocating his knee with a refrigerator on his back in the inaugural World’s Strongest Man in July 1977 it seemed he would stay that way. But he returned in 1981 to win his second Mr. Olympia title, a much more debatable result than 1976. Frank Zane did not compete that year.
Despite their traded barbs, few saw the 1976 Mr. Olympia as “the little guy” versus “too skinny.” It was modernism versus classicism, freakiness versus artistry. It’s the ultimate bodybuilding debate that sometimes gets resolved when a champion combines both. But here it was, starkly, in the top two physiques: Columbu crunching his split pecs and unfurling his hang glider lats, Zane flowing between statuesque poses with open palms. Columbu’s modernism won this time, barely. But, with Columbu temporarily retired, Zane’s classicism won the next three years. And the debate endures.
1976 MR. OLYMPIA RESULTS
September 18, 1976 / Veterans Memorial Auditorium / Columbus, Ohio
UNDER 200 POUNDS
1. Franco Columbu
2. Frank Zane
3. Boyer Coe
4. Ed Corney
5. Bill Grant
OVER 200 POUNDS
1. Ken Waller
2. Mike Katz
OVERALL WINNER
Franco Columbu
The total prize money was $5000. Columbu likely received all of this, but this is unconfirmed.
