Les nouveaux intronisés au IFBB HALL OF FAME 2009:

Danny Padilla:

Born: April 3, 1951, in Rochester, New York
The Giant Killer. It was an apt moniker for Danny Padilla, who, at 5′2", made a habit of defeating opponents much taller during a professional bodybuilding career that spanned an impressive 22 years. In fact, Padilla placed in the top 10 in 96% of the professional contests he entered, and for many he still ranks as the best short bodybuilder ever. Arnold Schwarzenegger has stated that Padilla had the best symmetry of any bodybuilder. For all those reasons, he has earned his Hall of Fame investiture.
Born on April 3, 1951, in Rochester, New York, Danny was the sixth child of Ramon and Frances Padilla. Danny started working out around 1958, when, in the first grade, he encountered his first muscle magazine and was inspired to become a bodybuilder. Some mail-order courses were delivered, some improvised weights were employed and some chinups were performed. His consistency was greatly rewarded and his hard-earned muscularity later caught the eyes of high school coaches who requested that he wrestle, or become a gymnast, or play football. Despite the pull of many different sports endeavors, his focus remained solely on becoming a competitive bodybuilder.
In 1970, 18-year-old Padilla became Mr. Rochester, in his first competitive foray. He then moved on to national contests, where it wasn’t an easy ride at first: he placed eighth at the 1972 AAU Jr. Mr. America in York, Pennsylvania, and then slipped to 15th at the same contest in ‘73. A month later, in the AAU Mr. America, he managed only 15th.
His next victory came a month before he turned 23 - Mr. Syracuse - but his 18th place at the 1974 AAU Mr. America may have hastened his fortuitous decision to switch to the IFBB. The following year, at the Felt Forum Theater in the old Madison Square Garden, he stood four inches under the 5′6" height limit for the shortclass at the 1975 IFBB Mr. USA, but he won his class. He also defeated medium- and tall-class winners Roger Callard and Denny Gable for the overall. The Giant Killer was born. The following year, only Mike Mentzer prevented Padilla from winning the IFBB Mr. America in New York City.
Padilla’s IFBB pro career took off in 1978 in Los Angeles when, at age 27, he was runner-up to Robby Robinson in the Pro World. In fact, every time Padilla placed second in IFBB pro contests, the winner was always named Robinson (twice Robby, one Eddie). Overall, Padilla placed top five in half of his 26 IFBB shows.
In 1990, Padilla left the IFBB for Vince McMahon’s fledgling World Bodybuilding Federation. Padilla competed in what proved to be that organization’s only two events, placing out of the top five in both.
About two years after the WBF failed, Padilla returned to the IFBB in the Masters Olympia division. He managed to place seventh in 1994 and 10th six years later. Then, at age 49, Padilla, a man considered by some to be the best-developed bodybuilder ever of his height, retired from competition, leaving a legacy that belied his height.

Kevin Levrone:

Born: July 16, 1965, in Baltimore, Maryland
The requisite five-year waiting period after retirement from IFBB competition has passed, and we can finally induct one of the top competitors ever to grace an IFBB posing dais; Kevin Levrone. The Maryland Muscle Machine’s impressive 20 wins out of 64 contests, and a total of 50 showings within the top three, more than qualify him for Hall of Fame membership.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 16, 1965, Kevin Mark Levrone was the youngest of six children in a family of two brothers and three sisters, the eldest of which is 17 years older than Kevin. His Italian father and African-American mother, sadly, would not live to witness any of their son’s IFBB triumphs. At age 10 (the year his father passed), Levrone began fooling around with his elder brother’s barbell, but followed no serious routine. His mother died in December 1989, a little more than two years before Kevin did battle in the IFBB.
In 1990, Levrone sold his construction business to construct instead what some aver is the best body to have never won the Mr. Olympia. He won his first contest at 23 when, in his hometown, he was declared Mr. Colossus (1989); the following year, he became NPC Maryland State champion. The door to the pros opened for him after his November 1991 overall win at the NPC Nationals in Pittsburgh. In May 1992, Levrone placed third in his plunge into the pro ranks at the Chicago Invitational, won by Porter Cottrell. A week later, at the Night of Champions, Levrone won and Cottrell carried away second place. A few months later (still in his rookie year) he was runner-up to Dorian Yates at the 1992 Mr. Olympia. Levrone would eventually flex his muscles in 25 American cities and 38 cities overseas spread among 12 countries.
Levrone told FLEX in May 1999 that his long-term goal was to win 20 pro shows - he met that goal and managed top five in all events save for two (once in 1997 and 2003). No one who has competed in 50 IFBB pro events comes close to his feat of top three placings in that number of contests. Not bad for someone who famously took it easy for long stretches of the offseason, putting training intensity on the back burner as he allowed his body to recover.
Of all his contests, perhaps the one that stands out most is one he didn’t win. In 2002, a rejuvenated Levrone came out of seemingly nowhere to push champion Ronnie Coleman to the limit, as Coleman went for the fifth of his eight Mr. O titles. Big Ronnie may have been the one to take the title home that night in Vegas, but many in the audience saw it going the other way.
Levrone had many interests outside of bodybuilding, including leading his band, Fulblown, and pursuing an acting career. After the 2003 Show of Strength in Atlanta, Levrone finished third and hung up the trunks to focus on his other pursuits full-time. Gone from the bodybuilding stage, yes, but as an all-time great, he will never be forgotten among the muscle masses.

Flex Wheeler:

Born August 23, 1965, in Fresno, California
Like Levrone, Flex Wheeler is inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He earns that distinction by sculpting one of the most aesthetic physiques, and one thought by many to be the best never to win a Mr. Olympia title.
In seven tries as the Olympia, he was runner-up three times - in 1993, 1998 and 1999 to Dorian Yates, then Ronnie Coleman, twice. His placings in the Mr. O yielded an average of fourth. His overall pro record shows he placed top five in 29 of his 33 events.
Flex Wheeler was born August 23, 1965, in Fresno, California, and took up weight training as a teenager. After some early AAU contests, including a medium-tall class victory at the 1985 Teen Mr. America and a heavyweight win at the 1985 Governor’s Cup, he switched to the NPC. He snagged fifth place among the light-heavies at the 1989 Nationals, and a second place among the heavyweights two years later at the same contest. In 1992, he won the heavyweight and overall at the NPC USA and earned a pro card, which he cashed in for four consecutive pro wins right out of the gate in 1993 - a feat matched only by Mike Francois the following year. Wheeler won the Ironman, the Arnold Classic, and the French and German Grand Prix contests within the span of exactly one month.
By the time of his retirement, a decade later, he had won 16 of his 33 pro contests (from age 27 to 37). Several interruptions faltered what could have been an even better professional bodybuilding career for Wheeler. There was a car crash that resulted in a neck brace and dropped him out of the 1994 Mr. Olympia, a reported attack by ninjas that knocked him out of the 1997 Mr. Olympia and kidney failure that essentially put an end to his top-level competitive days.
Wheeler once revealed that both the highlight and lowlight of his career occurred in 1996 when he won the Night of Champions and lost the Arnold Classic to Kevin Levrone. A highlight of his personal life occurred a year later; since June 28, 1997, he has been married to Madeline Ann Love.
Following his third-place finish at the 2000 Olympia, Wheeler announced on the internet, "I won’t be competing as a professional bodybuilder anymore." That lasted until the following year, when he ended in seventh at the Olympia. He was back onstage in early 2003, placing third in the contest that had begun his record string a decade earlier, the Ironman, which proved to be the end of his pro career. Oh, but what a career it was.

Juliette Bergmann:

Born November 30, 1958, in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands
The ultimate late bloomer in bodybuilding, Juliette Bergmann actually had two careers in the IFBB. In the Ms. Olympia, between 1985 and 1988, her best showing was sixth in ‘86, and between 2001 and 2003, she stunningly came out of retirement to win the lightweight and overall in ‘01, followed by lightweight victories in 2002 and 2003. Her 2001 triumph at age 42, backed up by her having one of the most symmetrical female physiques of all time, more than secured her Hall of Fame status.
Born the last day of November in 1958 in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, to an Indonesian father and a Dutch mother, Bergmann learned early about the pain of loss - an older brother died when she was four, and a younger brother when she was 12. She found it necessary to grow up faster than usual by helping care for her younger siblings. Her studies were in journalism, financial management and fitness training. In 1975, she began a decade-long marriage to Jan Meijer, which explains the early references to her last name as "Meyer".
At age 23, Bergmann felt the need to drop some bodyweight and, impressed with how some women looked at a contest, began to bodybuild. She competed twice, winning both shows. In 1984 and 1985, she won the Dutch National Championships, which earned her a spot at the European Championships in Madrid, Spain. There, she won the lightweight division.
A third Dutch Nationals win gained her admission into the World Championships in Brussels, Belgium, where victory relayed her into the Ms. Olympia in New York City. By then, her marriage was vaporizing and the too-rigorous competition pace combined to allow here only 15th place - a sour gift on her 27th birthday. Divorced in 1985, she returned to her maiden name and moved to Middelharnis, where she still lives with her daughter, Roxanne.
On March 1, 1986, Bergmann and Berry DeMey guest posed in California, where Jim Lorimer spotted her and invited her to compete the following week at the Ms. International in Columbus, Ohio. She finished second, a placing she would duplicate the following week at the Los Angeles Pro Championships. Beginning in May 1986, she would compete only in the World Pro and the Olympia for the remainder of her dais days. In the former, she won in 1986, placed seventh in 1987 and 15th in 1989.
She then stayed away from competition for 12 years, until heeding the call of the Ms. Olympia stage again in 2001, where she won the title. After her defeat at the hands of Lenda Murray in 2003, Bergmann decided to retire again.
Throughout her career, she personified what many fans see as the ideal female form - just the right combination of curves and muscle, a stunning example of what can be achieved in female bodybuilding when artistry takes precedence over the relentless pursuit of size.

que de splendides athlètes!

tous de tres bons athletes forcement

LEVRONE ET FLEX CELA ME PARRAIS PLUS QUE NORMAL

de grands noms

Plus rien depuis 2009 !! ils ont arrêté ou quoi ?!

louloubabar a écrit:

Plus rien depuis 2009 !! ils ont arrêté ou quoi ?!

faut attendre encore 2 ans non ?

Pourquoi?

A non pardon,j'ai confondu ,j'ai cru qu'il actualisait tout les 5 ans

louloubabar a écrit:

Une vision générale de tous les athlètes qui font partis du hall des célébrités de notre sport.
(il faut attendre 5 ans après la fin de carrière pour espérer entrer dans ce panthéon du body)