Written by Peter McGough
10 February 2016

16sergioolivajr-dream

The Sergio Oliva Jr Story

A Dream Fulfilled in the Shadow of a Legend

 

Prologue

Dateline: April, 1962; Miami Florida

Twenty-two year old Sergio Oliva, while representing Cuba as a weightlifter at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Kingston Jamaica, defected from his home country and arrived in Miami, Florida, to fulfill a dream. A year later he moved to Chicago and a new life as a pro bodybuilder beckoned.

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Dateline: November 4, 1984; New York

In a much heralded comeback after 12 years away from IFBB competition, Sergio Oliva entered the 1984 Mr. Olympia being held at the Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden, New York. The three time Mr. Olympia’s (1967-’69) participation was the biggest storyline of the event. In the end be finished eighth, which was devastating for him and his fans. The crowd was in uproar and as he processed that eighth place a frown swept across his face. He started to amble towards the front of the stage asking for the microphone. Given the political fireworks that Sergio and the IFBB be had been involved in 12 years earlier many were convinced he was going to go ballistic, something not alien to his hot-blooded temperament.

 Sensing the potential for ugliness, legendary bodybuilding journalist Rick Wayne (who nicknamed Sergio The Myth) leapt from his front row seat and moving toward Sergio’s wife, Arleen, who was holding two week old Sergio Jnr. Wayne picked the infant up and handed him onstage to Sergio Snr. The 43 year old former Mr. Olympia cradled his son in his arms and declared to an expectant audience, "No matter what happened tonight, eighth, 17th or 20th, I'll forever be The Myth. And I hold in my arms Sergio Jnr, the next Myth."

 Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and basked in the glow of a father’s love for his son. A new life was only two weeks old but a declaration of intent had been made on his behalf. In the years to come that declaration was to have severe emotional repercussions and would cause anguish and friction between the two Sergios to the end of the elder’s life.

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Dateline: July 24, 1986; Chicago

On that day Sergio and wife Arleen were embroiled in an argument in their Chicago home. By that time Sergio was a 20-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department and during the argument Arleen, in self-defense, grabbed her husband’s service revolver and shot him in the abdomen. Such was the density of muscle in the three-time Mr. Olympia’s midsection he didn't actually feel the gunshot and Arleen had to point out that he was bleeding. She then drove him to the hospital and no charges were filed.

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Dateline: September 21, 1996; Chicago

With the Mr. Olympia contest being staged in Chicago, Sergio Snr (as a past Mr. Olympia and Chicago policeman) was a guest of honor at the event and he took Jnr with him. The Myth was besieged by requests for autographs and photographs. This was when 11-year old Jnr fully realized how iconic a star his father was in the bodybuilding firmament. He also realized how much his father loved being recognized as Mr. Olympia, loved the attention and liked to play to the gallery.

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Dateline: January, 1993; Chicago

At 18 years of age Sergio Jnr was six-foot tall, weighed 140 pounds and ran track, finishing second in the hurdles at the State Championships. Not liking his sparse build he began to think of training with weights.

 Despite Jnr being anointed by his father in 1984 as the “Next Myth” Snr did not want his son to follow in his flexing footsteps. He was more concerned that his offspring studied, went to school, became a doctor or a scientist, and would have a different future than he himself had had. Sergio Jnr explains, “He was born in poverty in Cuba, only made it to third grade. Before becoming a policeman he worked 12 hour shifts in a steel mill and he said he didn’t want bodybuilding to distract me from my studies.”

 In fact Snr went to great pains to sabotage his son's bodybuilding exploits. He spoke to the gym owner where Jnr was training and got him to bar the 18 year old from training there. Undeterred the youngster found another gym to train in. But such is the radar of a Chicago policeman Snr duly called that gym owner and the would-be bodybuilder was banned from there. In a move that both highlighted the division between son and father, while also illustrating Jnr’s desire to bodybuild, he and fiancée Halley left Chicago and went to live and train in Destin, Florida, where his mother lived.

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Dateline October 23, 2004: Panama City, Florida

Jnr entered his first contest, the 2004 Southern USA in Panama City as a 176-pound middleweight and finished second. He remembers, “I was so nervous before I went on stage. I was saying to myself, how stupid are you to drive across the country to pursue your dream? What are you thinking? Then I went out there and everything changed. It was like I belonged up there hitting poses and hearing the reactions of the crowd – it was a great feeling. I knew this is what I want to do. More than that what drove me on, even at that early stage, was that I wanted to be a pro. At two weeks I’m the youngest to ever appear on an Olympia stage and I wanted to return as a fully-fledged competitor. That thought inspired me for the last 11 years.”

 Mother Arleen, who attends all his contests recalls, “After he came offstage he said, ‘Mom, I knew I wanted to do this, but until now I didn’t realize I was meant to do it.’ I knew then that bodybuilding would be his life.”

 Of course having the name Sergio Oliva immediately sparked the interest of any bodybuilding fan worth his supercharged protein shake. From the get-go the mere mention of his name invited comparisons with his legendary father. Jnr remains pragmatic about the situation, “I mean there I was a 176 middleweight and pictures of me on the Internet were posted comparing me with my father, who many consider the greatest bodybuilder who ever lived. Who else has had to go through that sort of comparison? But I'm not bitching about it, I understand if Arnold Schwarzenegger's son took up contest bodybuilding the same focus would be on him.

 “Then there is the assumption of some that this bodybuilding thing is easier for me because I have my father’s genetics. Of course my father had great genetics, as has Phil Heath, but they still had to work their asses off to be able to exploit those genetics and deliver the final product. I realized my genetics didn't mean shit if I kept running track. That whatever physical talent I inherited from my father would be better suited to bodybuilding. Nobody’s going to give me a freebie Olympia title because of my name. Whatever success I have will be down to how hard I am willing to work, how hard I'm going to push myself. My success will be down to what I do and that really attracts me to bodybuilding.”

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Dateline: July 25, 2015: Las Vegas

The 2015 USA Championships staged in Las Vegas was the big one for Sergio. Eleven years after his contest début this was his first attempt at taking home a pro card. And he would have won that superheavyweight class if long-time competitor Blair Mone had not been in the shape of his life, and incidentally gained a pro card at his 11th attempt. Finishing second left Sergio pretty devastated: "I’m not going to say I had a breakdown, but in my hotel shower afterward I just began crying – I’ve never done that before.”

 The next statement will give you an insight into the generous nature that embodies Sergio Oliva Jnr: “When Blair was announced first I told him, your perseverance defines what it means to win a pro card – you deserve it.” He adds, “Blair’s was a hell of an achievement. I don’t think I could survive 11 attempts.”

 Sergio was impressive in gaining that runner-up spot although the main knocks against him were he needed to be better conditioned in the back, glutes and hams. In fact he never said anything at the time but the truth is he damaged his left hamstring a year before the USA and was only able to train them – and painfully at that – during the eight weeks prior to the contest. He says ruefully, "It's kind of tough to lose a contest and be told that one of the main reasons was because of a bodypart you could not train.”

 From July’s USAs he set his sights on the NPC Nationals scheduled for November 20th and 21st in Miami. He was driven by the vision of, “My whole philosophy of bodybuilding is crystallized by the knowledge that after each show you have a job to do. That you better be working on the weak aspects that let you down in your last show so that you show improvement next time out. Instead of that task being a chore it really excites me that it is possible by working to a concerted plan you can, over weeks, months or years, change your body, improve it and make it more competitive. That to me is the essence of bodybuilding and I love it. So I relished the challenge to put right what was wrong. The bonus was my hamstring healed up and I was able to train full bore with no pain.”

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Dateline: Sunday, November 15, 2015 (five days before the NPC nationals), Chicago

I interviewed Sergio on this day and he told me, “I don't want to get carried away with myself but the Nationals is the first contest where I feel it's my show to lose. Now some sort of unknown freak may come out of the woodwork, but I feel like if I nail my conditioning, and don't mess up this is my best chance to take the pro card. At the USAs I was 255 pounds I’ll be around 248 at the Nationals and much sharper. For the first time I’m not going to the show saying well, we’ll see how it goes. More than that I feel that if I don't win, it will be failure and I’ve never felt like a failure before. I really have no excuse if I don’t win.”

 We also spoke of his father, who passed on November 12, 2012, and how he never came around to supporting his son’s bodybuilding endeavors. Sergio harbors no bitterness but its clear he still feels deprived that his legend of a father did not approve of him taking up the same sport. He couldn’t help but opine on the paradox of the situation as he said with a wry smile: "My father presented me to that Madison Square Garden crowd when I was two weeks old saying I would be the next Myth. And then 18 years later when I said I wanted to do what he did and deliver on his promise he did everything possible to derail my ambitions. I’m sponsored by Lee Labrada who is a positive mentor to me and I see how he interacts with his son Hunter who is bodybuilding, and then I think of Darrem Charles and his son who actually do guest posings together and I can’t help but wish I’d had that sort of relationship with my father …. Ah well. I’ve been in the gym with my Mom more than my Dad, and every time it was with my Dad it was for a photo shoot and he wasn’t keen on doing that. To get into the sport knowing that I’ll always be compared to one of the greatest bodybuilders ever proves that I’m either really nuts or really ballsy. I guess we’ll find out which one it is next week. Anyway, I'm getting ready to fly to Miami in a couple of days and I can confidently say, yes I have my dad’s genetics, but in personality I am my mother’s son, and it's my hard work that has put me in the place I am now.”

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Dateline: Thursday, November 19, 2015; Hyatt Regency Hotel (24 hours before prejudging of 2015 Nationals.)

Looking toward the next day Sergio told me, “I’m excited that we’re nearly there. Don’t want to sound too monumental but it’s like the past 11 years is climaxing at this contest — that it could decide my future and it’s all riding on a couple of minutes spent, hopefully, in the first comparison. I’ve never felt like this before and you still have all these thoughts: could I be better? Could I have done with more time? The main thing is I don’t want to let anybody down, including myself.”

 Dateline: Friday, November 20, 2015; James L. Knight Center, Miami

The prejudging of the superheavyweight division was a hectic affair. By the battery of call outs Sergio seemed to be in pole position was but closely followed by the impressive duo of Eddie Bracmontes and Jonathan Irizarry. To my eyes Sergio, with his fully rounded musculature, size and conditioning was the winner. I asked for his thoughts on being in the first call out: “The most wonderful feeling imaginable. I was really revved up to go out there and hit my shots. I want this so bad. All I know is that if somebody beats me they’ll have worked as hard as I did for it. And if they did then they would fully deserve to win. Can I improve for tomorrow night’s finals? Maybe I can be a bit drier a bit harder. I may already be destined for a pro card, but right now maybe that’s not good enough. I want to win the division and go for the overall. I want a storybook ending to my journey. Now I just have to get through the wait to the finals. It will be the longest day of my life.”

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Dateline: Saturday, November 21, James L. Knight Center, Miami

On this Saturday Sergio Oliva Jnr, vociferously supported by his Mom Arleen and a couple of dozen supports wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the logo “History In The Making”, stormed to victory by winning the super heavyweight class and then the overall at the 2015 NPC Nationals. Backstage he fell into his Mom’s arms and then he and fiancée Halley sobbed on each other’s shoulders. A dream had been realized and a storybook ending had been played out.

 I asked him if the last 24 hours had indeed been the longest day of his life: “If it’s the longest it has to be the greatest, yeah? At this point I’m thinking this has been a great day but you know its been a great life. Going into tonight I just wanted to get on there, get it over with. It was a case of let’s see how the dust settles -- am I good enough, am I as good as I think I am? Throughout these two days I had anxiety and stress. I always have that but what was different was that in all previous contests I was scared. This is the first time, although I’m stressed, I’m not scared. Previously I’d be backstage and see all those guys and think, Oh they’re so big, what am I doing here? This time I felt like I belonged. Throughout I focused on that pro card, that little piece of paper that means so much.”

 I asked his to encapsulate his thoughts on the end of his amateur journey: “Winning my pro card means every decision I’ve made in the last 12 years was right and led me to this moment. Every setback taught me a lesson. You have to love it and want it so much. I sort of gave up the life of a normal twenty something: no partying or clubbing all the rest of it. And you wonder at times is this going to be worth it? It’s such a gamble and then here I am at 31 thinking, you know at this age you should be a pro or about to become a pro. Its important for me to be a good pro not just be there to make up the numbers. I have that Oliva blood in me in that dictates there’s no way I’m going to do something and not want to be the best at it. You know maybe 12 of the guys I competed with at the 2012 Nationals are pros. So prior to the 2015 Nationals my thought was, why am I not a pro? You see many guys trying to be a pro and for many of them you know “You’re never going to make it kid”. They give up jobs, divorce wives, use all their money and still they don’t get a card. They’ve put their whole life into it and affected negatively other people’s lives and still they don’t make it. Am I going to be one of those guys?

 “And before you ask, I want to enjoy this moment, consider my plans, before I think what the first step in my pro career will be. For now I have the thought that my first NPC contest was in Florida and my last NPC show was in Florida. That’s a couple of nice book ends to an 11 year odyssey.”

And as always with someone named Sergio Oliva, at this moment of victory it is inevitable that the man whose signature was the victory pose (which his son executes in style) still hung over proceedings. The new pro reflects, “If my Dad was here today he wouldn’t be making the noise my Mom and other family members are making. And as hard as he’d been on me I like to think that if he were here today he would recognize I do have a future in this sport, and like to think that he would have hopped on board to support me ……. but I’ll never know.”

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Epilogue

Dateline: November, 2015; Miami Florida

31-year-old Sergio Olive Jnr arrived in Miami, Florida, on November 17 to fulfill a dream. A few days later he left Miami, returned to Chicago and a new life as a pro bodybuilder beckoned. There’s certain symmetry that for both Sergios entwined by blood, by their chosen profession, and by a complicated relationship, Miami was the gateway to a new life. Like father, like son indeed.

 

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