1988 Mr. Olympia - One of the Best Mr. O's

[John Hansen]

With only 2 weeks until this year's Mr. Olympia contest, I thought I would share some pics from one of my favorite Mr. Olympia contests. The 1988 Mr. Olympia was the only one held in Los Angeles and it featured a stellar line-up and nearly everyone was in top shape - Haney, Gaspari, DeMey, Strydom, Labrada, Mike Quinn, Phil Hill, Shawn Ray, Brian Buchanan and many others.

[Iceman1981]

Great pics. Lee was a beast!!!

[AVBG]

Here's a shot for ya!132347

[TXFatback]

Great line up. Back when Mr. Olympia could do a stomach vacuum, not like he ate one whole.

[AVBG]

Lee Haney is the best Mr O132358

[Curt James]

^^^^ Agreed.

Flipped the image from the first post...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MnmNwkLHARw/UFWKPJPaOVI/AAAAAAAATlM/7BUPZxIQoio/s800/mr-o-88.jpg

Another great thread by Natural_O! Loved this period in bodybuilding.

[swingslammer]

One of the knocks on Mighty Mike Quinn was that his upper body over powered his legs......looks pretty good in these pictures.

Man look at Gary Strydom.....still looking good now 24 years later.


Lastly, what do you think Lee Haney would look like today if he hit it hard for 6 months to a year?

[Rambo2]

Demey was amazingly lean that year

[Taylor Normandeau]

Phil Hill was amazing....

[John Hansen]

One of the knocks on Mighty Mike Quinn was that his upper body over powered his legs......looks pretty good in these pictures.

Man look at Gary Strydom.....still looking good now 24 years later.


Lastly, what do you think Lee Haney would look like today if he hit it hard for 6 months to a year?

That was probably the best condition Mike Quinn was ever in. What was really surprising about the 1988 Olympia was how light so many of the competitors were. That was the only Olympia that had an official weigh-in the day before the contest. Rich Gaspari was 208 and Mike Quinn was 204. Haney was one of the biggest competitors at 243 or 247. DeMey was one the surprises of the show because he came in so ripped, especially his famous lower back. Phil Hill was the most controversial placing. He was a little off from his Night of the Champions condition but he still looked good and he had one of the best posing routines of the night. The crowd went nuts when he didn't make the top ten.

[KEVDIESEL]

Some people hate it when you say those guys back in the day were this and that, but dude just look at them. Those were true bodybuilders.

[Waylon]

Awesome! Crazy to think they would likely only be top national level guys with those physiques now.

http://www.rxmuscle.com/images/banners/SNAZMAbanner.jpg

[John Hansen]

Here's a few more -

[the bull eso]

^^^Phil Hill FTW

[Rambo2]

check this out

R11s5OShfvs

[John Hansen]

It's interesting watching the different posing routines. Guys like Lee Labrada, Rich Gaspari and especially Phil Hill had well thought out and choreographed posing routines. Gary Strydom was clueless about posing but he seemed to sense which poses worked best for him and he judged the audience's reaction to what poses he should hit. Mike Quinn had a high energy routine accentuating his arms, back and most muscular poses. Haney had the routine of a champion. It was a whole different feel with him because he was the King back then and he acted like it. Did you notice no one asked for applause from the audience by waving their hands? Hmmm

[ob205]

They should bring back the weigh-ins! Would like to know the REAL numbers.



That was probably the best condition Mike Quinn was ever in. What was really surprising about the 1988 Olympia was how light so many of the competitors were. That was the only Olympia that had an official weigh-in the day before the contest. Rich Gaspari was 208 and Mike Quinn was 204. Haney was one of the biggest competitors at 243 or 247. DeMey was one the surprises of the show because he came in so ripped, especially his famous lower back. Phil Hill was the most controversial placing. He was a little off from his Night of the Champions condition but he still looked good and he had one of the best posing routines of the night. The crowd went nuts when he didn't make the top ten.

[hifrommike65]

1
Lee Haney (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Haney,+Lee)


2
Rich Gaspari (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Gaspari,+Rich)


3
Berry DeMey (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=DeMey,+Berry)


4
Lee Labrada (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Labrada,+Lee)


5
Gary Strydom (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Strydom,+Gary)


6
Mike Quinn (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Quinn,+Mike)


7
Brian Buchanan (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Buchanan,+Brian)


8
Samir Bannout (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Bannout,+Samir)


9
Ron Love (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Love,+Ron)


10
Bob Paris (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Paris,+Bob)


11
Mohammed Benaziza (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Benaziza,+Mohammed)


12
Phil Hill (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Hill,+Phil)


13
Shawn Ray (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Ray,+Shawn)


14
Mike Ashley (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Ashley,+Mike)


15
Albert Beckles (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Beckles,+Albert)


16
Edouard Kawak (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Kawak,+Edouard)


17
Robby Robinson (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Robinson,+Robby)


18
Peter Hensel (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Hensel,+Peter)


19
Luiz Freitas (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Freitas,+Luiz)


20
Ralf Moeller (http://forums.rxmuscle.com/show.php?a=Moeller,+Ralf)

[hifrommike65]

I saw this contest live from a satellite hookup arranged by my workout gym, & it was phenomenal. I was struck by Benaziza, who had a great look & should have been higher in the rankings.

[nsp]

Lee Haney is the best Mr O132358

Without a doubt. Who else can retire at age 32 with 8 Mr. O titles?

[Ironguru]

That was probably the best condition Mike Quinn was ever in.

I was just about to say, even Mike Quinn looked really good!

[Triple-H_2005]

IFBB Bodybuilding 1984-1992 > 1993-now.

[a-dog]

man, I remember just being totally psyched for this show. I might have even called the local powerhouse to get the results the day after the show. I was a big Gaspari/Labrada fan....well I guess I still am. Strydom was so f'n ripped, it's too bad he dropped like 20-30lbs in the short time between the Chicago Pro (which he lost to a guy who was way more ripped-can't remember his name) I guess his back was actually llooking alot better before h dropped the weight but he figued if he couldn't win in chicago via size he couldn't win the olympia via size.

what a great show.

[John Hansen]

man, I remember just being totally psyched for this show. I might have even called the local powerhouse to get the results the day after the show. I was a big Gaspari/Labrada fan....well I guess I still am. Strydom was so f'n ripped, it's too bad he dropped like 20-30lbs in the short time between the Chicago Pro (which he lost to a guy who was way more ripped-can't remember his name) I guess his back was actually llooking alot better before h dropped the weight but he figued if he couldn't win in chicago via size he couldn't win the olympia via size.

what a great show.

Great memory! Yes, Strydom lost to Phil Williams at the '88 Chicago Pro Show. He was much bigger for that contest but his back development killed him so, like you said, he got shredded for the Olympia but may have lost some size.

[Johnny Bravo]

IFBB Bodybuilding 1984-1992 > 1993-now.

I agree (more or less) with this.
Back then each bodybuilder brought something special, a trademark. Now they all look the same, bloated guts and no where in shape compared to the "old" days.

[a-dog]

Great memory! Yes, Strydom lost to Phil Williams at the '88 Chicago Pro Show. He was much bigger for that contest but his back development killed him so, like you said, he got shredded for the Olympia but may have lost some size.

I kind of thought that was his name but really didn't want to post it without being 100% sure (I take that stuff serious..lol). I still wish we would have gotten to see Strydom in his WBF championship form stand next to Haney, that would have been great.

[John Hansen]

I kind of thought that was his name but really didn't want to post it without being 100% sure (I take that stuff serious..lol). I still wish we would have gotten to see Strydom in his WBF championship form stand next to Haney, that would have been great.

Phil Williams was one of my favorite bodybuilders in the '80's. He won the '84 USA and the '85 Nationals. I wish he would have competed in the 1988 Mr. Olympia. I think he would have been in the top 6.

[lartinos]

Amazing how much different only a few years later looks!

[AVBG]

P132493132494132495132496132497

[bigdealbaby]

brian buchanan's waist is still unbelievable.

[natl128705]

Awesome! Crazy to think they would likely only be top national level guys with those physiques now.

http://www.rxmuscle.com/images/banners/SNAZMAbanner.jpg



Only by todays judging standards, these guys today would get blown away if they were going by the old judging