Mr. Olympia Flashback: Archive footage of Brandon Curry at the start of his switch to training in Kuwait.
Every champion starts from somewhere. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that a superstar pro bodybuilder was ever once a younger athlete unsure if he would ever be champion. But it’s true. Every champion at one point was a young and hungry athlete with an unknown future. Looking back at Brandon Curry’s past, there was a time when he was far from even close to becoming Mr. Olympia champion. He even had a particularly rough year in 2015. He placed 16th at the Arnold Classic and wasn’t sure if he should continue forward in the sport of bodybuilding.
Thankfully he stuck around. And thankfully he discovered Oxygen Gym and the bodybuilding culture in Kuwait. It was a key tipping point that transformed Brandon Curry into a powerhouse athlete who eventually took the Mr. Olympia title in 2019. In our latest GI Exclusive Vault interview, a pre-Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry goes into detail about his transition to training in Kuwait. It’s a rare flashback to a time when he was at a crossroads.
Beyond being the current Mr. Olympia champion, there has been a consistent compliment given to Brandon Curry. When other athletes and experts analyze his career and physique – they always make mention of how consistent his progress has been.
Yes, he may already be the Mr. Olympia – but nearly everyone agrees we haven’t even seen his best physique yet. Each year since training in Kuwait, Curry has shown strong consistent improvement. It’s a big reason why many are excited to see him face off against Phil Heath later this year. Will Curry showcase a physique that can topple Heath’s return?
That consistency wasn’t always a guarantee for Brandon Curry. Before making some major changes and training in Kuwait – he had a bit of a rollercoaster career. One that almost led to him dropping out from competing entirely.
In our latest GI Exclusive Vault clip, we’ve pulled our extended interview with Brandon Curry from the cutting room floor of Generation Iron 2. This was back in 2017, over two years before he would become the Mr. Olympia champion. That year he would place 8th at the Olympia.
This was the vital tipping point in his career. Our camera crew caught up with Brandon Curry just a few months after his first time training in Kuwait. In the interview, he details the entire experience. How he discovered Oxygen Gym, what his early impressions were of the experience, and what he hoped to accomplish in the future. It’s a rare glimpse into a man before he knew the kind of champion he would become.
In the interview he also talks about the future of Kuwait as a bodybuilding center in the sport. He called it the “Disney Land” of bodybuilding and believed that many athletes, including Big Ramy, already proved that Kuwait was a strong competitor for producing the best pro bodybuilding athletes in the world. Little did he know that eventually he would also be living proof of the power behind the Kuwait training lifestyle.
You can watch Bradon Curry’s full comments in our GI Exclusive Vault interview segment above. You can also see him featured in Generation Iron 2 on digital. Click here or the banner below to stream or download today!
