1981: The Return of Franco Columbu
After his good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger returned to competition the year prior, not without his own hurdles to overcome, Franco Columbu decided to return to competition after a severe knee injury had sidelined him for five years. With the 1980 competition steeped in it’s own dreaded myopia of controversy, many of the top bodybuilders of the era had chosen to boycott the competition, stating that the politics involved in the 1980 event marred the Olympia competition and everything it stood for. Having been out of competition for years and against the expressed objections of his physician, Franco trained diligently for the event and entered the competition, co-promoted that year by Schwarznegger. Call it politics, call it favoritism, but Franco came out on top in 1981, many observers once again expressing their disapproval. Due to his injury, Franco didn’t possess the leg definition that one would expect of an Olympia champion, the lack thereof proving to harm his overall symmetry. As great an athlete as he was, it can’t be denied that Franco Columbu was perhaps gifted a victory in 1981.
