The overshadowed 8x Olympia champion.
When it comes to entertainment many people choose to focus on the here and now more than what has come before. Sure, there are instances where people will reference past achievement with reverence and appreciation, but more often than not many greats are forgotten or at least aren’t references near as much as they should be. Bodybuilding is no different.
Often times when people, particularly the fans, reference the greats from the past usually it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Ronnie Coleman, Dorian Yates. But it’s becoming apparent that Lee Haney, the first man to win eight Olympia titles in a row, the first man to beat Arnold’s record of six consecutive Olympia victories, is never given quite the amount of respect as other bodybuilding champions.
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In reality, Haney is a man that should be treated as royalty in the bodybuilding world. That’s to say he isn’t given any recognition, but for some reason fans seem to be focusing on other champions when Haney should be paramount on any list of top bodybuilding champions to ever compete in the sport. He’s not only a great bodybuilding legend, but also a great ambassador for the sport with a wealth of knowledge that he’s willing to share with bodybuilders of any level. Now don’t get us wrong – Lee Haney is a well respected bodybuilder in the community. But it just always seems like bodybuilders like Arnold, Dorian Yates, and Ronnie Coleman come up way more often… and majority of those bodybuilders have less Olympia wins.
Recently Haney wrote an article for Muscular Development, giving his thoughts on the “guru” craze in fitness. The former Olympia champion weighed in on the subject stating, among other things, why gurus aren’t the way to go if you’re looking for bodybuilding success. You can read the article here.
But if those words of wisdom weren’t enough to convince you that Lee Haney deserves a tremendous amount of accolades, then just take a look at the posing routine below of the eight time champion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMftr3QnYXs
Do you think Lee Haney is given the respect he deserves? Let us know what you think in the comments and forums. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron on Facebook and Twitter.
