Mr. America (contest)

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Mr. America
SportBodybuilding
Awarded forPhysical fitness, trained muscular structure
History
First award1939
First winnerBert Goodrich
Most wins
2 times
Most recentJay Brew (2020)

The Mr. America contest is a bodybuilding competition started by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU). It was first held on July 4, 1939, and the winner was named "America's Best Built Man". In 1940 this was changed to what is now known as the Mr. America contest. In the mid-1940s, Joe and Ben Weider started the IFBB as an alternative to the AAU. They held their opposing contest, the IFBB Mr. America, in 1949 and then from 1959 through 1977.[1] Rights to the Mr. America name have been sold several times after AAU discontinued holding the contests in 1999.

History[]

The AAU voted to discontinue holding bodybuilding competitions in 1999.[citation needed] In March 2017, AAU Strength Sports Chairman Martin Drake brought bodybuilding and fitness back to the AAU.[2][3]

In 2004, the World Bodybuilding & Fitness Association (WBFA) announced they had acquired the rights to the Mr. America name and would resume running contests under that banner.

Bob Bonham acquired the rights and from 2011 through 2013 held the Mr America contest under the sanction of the INBF (International Natural Bodybuilding Federation), which is the amateur division of the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation). The contests were drug tested under strict WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) guidelines using U.S. Olympic laboratory testing.

In 2015, rights to Mr. America were acquired by Bruce Ebel, and the contest's annual event cycle resumed via MRA Promotions. Qualifying events in spring were sponsored by the National Gym Association (NGA), Nspire Sports League (NSL), and Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE).[4] The Mr. America Expo and contest was to have been held in Baltimore in October 2017.[5]

In 2020, the contest resumed in the face of the pandemic as a non-sanctioned event (with no specific organization affiliation) promoted by Marc Tauriello of East Coast Fitness Concepts. The Mr. America Sports Festival & Expo was held October 9–11, 2020, in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the Atlantic City Sheraton Ballroom.[6][better source needed]

Historic winners[]

Year Overall Winner (AAU)[1] Overall Winner (IFBB)[1] Overall Winner (INBF)[7] Overall Winner (Unsanctioned)
1939 Bert Goodrich (First Mr. America, but not AAU sanctioned)[8]  
1940 John Grimek
1941 John Grimek
1942
1943 Jules Bacon
1944 Steve Stanko
1945 Clarence Ross
1946
1947 Steve Reeves
1948 George Eiferman
1949 Jack Delinger
1950  
1951 Roy Hilligenn
1952
1953 Bill Pearl
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960 Lloyd Lerille
1961 Raymond Routledge Gaétan D'Amours
1962 Joe Abbenda Larry Scott
1963 Reg Lewis
1964 (also spelled or ) Harold Poole
1965 Jerry Daniels Dave Draper
1966 Bob Gajda Chester Yorton
1967 Dennis Tinerino
1968 Frank Zane
1969
1970 Chris Dickerson Mike Katz
1971 Casey Viator Ken Waller
1972 Ed Corney
1973 Jim Morris Lou Ferrigno
1974 Bob Birdsong
1975 Robby Robinson
1976 Mike Mentzer
1977 Danny Padilla
1978 Tony Pearson
1979 Ray Mentzer
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989 Matt DuFresne
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997 Bill Davey
1998
1999
2011 Rawle Greene
2012 Daniel White
2013 John Heart
2014 (No show held)
2015 Cleveland Thomas[9]
2016 Shevon Cunningham[10]
2017–
2019 		(No contests)
2020 Jay Brew

1988 AAU Mr. America winners[]

Overall Winner

Tall

Place Tall
1st Rory Leidelmeyer
2nd
3rd Jim Badra
4th
5th

Medium-Tall

Place Medium-Tall
1st William Norberg
2nd Peter LaReau
3rd Peter Moen
4th Greg Ladd
5th Braulio Medina

Medium

Place Medium
1st Casey Kucharyk
2nd Abe Cuesta
3rd Doug Brown
4th Greg Long
5th Brian Silk Sr

Short

Place Short
1st Bryan McCluskey
2nd David Brown (3)
3rd Don Lemieux
4th Brian Homka
5th Rod Ketchens

Recent winners[]

Year Location Overall Winner[1][7] Classic Physique
(added 2020)
2011 New York City, New York Rawle Greene
2012 Secaucus, New Jersey Daniel White
2013 Secaucus, New Jersey John Heart
2014 (No show held)
2015 Rochester, New York
2016 Washington, D.C. (Six Flags America)
2017 (No show held)
2018 (No show held)
2019 (No show held)
2020 Atlantic City, New Jersey Jay Brew Joe LaCerra

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Mr. America History". mramerica.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  2. ^ "2018 AAU Strength Sports Recognition Program". AAU Strength Sports (Press release). Amateur Athletic Union. May 7, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2020. 2017 [...] with the return of AAU Bodybuilding
  3. ^ Barton, Chancellor (April 11, 2019). "AAU championships provide a full body of work". Laughlin Times. Laughlin, Nevada. Retrieved April 9, 2020 – via Mohave Daily News.
  4. ^ "Mr. America Qualifying Events". MRA Promotions. Archived from the original on October 30, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "Mr. America Info and Registration". mramerica.com. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  6. ^ Tauriello, Marc (March 31, 2020). "Mr. America". Facebook. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Fair, John D. (2015-01-05). Mr. America: The Tragic History of a Bodybuilding Icon. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-76082-0.
  8. ^ Fair, John D. (2015). Mr. America. University of Texas. Appendix. ISBN 978-0292760820.
  9. ^ "Cleveland Thomas". Mr. America. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  10. ^ "Mr. America 2016 All American Sports Festival – Event Recap". Mr. America. August 1, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2020.

Further reading[]

  • Fair, John D. Mr. America: The Tragic History of a Bodybuilding Icon (2015) Excerpt

External links[]


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