Kevin Levrone

Kevin Levrone
Bodybuilder
Personal info
Born July 16, 1964
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Weight 253 lb (115kg)[1]
Professional career
Pro-debut NPC Nationals, 1991
Best win IFBB Arnold Classic 1994/1996, IFBB Mr.Olympia runner-up 1992/1995/2000/2002,

Kevin Mark Levrone (born July 16, 1964) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, IFBB Hall of Famer, blogger and musician.

During his professional career, Levrone competed in 68 IFBB Professional contests. He has won 23 Pro Shows, holding the record of the most wins as an IFBB professional until Ronnie Coleman set the new record in 2004. Despite having been away from competition for well over a decade since he retired in 2003 Kevin officially announced in mid 2016 that he would return to once again compete at the professional level on stage at the Mr. Olympia contest. At age 51 Levrone made his professional bodybuilding return competing, as announced, at the 2016 Mr. Olympia.[2]

In 2018, in the lead up to competing in the Arnold Classic Australia competition, Levrone announced that this would be his last competition. He placed 13th out of a field of 14. Many believe he had improved on his 2016 Mr Olympia condition, but he was still far from the condition that had made him a big name in bodybuilding in the 90s and early 2000s.

Early life

Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland by an Italian-American father and an African American mother, he lost both parents to cancer at a young age.[3] Levrone was born on July 16, although the year is contested (1964, 1965, 1966 and 1968 have all been cited), one of six siblings. He first got into the gym when seeing his cousin come home from the military. After seeing the size and condition of his cousin, Kevin says that is what made him more serious about working out and bodybuilding in general.[4]

Training

Levrone began his professional IFBB career in 1991 after finishing first in the NPC Finals. After the 1992 Olympia in February 1993, Kevin completely tore his major and minor pectorals while bench pressing 600 pounds, and he needed surgery to reattach them. At that time everyone thought that Levrone's career was over. He had two surgeries, the first one lasted 8 hours. While he was healing from his first surgery he got an infection and he needed a second surgery.

Levrone has been in more than 13 Mr. Olympia competitions, including the 2016 Mr. Olympia by special invite. Despite placing a number of times, Kevin never took first place in a Mr. Olympia competition earning him the nickname, "The Uncrowned King of Mr. Olympia". Levrone has been applauded for his ability to train quickly for competitions, rather than training year-long. This fact is often attributed to the reason why he was able to come back for the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition. Despite not placing in the top 10 for the first time, Levrone got himself in competition-shape in only 5 months. After the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition Levrone revealed he had trained despite injuries to his pectorals and knee.

After professional career

Levrone did not officially announce his retirement, he explained this as he never thought about retirement, he decided to do something different, find other challenges.[5] Since ending his competition career, Levrone enjoys playing other sports like tennis and golf. He has acted in several films and is also a musician. He released an online training platform in early 2016 naming it TeamLevrone.com. In 2015, he released a supplement line called, "Kevin Levrone Signature Series".[6]

In May 2016 after 13 years of not competing Kevin officially announced he would be coming out of retirement to compete in the 2016 Mr. Olympia by special invite. [7]

Stats

  • Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 11 in)[8]
  • Off Season Weight: 100 kg (220 lb)[8] (post active competitive career)
  • Off Season Weight: 120 kg (260 lb)[9] (peak during active competitive career)
  • Competition Weight: 110–115 kg (243–254 lb)
  • Arm Size: 60 cm (24 in)[9] (active peak)
  • Leg Size: 82 cm (32 in)[9]
  • Waist Size: 73.66 cm (29.00 in)
  • Chest size: 145 cm (57 in)
  • Best Bench Press: 240 kg (530 lb)(RAW, i.e. unequipped, with belt)[8][10][11]

Competitive history

References

  1. 1 2 Pro Profiles. "Kevin Levrone Pro Bodybuilding Profile". Bodybuilding.com. Bodybuilding.com, LLC. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  2. ↑ "2016". Mr. Olympia. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  3. ↑ "Kevin Levrone". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  4. ↑ "The Kevin Levrone Interview". Bodybuilding.com. 2004-11-26. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  5. ↑ "The Kevin Levrone Interview". Bodybuilding.com. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  6. ↑ "Kevin Levrone: revolutionary sports supplement brand created by me, Kevin Levrone". levrosupplements.com. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  7. ↑ Chris Nicoll (videographer). "Kevin Levrone Is Back!". FLEX Online. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  8. 1 2 3 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  9. 1 2 3 "Kevin Levrone – Evolution of Bodybuilding". Evolutionofbodybuilding.net. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  10. ↑ Greg Merritt. "Kevin Levrone's Training Philosophies". FLEX Online. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  11. ↑ "Bodybuilder Kevin Levrone". Criticalbench.com. 1965-07-16. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
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