Mr. America (contest)

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.

Mr. America
SportBodybuilding
Given forPhysical fitness, trained muscular structure
History
First award1939
First winnerBert Goodrich
Most wins
2 times
Most recentShevon Cunningham (2016)

History

The AAU voted to discontinue holding bodybuilding competitions in 1999. 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 will resume 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 will be held October 9–11, 2020, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[6]

Historic winners
YearOverall Winner (AAU)[1]Overall Winner (IFBB)[1] Overall Winner (INBF)[7] Overall Winner (Unsanctioned)
1939Bert Goodrich (First Mr. America, but not AAU sanctioned)[8]  
Roland Essmaker
1940John Grimek
1941John Grimek
1942Frank Leight
1943Jules Bacon
1944Steve Stanko
1945Clarence Ross
1946Alan Stephan
1947Steve Reeves
1948George Eiferman
1949Jack DelingerAlan Stephan
1950John Farbotnik 
1951Roy Hilligenn
1952Jim Park
1953Bill Pearl
1954Dick DuBois
1955Steve Klisanin
1956Ray Schaefer
1957Ron Lacy
1958Tom Sansone
1959Harry JohnsonChuck Sipes
1960Lloyd LerilleGene Shuey
1961Raymond RoutledgeGaétan D'Amours
1962Joe AbbendaLarry Scott
1963Vern WeaverReg Lewis
1964Val Vasilieff (also spelled Vasilef or Vasilief)Harold Poole
1965Jerry DanielsDave Draper
1966Bob GajdaChester Yorton
1967Dennis TinerinoDon Howorth
1968Jim HaislopFrank Zane
1969Boyer CoeJohn Decola
1970Chris DickersonMike Katz
1971Casey ViatorKen Waller
1972Steve MichalikEd Corney
1973Jim MorrisLou Ferrigno
1974Ron ThompsonBob Birdsong
1975Dale AdrianRobby Robinson
1976Kalman SzkalakMike Mentzer
1977Dave JohnsDanny Padilla
1978Tony Pearson
1979Ray Mentzer
1980Gary Leonard
1981Tim Belknap
1982Rufus Howard
1983Jeff King
1984Joe Meeko
1985Michael Antorino
1986Glenn Knerr
1987Richard Barretta
1988William Norberg
1989Matt DuFresne
1990Peter Miller
1991Joe DeAngelis
1992Mike Scarcella
1993Billy Nothaft
1994Andrew Sivert
1995Terence Hairston
1996Doug Rieser
1997Bill Davey
1998Harvey H. Campbell
1999Tracey Dorsey
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)

1988 AAU Mr. America winners
Overall Winner
William Norberg

Tall

PlaceTall
1stRory Leidelmeyer
2ndBob Gosch
3rdJim Badra
4thAlex Sicignano
5thBob Good

Medium-Tall

PlaceMedium-Tall
1stWilliam Norberg
2ndPeter LaReau
3rdPeter Moen
4thGreg Ladd
5thBraulio Medina

Medium

PlaceMedium
1stCasey Kucharyk
2ndAbe Cuesta
3rdDoug Brown
4thGreg Long
5thBrian Silk Sr

Short

PlaceShort
1stBryan McCluskey
2ndDavid Brown (3)
3rdDon Lemieux
4thBrian Homka
5thRod Ketchens

Recent winners
YearLocationOverall Winner[1][7]
2011 New York City, New York Rawle Greene
2012 Secaucus, New Jersey Daniel White
2013 Secaucus, New Jersey John Heart
2014 (No show held)
2015Rochester, New YorkCleveland Thomas
2016Washington, D.C. (Six Flags America)Shevon Cunningham
2017(No show held)
2018 (No show held)
2019 (No show held)
2020Atlantic City, New Jersey

See also

References
  1. "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. 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


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