Mr. World Contest
Roubaix, France
Oct. 16, 1954
by Bob Hoffman
The 1954 Plus Bel Athlete Du Mond (World's Most Handsome Athlete) contest, as it is officially called, was held Saturday night, October 16 in Roubaix, France. Roubaix is a sister city to Lille, close to the Belgian border, and there is great interest in both cities in weight lifting. Although the Mr. World physique contest was something entirely new to Roubaix, it was well-liked. People all over Europe, in Denmark, Sweden, Austria and France, were impressed by the muscle control exhibitions given by several members of the American team.
Next year it is planned to have a Mr. World contest in conjunction with the world weight lifting championships in Munich, Germany, which presents as good an opportunity as any for me to suggest that as many enthusiasts as possible accompany the American team to Germany in 1955. How could you have a better vacation ? It has been suggested by the air lines that we charter an entire plane for the use of the American team, officials and accompanying enthusiasts. The entire cost of the plane trip and the stay in Europe would not be more than $700 per person, and the trip would provide an ideal vacation. If you can plan a three-week vacation during September, plan to have the time of your life traveling in Europe with America's champion weight lifters. We need at least 50 in the party to charter a plane and had 12 this trip, so need about 38 men who want to enter the physique contest, see the championships or just make the trip. Let's hear from those who are interested so we can see if the plan to charter an entire plane is feasible.
In spite of the efforts of the French organizing committee, there were only 14 entrants in the Mr. World contest this year. Of this group the general standard of physical excellence was less impressive than the contestants in a single contest in one major U.S. A.A.U. district. Because there had been few entries, we had been asked to enter some of our weight lifters to fill out the program. With the exception of Glorieux, the Belgian, and the two British body builders, most of the others gathered in Paris and made the five hour trip to Roubaix at the expense of the committee.
It had been agreed at the meeting of the international federation in Vienna that this contest would be held according to the rules standardized by the American A.A.U. It was also agreed that an international panel of judges would serve, rather than a doctor, art teacher, sculptor, sports writer, etc. all from France - as was originally planned. We managed to enforce the rule to the point that each of the countries with representatives entered had at least one man on the panel. Jean Dame, however, argued against A.A.U. rules, insisting that the scoring of the international federation be used. The score sheets had already been made up, so this was done.
With the usual French method of scoring, 20 points were to be the maximum for the first display, which consisted merely of standing at attention in the center of the floor and facing the four points of the compass successively. The contestants posed individually in this manner, making quarter turns until they had been seen from all angles in a natural stance. In this portion of the contest, points were to be deducted if the athlete tensed his muscles or stood unnaturally.
In the second display the athlete could pose as he liked, as long as he liked. This feature was time-consuming, but did give men who were masters of posing a chance to pile up points. Scoring was to a possible 10 points in this portion. The third display was a comparison between the leading 12 five points was the top score allowed for the third display
Clarence Johnson, U.S. A.A.U. weight lifting chairman and international vice president, insisted that the American system of crossing off the high and low score given each man be followed. This is done because there is bound to be some favoritism, even though it be unconscious, and point juggling is difficult when its worthless to give your man an unusually high score and his most dangerous rival a low one.
The athletes appeared in turn, did their soldierly quarter turns and marched out of the spotlighted section of the hall. The judges marked their scores and we learned that Tommy Kono had taken an immediate lead. He was three points ahead of the second man, Boulos of Egypt. Tun Maung, of Burma, was also near the top. From our standards, although he is Mr. Burma, Maung's proportions are not quite symmetrical, being a bit bowlegged and long-waisted. he is unusually muscular, however, has a fine soldierly bearing and is a wonderful athlete. Maung will be promoted to lieutenant in the Burmese army upon his return home, we were told.
Dave Sheppard and Clyde Emrich did not want to enter the contest, for both had been trying to gain weight and thought they might appear too "bulky". Emrich does not like physique contests anyway, and although Sheppard has done well in physique contests in the past, he has put this phase of his weight training activity behind him. Both were good sports, however, and entered to help out in the program.
In the second display there were some changes in the ratings as those who knew how to pose poured it on. Kono forged still farther ahead, attaining a total of 128, compared to Maung's 117 1/2 and Boulos' 117.
Kemil Nigh El Dine, known in his homeland as "The Grimek of the Nile", did not look as good as he might have because he was very hirsute. He posed well, however, and drew up into a tie with his countryman Boulos at this point.
The competition was taking place in two height classes, divided at 5'6 1/2". It had been explained that although there would be two height class winners, that the overall winner and place winners would be those with the highest scores, regardless of class. unfortunately there was an unpleasant aftermath to the contest, for although Tommy Kono had won with a total of 150 points compared to 137 1/2 for Maung and 137 for Boulos, they were introduced later as the two winners of the Mr. World title. They claimed this was the way they always did it, in France, which was untrue. When John Farbotnik won the Mr. World in 1950 there was just one winner and that was Farbotnik, and the 1950 contest took place in Paris.
I said it made no difference to me who won, but after Tommy won I certainly wanted him to get all the credit he deserved. Most of the newspapers said in big headlines that Kono had won with his total of 150 points, but the Communist paper merely listed the Egyptian as winner in the tall class and Tommy as winner of the shorter class, not listing the points. The french complicated matters further by giving Tommy what they considered to be their best prize, a porcelain vase costing 40,000 francs which had been donated by the president of the republic. To the Egyptian they gave a small cup which bore the inscription "Plus Bel Athlete Du Mond." So with the report in the Communist paper and his trophy, he argued until five o'clock in the morning that he had officially won the Mr. World Title. He said he had won the tall class, which was most important, and had been given the trophy, so was the winner. It's too bad that when Tommy had won on his merits that we had to argue about it afterward, but the French do things that way. In 1950 they had given Farbotnik one of their precious unmarked porcelain vases, and given the second-place Frenchman a replica of the winning trophy in the lifting team contest, which bore the inscription "Plus Bel Athlete Du Mond." It happened Mario Marello, the second-place man, was a gentleman. he acknowledged Farbotnik was the winner and switched trophies. But not Boulos, for it seemed all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't have parted him from that trophy.
The French said Tommy got the big prize, the 40,000 franc vase (about $150), and that the Egyptian's prize cost much less. I said I didn't care if the prize cost a fourth of a franc just so it was inscribed Plus Bel Athlete Du Mond. It wasn't the intrinsic value we were concerned with, but that the winner should receive the winner's trophy. So we got a testimonial letter from the judges stating that Tommy was the ultimate winner of the Mr. World title.
And so ended another physique contest with everyone, as usual, happy, satisfied and contented!
Photo Captions
- Johnny Terpak and Bob Hoffman can bee seen at the left in this line-up of officials for the Mr. World contest. prizes awarded the winners are on display along the front of the judge's table.
- The impressive symmetry of Tommy Kono's powerful weightlifter's physique stands out in the relaxed photo at left. Tommy won the 1954 Mr. World contest by 12 1/2 points over Burma's Tun Maung (opposite page). Boulos (above), representing Egypt, won the tall men's class and placed third in the over-all scoring. (All Mr. World contest photos by Bert Loveday, England)
- 1) Kemil Nigh El Dine, known in his native Egypt as "The Grimek of the Nile," ranked high in the Mr. World contest. His point score placed him fourth, close behind countryman Boulos.
- 2) An impressive Mr. World contestant from England wsa Wally Wright, who is known for his ability to deep knee bend with heavy poundages and for his powerful leg development. Wright placed sixth in the contest.
- 3) In relaxation Dave Sheppard is a picture of massive symmetry, giving some indication of the latent power in his record-breaking muscles. Sheppard holds world lightheavyweight (303 1/4) and middleheavyweight (316 1/2) snatch records.
- 4) Burma's outstanding featherweight lifter, smiling Tun Maung, placed second to Tommy Kono in the short height class and the over-all Mr. World contest. The muscular 132-pounder can clean and jerk more than 300 pounds.
- 5) He doesn't care for physique contests, but Clyde Emrich entered the Mr. World competition to help give the event an international flavor and mad a good impression. Emrich has cleaned 400 pounds several times at a 198-pounder.