Universe Championships

The Universe Championships are an annual bodybuilding event organised by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA). It has a number of competitions: NABBA Mr. Universe (amateur and professional), Miss Physique, and Miss Figure.

First held in 1948, the contest was initially only for amateur male bodybuilders - but a separate contest for professionals was added in 1952. The NABBA defines amateur as someone who has "never entered and accepted prize money in an advertised professional event". Miss Physique, a women's contest was added in 1966 and Miss Figure was introduced in 1986.

A separate competition called IFBB Mr. Universe was organized by the IFBB. This changed its name to the World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships in 1976.

Mr. Universe is a bodybuilding contest. The athletes are judged on their symmetry, proportions and the size and clarity of each muscle group. Most of the judging occurs during the day, this is called the pre-judging. Before the distractions of the evening show, the finals.

Winners

Year Mr. Universe (Amateur)
1948 - John Grimek
1949 - No contest
1950 - Steve Reeves
1951 - Reg Park
1952 - Mohammed Nasr
1953 - Bill Pearl
1954 - Enrico Thomas
1955 - Mickey Hargitay
1956 - Ray Schaeffer
1957 - John Lees
1958 - Earl Clark
1959 - Len Sell
1960 - Henry Downs
1961 - Ray Routledge
1962 - Joe Abbenda
1963 - Tom Sansome
1964 - John Hewlett
1965 - Elmo Santiago
1966 - Chester Yorton
1967 - Cody Twombley
1968 - Dennis Tinerino
1969 - Boyer Coe
1970 - Frank Zane
1971 - Ken Waller
1972 - Elias Petsas
1973 - Chris Dickerson
1974 - Roy Duval
1975 - Ian Lawrence
1976 - Shigeru Sugita
1977 - Bertil Fox
1978 - Dave Johns
1979 - Ahmet Enünlü
1980 - Bill Richardson
1981 - John Brown
1982 - John Brown
1983 - Jeff King
1984 - Brian Buchanan
1985 - Tim Belknap
1986 - Marcel Brugmans
1987 - Basil Francis
1988 - Victor Terra
1989 - Matt Dufresne
1990 - Peter Reid
1991 - Reiner Gorbracht
1992 - Mustafa Mohammad
1993 - Dennis Francis
1994 - Nick van Beeck
1995 - Grant Clemesha
1996 - Frederico Focherini
1997 - Grant Thomas
1998 - Gary Lister
1999 - Franco Male
2000 - Sergei Ogorodnikov
2001 - Steffen Müller
2002 - Costantino Caleazzo
2003 - Aric Hoeschen
2004 - Steve Sinton
2005 - Charles Mario
2006 - Tomáš Bureš
2007 - Salvatori Orazio
2008 - Lionel Beyeke
2009 - Quinn Morin

Year Mr. Universe (Pro)

1952 - Juan Ferrero
1953 - Jim Davis
1954 - Jim Park
1955 - Leo Robert
1956 - Jack Dellinger
1957 - Arthur Robin
1958 - Reg Park
1959 - Bruce Randall
1960 - Paul Wynter
1961 - Bill Pearl
1962 - Len Sell
1963 - Joe Abbenda
1964 - Earl Maynard
1965 - Reg Park
1966 - Paul Wynter
1967 - Bill Pearl
1968 - Arnold Schwarzenegger
1969 - Arnold Schwarzenegger
1970 - Arnold Schwarzenegger
1971 - Bill Pearl
1972 - Frank Zane
1973 - Boyer Coe
1974 - Chris Dickerson
1975 - Boyer Coe
1976 - Serge Nubret
1977 - Tony Emmot
1978 - Bertil Fox
1979 - Bertil Fox
1980 - Tony Pearson
1981 - Robby Robinson
1982 - Edward Kawak
1983 - Edward Kawak
1984 - Edward Kawak
1985 - Edward Kawak
1986 - Lance Dreher
1987 - Olaf Annus
1988 - Charles Clairmonte
1990 - Charles Clairmonte
1991 - Dino Cajo
1992 - Dino Cajo
1993 - Dino Cajo
1994 - Edward Kawak
1995 - John Terilli
1996 - Brian Buchanan
1997 - Shaun Davis
1998 - Eddy Ellwood
1999 - Eddy Ellwood
2000 - Eddy Ellwood
2001 - Eddy Ellwood
2002 - Eddy Ellwood
2003 - Gary Lister
2004 - Gary Lister
2005 - Hassan Al Saka
2006 - Sergey Ogorodnikov
2007 - Steve Sinton
2008 - Graham Park
2009 - Alessandro Savi