Ep. 252 - The First Bodybuilding Show (with Marcus Kment & Dr. Conor Heffernan)

Dec 11, 2023

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The Great Competition, 1901, Royal Albert Hall, London…this was the birthplace of modern bodybuilding. The one and only Eugen Sandow managed to persevere through multiple years of war, logistical setbacks, and a political and cultural climate that viewed physique displays as potentially indecent, sometimes immoral, and at worst, as illegal pornography, to host the first championship bodybuilding show to find the “best built man in Britain and Ireland”. To even compete, entrants had to place top three in a full series of regional qualifiers where hundreds upon hundreds of athletes battled against one another in the years prior. Further, to even enter these regional qualifiers, entrants had to send in their pictures to Eugen Sandow’s magazine for initial screening. The eventual championship in 1901 was truly a spectacle. Nearly ten thousand attendees packed Royal Albert Hall to the brim, an astonishing number that rivals the attendance of any modern bodybuilding competition…even the Olympia. Indeed, this historic event reverberates into the modern era, as modern Olympia winners receive “the Sandow”, a replica of the trophy given to the third-place winner of The Great Competition. In this episode, we’re joined by Marcus Kment, a filmmaker, physical culturist, and amateur historian, who recently produced an excellent documentary on the Great Competition and the athletes who competed in it to discuss its significance and their story. Additionally, he’s joined by our very own Dr. Conor Heffernan who consulted on this project. Join us to learn about this jaw-dropping history, as once again, history proves stranger than fiction!

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00:00 It happened again… Where is Trexler? And the hierarchy of the Iron Culture Obelisk

8:58 Reviewing reviews

13:01 Introducing Marcus to the Iron Culture Pantheon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha80AQqXpT4

17:38 Marcus’ introduction to physical culture and why he does what he does

23:01 The great competition and its grand scale

41:16 The logistical barriers and generating interest

55:05 What happened on show day and the prizes

1:04:52 The dress code (black tights!?), judging criteria, and the winners

1:12:00 A festival of physical culture and what came after

1:20:22 The impact of the great competition