Fitness and bodybuilding icon Joe Weider dies

Bodybuilding icon Joe Weider, who created the Mr Olympia contest and mentored a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, has died at the age of 93.

Weider was also known for a publishing empire that included such magazine as Muscle and Fitness, Shape and Men's Fitness.

Schwarzenegger, who retired from bodybuilding in 1975 and went on to a successful career in action films and then politics, has paid tribute to the man he calls the "godfather of fitness".

Schwarzenegger stated "Joe Weider was a titan in the fitness industry and one of the kindest men I have ever met.

"He leaves behind a fantastic legacy of a fitter world.

"Very few people can claim to have influenced as many lives as Joe did through his magazines, his supplements, his training equipment and his big-hearted personality."

Weider met Schwarzenegger at a bodybuilding contest in Europe and convinced him to move from his native Austria to the United States to seek wider recognition.

Schwarzenegger added "Joe didn't just inspire my earliest dreams; he made them come true the day he invited me to move to America to pursue my bodybuilding career.

"I will never forget his generosity. One of Joe's greatest qualities is that he wasn't just generous with his money; he freely gave of his time and expertise and became a father figure for me."

Born in Montreal in 1920, Weider began lifting weights as a teenager to stand up to neighbourhood bullies before competing in his first bodybuilding contest at the age of 17.

Weider started his first magazine, Your Physique, in the early 1940s and with his younger brother Ben rented Montreal's Monument National Theatre to host the first Mr Canada contest during that same decade.

The two brothers also founded the International Federation of Bodybuilders and in 1965 Weider created the Mr Olympia competition, the sport's premiere bodybuilding contest.

Weider, who also created a line of sports nutritional supplements and ultimately founded more than a dozen fitness magazines including Fit Pregnancy, Living Fit and Flex, sold his Weider Publicans to American Media Inc. in the early 2000s.

His death was ascribed to heart failure.

For more information go to www.joeweider.com

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