“Amazing genetics” - Dorian Yates lists Flex Wheeler as the best bodybuilder ever to not win the Mr Olympia title

Bodybuilding giant Dorian Yates is often regarded as one of the best bodybuilders of all time. Responsible for introducing the mass monster era which changed the standards of the sport, Yates also won the Mr Olympia title six times during his prestigious career. However, not every athlete is fortunate enough to lift the trophy. There are many athletes who had next-to-perfect physiques but could never secure an Olympia victory.

While discussing the same with Dr Peter Attia in his recent podcast on his YouTube channel DY Nutrition, Yates was asked by Attia about his favorite athlete who never won the title. While Yates had many on the list, one athlete who stands out among others is Flex Wheeler.

"There's several people but uh if I had to single out I'd say Flex Wheeler...Uh I thought his-his appearance in 93 Arnold before I competed against him and he wasn't so good at the Olympia later in that year, he was a bit softer," Dorian Yates said. (31:30)

"94 he had a car accident and broke his cervical so he was out that year and 97 he had some incident that-that happened and he got injured and he was out so um amazing, just amazing genetics like and his very..his personality in his career was very up and down it was not like you know all out given everything he got all the time so uh having that in consideration and looking how good that he looked um yeah him and Kevin Levrone were..was great Shawn Ray was great and Nasser uh 96-97 was also very good so..it was four five of us," Dorian Yates continued.

How did Dorian Yates get into bodybuilding?

Dorian Yates' childhood years were not a bed of roses. Having spent a few months of his initial years in the juvenile detention centre, this is where Dorian realized his true calling. Starting bodybuilding and powerlifting inside the prison, he realized he was much better than the rest of his inmates. He decided to turn his life around when he was released.

In the podcast "Froch meets', he said:

"It was barbells and dumbbells. It was powerlifting, they wanted us to do bench press, squat, uh deadlift yeah and then you have some dumbbells, if the prison officer liked you he was like okay just go and do your little silly dumbbell flys or whatever you want to do...I realised with 300 guys in there that I had the best physique and this is something I really enjoyed and I could be good at it." (05:34)

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