My NPC and IFBB career spans between 1983 and 1990. In 1990 I defected to the WBF World Bodybuilding Federation under Vince Mcmahon. I claimed both titles in this federation. Many suggested that I should have stayed at the IFBB, but I didn’t I went with the new federation and have no regrets about it. It’s my history being the ONLY WBF champion ever no other athlete can claim that they were a WBF Champion it’s now recorded in the bodybuilding history books forever.

I claimed many amateur and professional titles such as the USA Championships the NPC Nationals the Night of Champions(NY Pro) and numerous other(French Swedish Australian) professional shows. After over 12 years in retirement, in 2006 and at 46 years old I made a much publicised comeback to prove age is not a factor in bodybuilding or a factor in maintaining a fit healthy physique. I actually surprised myself by undoubtedly showcasing my best form ever competing with other athletes including the current number one in the world Phil Heath and the current number 2 in the world Kai Green all these athletes were some 20 years younger.

I held my own proof that age is not a factor as long as you know what technique and nutrition to utilize. You can present your best physique later in life perhaps superseding what you did in your younger years. I set the bodybuilding world abuzz with my ‘DRY” old school physique that is still admired and a more pleasing approach to the mass monsters of today sporting big bellies and soft watery muscles. Bodybuilding is an Ageless sport. I traveled the world and my career yielded my dreams, and more with numerous magazine covers, endorsements, a world famous sports apparel company, TV shows, pay per view appearances, seminars and guest appearances.

Now I am graced by God with a chance to help kids of the world that are cold, hungry sick or disabled in a charity the “Strong for the Hungry”. I am grateful and blessed to be regarded today as one of the most recognized and respected names within the “old school” bodybuilders and I look forward to what the future of health and fitness holds for us all. Today I am living in the East and my goals are pretty simple. I want to maximize my own happiness in order to help others to reach their dream and live happily. My goal is to help educate the planet, feed the hunger and share my God given past experience with others.

I am a South African/Afrikaner/American citizen…My life as a professional athlete began on the school sports fields back in my home country of South Africa. Am highly competitive and determined by nature. In school I excelled in swimming, running track and rugby. I had aspirations to lead others and was always comfortable in a competitive environment.

Things were no different when it came time for me to perform my mandatory two year service in the South African Defence Force. I quickly advanced through the ranks from Private to Corporal and on to Sergeant, always leading by example and constantly pushing the envelope. After finishing my two year service and at a point when most others were relieved to have completed their national service, I opted to take up the challenge of a further two years with the army and qualified as a radar technician.

Life in the army was not one of comfort and ease, but it was these years that strengthened my character. I prepared me the for the trails and tribulations I faced later in life.

Towards the end of my army service, I developed a serious interest in bodybuilding. Reading about my idols in magazines like Muscle and Fitness, I realised that most of them were based in the USA. So at 20 years old, I decided that If I was to be like them I had to see them in person, train beside them and become a pro bodybuilder like Arnold. I then purchased a plane ticket, and headed for the U.S. At first I had mixed reactions. My mother, knowing her son’s appetite, replied “You’ll be home when you’re hungry son.” She underestimated my determination. I packed my bags and left South Africa, bound for New York with just $1000 and a plane ticket. I carried a bonus ticket to any destination on the East Coast if so desired. Once I board the flight, it did not take me long to make friends and begin conducting some quick research on US cities.

As the plane took off I knew in my heart this was the starting point of Gary Strydom’s epic journey to international success. However, while success which was still my dream was the end goal, my first priority was to decide if New York was to be the final stop or should I use the courtesy ticket and travel on to a different destination. The decision came to me very easily when I saw the snow through the plane windows. Touching down in a snow-covered New York and having heard fellow passengers’ opinions on where to continue on to, I decided Miami would be best with its warm climate much like South Africa’s. With no idea what to expect, I carried on to Miami. With my only knowledge about Miami being gleaned from a travel brochure. Still sporting the “army like” clean shaven hair cut and freshly out of South African I asked the “Bob Marley” looking taxi driver in a dead pan accent to “take me to Liberty City” he was greeted with a startled reaction. “Hey maan you don’t want to go there maan” The cab driver attempted to inform me that Liberty City was, and still is, one of the most dangerous parts of Miami but insisted. After one night in a dingy rundown hotel, I made my way to a nearby diner for one of my high protein breakfasts only to find a popular southern food called “grits” not cream of wheat as I was used to back home. While I was eating, I again made friends with some locals to whom I explained my plans to take a Greyhound bus to California to find the bodybuilders I was looking to be like and compete against. The locals laughed, and said it would take more than one bus ride, and suggested that I head south for Key West. From there, I can travel West to California with a claim that I was as far South and West when I arrived in California/USA.

I arrived in Key West on February 14, 1983, (a bad time for the average tourist), to find a far different culture  than what I was familiar with and one that in no way reflected my way of life back home, what a lovely day, or was it the day of love – Valentine’s. My first night in Key West was spent on a park bench due to all the hotels being booked for this very famous date in Key West culture. I managed to find a place to stay the following night and worked odd jobs over the next few months to get myself started in the USA.

With a membership at a small gym in Key West and a job working with troubled kids (my first love) I slowly started to get busy with training and laying the foundations for my career as one of the greatest bodybuilders I could be. My first competition was the 1983 Junior Florida where my great form made it clear to those who saw me that they were witnessing the emergence of something special. In 1984, I again stunned spectators and judges at the USA Championships, winning my weight class next to an impressive Jon Lloyd.

After this show, the wheels nearly came off my goal to become pro. If it was today, I would be pro with this win at the U.S.A Championships. But the rule was, to turn pro you have to win the Nationals. As I turned my attention to competing at the American Nationals that same year, IFBB officials informed me that I would need to be a US citizen to enter the NPC Nationals. I remember asking the officials “What’s the difference, USA or Nationals?” since I had just won the USA Championship without being a citizen, nevertheless it appeared the door was closed. Realizing the seriousness of the situation but not prepared to walk away from the chance to compete at the Nationals, I applied for citizenship and resigned myself to sit by and wait for the process to take its course. I didn’t wait passively though, I got back in the gym and carried on training, fully focused on being ready to compete as soon as my citizenship was granted. In 1986 the attorneys informed us that while they would do all they could, they could make no guarantees. As an optimist, I continued my contest preparation, training and dieting with the same commitment as any guy who didn’t have the dark cloud of ineligibility looming over his head.

At virtually the 11th hour, just a week before the 1986 Nationals in Atlanta, I finally received my citizenship! I now realized that I would have to be more than ready as I would be going up against  all of my magazine idols, names like Matt Mendanhall and Rory Leidermeyer. Despite the events leading up to the Nationals, I remained confident that I could win no matter which big names I was up against. Having overcome all the hurdles placed in front of me, my gut instinct now told me that Atlanta would be my best day as an amateur. Sure enough, I was named victorious in Atlanta, walking away with something I had dreamt of for years…. I was an IFBB Pro…

My career immediately exploded into a massive whirlwind of magazine covers, worldwide guest appearances and the chance to stand next to Lee Haney in a photo shoot taken at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles, California.

I now realized that it would be a just a matter of time before I would have to take the stage in the Mr. Olympia. In 1987, I went to New York and was victorious in my first pro showing – ‘The Night of Champions 1987′ was now my first pro title. We call it the NY Pro now…

The Night of Champions was the start of many pro competitions that I would go on to win. In 1988, I made my Mr. Olympia debut, ripped to shreds and took a well-deserved fifth place. Over-dieted and knowing that I was not at my best I went on to mix it up at the 1989 Arnold Classic taking 3rd and followed that one week later with my second pro victory in Australia, backing it up with two additional pro victories in Europe.

“Gary Strydom had arrived and was being closely watched as he advanced his career by someone with an eye for talent. Rumors began to circulate about a new federation in the works (much like the current PDI) with talk of Vince McMahon, the famous wrestling tycoon, venturing into bodybuilding and creating a new federation of superstars, with none other than Gary Strydom at the top of his list”.

In 1990, Vince McMahon launched Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine followed by the WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation), a new bodybuilding federation with a focus on talent and entertainment. Tom Platz, one of Gary’s boyhood idols, was appointed the WBF’s director of talent development and approached Gary to sign up. In Gary’s mind it was the best business deal that would come his way in bodybuilding and he still beams when he speaks about this period of his life as he cherishes being the only WBF Champion in the history of bodybuilding.

When asked recently about this controversial decision Gary remarked: “I have no regrets, it was a business move. What would you do if a work opportunity was proposed that would pay you 12 times as much money with one-tenth the workload? It was a three year deal with guarantees!” Bodybuilding had never seen that kind of money before. The wrestling czar Vince McMahon had made an offer to Gary that no bodybuilder would have refused, and Gary was the only bodybuilder offered the deal he received. There are rumours of first class plane tickets and VIP treatment, all true according to Gary. “The athletes were well treated, well paid, and happy to have the opportunity and the exposure that Vince was able to provide them.”

He recalls the great show they put on in Atlantic City, “You Can’t Touch This”. “Everyone involved with bodybuilding at that time remembers the show, it was that impressive”. Gary won both shows and Atlantic City was Gary at his best. To this day people reminisce at how they would have liked to have seen Gary and Haney on the same stage that year. In 1992, the WBF show in Long beach was devastated by an extremely poor showing by many of the athletes due to strict drug testing. Gary still gave the crowd a great showing in Long Beach. He says, “If a deal that lucrative came along again, watch others do exactly the same.”

Gary still catches some flack for taking the WBF deal, but simply brushes it off as an opportunity of a lifetime that he alone was offered and took, and hopes that anyone offered a similar deal would be smart enough to take as well. So if there is any confusion about why Gary is back in the IFBB, he’ll be quick to tell you he is a professional bodybuilder and loves to be on stage entertaining the fans and bringing talent to the sport that is his life.

In 1992, fans around the world were disappointed when Gary announced his retirement to focus on his burgeoning California Crazee-Wear clothing business. Many believed they had still not seen the best of Gary and that his exit was premature. But even though he was out of competition and off the stage, Gary was by no means finished with bodybuilding.

Fast forward to May 2006 when, now 46 years of age, Gary pulled off the finest move of his career to date making a mind-blowing comeback at the Colorado Pro, placing 7th and stunning fans and media alike with probably the best form of his life. Gary was back, bigger and better than ever and the bodybuilding world sat up and took notice.Gary Strydom has reinvented himself unlike any other athlete in the sport of professional bodybuilding. In the twenty years since he first turned pro, countless others have come and gone and faded from memory. How many bodybuilders can claim to display their best form 20 years after turning pro?

Gary feels that bodybuilding has taken a down turn in recent years with athletes not considering lines and conditioning. “You cannot just pack on muscle. It has to be accommodated by what frame you have.” With his 6′ 2″ frame, he has the height, the mass looks right on him and he continues to maintain his waistline, “Crazy Coconut” deltoids, and long thick quadriceps. “Today its all about long muscle bellies, nobody looks like me up there,” he continues “Look at the physiques on stage today (especially Denver) so many of them look the same. I am 46 years of age on stage with 26 year old athletes, how many other sports do you see athletes doing this?” He has a point.

It is rare to find a comeback athlete who generates the kind of international frenzy that Gary Strydom’s 2006 appearance made. Denver placed Gary firmly back in the spotlight and once again he was on international magazine covers and inundated with requests to undertake guest appearances and seminars around the globe. It seemed the world had been waiting for a comeback of this calibre and what better man for the job than one of bodybuilding’s most popular and down to earth athletes who ascribes his success to nothing more than hard work, discipline and a focussed approach to achieving his goals.

My NPC and IFBB career spans between 1983 and 1990. In 1990 I defected to the WBF World Bodybuilding Federation under Vince Mcmahon. I claimed both titles in this federation. Many suggested that I should have stayed at the IFBB, but I didn’t I went with the new federation and have no regrets about it. It’s my history being the ONLY WBF champion ever no other athlete can claim that they were a WBF Champion it’s now recorded in the bodybuilding history books forever.

I claimed many amateur and professional titles such as the USA Championships the NPC Nationals the Night of Champions(NY Pro) and numerous other(French Swedish Australian) professional shows. After over 12 years in retirement, in 2006 and at 46 years old I made a much publicised comeback to prove age is not a factor in bodybuilding or a factor in maintaining a fit healthy physique. I actually surprised myself by undoubtedly showcasing my best form ever competing with other athletes including the current number one in the world Phil Heath and the current number 2 in the world Kai Green all these athletes were some 20 years younger.

I held my own proof that age is not a factor as long as you know what technique and nutrition to utilize. You can present your best physique later in life perhaps superseding what you did in your younger years. I set the bodybuilding world abuzz with my ‘DRY” old school physique that is still admired and a more pleasing approach to the mass monsters of today sporting big bellies and soft watery muscles. Bodybuilding is an Ageless sport. I traveled the world and my career yielded my dreams, and more with numerous magazine covers, endorsements, a world famous sports apparel company, TV shows, pay per view appearances, seminars and guest appearances.

Now I am graced by God with a chance to help kids of the world that are cold, hungry sick or disabled in a charity the “Strong for the Hungry”. I am grateful and blessed to be regarded today as one of the most recognized and respected names within the “old school” bodybuilders and I look forward to what the future of health and fitness holds for us all. Today I am living in the East and my goals are pretty simple. I want to maximize my own happiness in order to help others to reach their dream and live happily. My goal is to help educate the planet, feed the hunger and share my God given past experience with others.

I am a South African/Afrikaner/American citizen…My life as a professional athlete began on the school sports fields back in my home country of South Africa. Am highly competitive and determined by nature. In school I excelled in swimming, running track and rugby. I had aspirations to lead others and was always comfortable in a competitive environment.

Things were no different when it came time for me to perform my mandatory two year service in the South African Defence Force. I quickly advanced through the ranks from Private to Corporal and on to Sergeant, always leading by example and constantly pushing the envelope. After finishing my two year service and at a point when most others were relieved to have completed their national service, I opted to take up the challenge of a further two years with the army and qualified as a radar technician.

Life in the army was not one of comfort and ease, but it was these years that strengthened my character. I prepared me the for the trails and tribulations I faced later in life.

Towards the end of my army service, I developed a serious interest in bodybuilding. Reading about my idols in magazines like Muscle and Fitness, I realised that most of them were based in the USA. So at 20 years old, I decided that If I was to be like them I had to see them in person, train beside them and become a pro bodybuilder like Arnold. I then purchased a plane ticket, and headed for the U.S. At first I had mixed reactions. My mother, knowing her son’s appetite, replied “You’ll be home when you’re hungry son.” She underestimated my determination. I packed my bags and left South Africa, bound for New York with just $1000 and a plane ticket. I carried a bonus ticket to any destination on the East Coast if so desired. Once I board the flight, it did not take me long to make friends and begin conducting some quick research on US cities.

As the plane took off I knew in my heart this was the starting point of Gary Strydom’s epic journey to international success. However, while success which was still my dream was the end goal, my first priority was to decide if New York was to be the final stop or should I use the courtesy ticket and travel on to a different destination. The decision came to me very easily when I saw the snow through the plane windows. Touching down in a snow-covered New York and having heard fellow passengers’ opinions on where to continue on to, I decided Miami would be best with its warm climate much like South Africa’s. With no idea what to expect, I carried on to Miami. With my only knowledge about Miami being gleaned from a travel brochure. Still sporting the “army like” clean shaven hair cut and freshly out of South African I asked the “Bob Marley” looking taxi driver in a dead pan accent to “take me to Liberty City” he was greeted with a startled reaction. “Hey maan you don’t want to go there maan” The cab driver attempted to inform me that Liberty City was, and still is, one of the most dangerous parts of Miami but insisted. After one night in a dingy rundown hotel, I made my way to a nearby diner for one of my high protein breakfasts only to find a popular southern food called “grits” not cream of wheat as I was used to back home. While I was eating, I again made friends with some locals to whom I explained my plans to take a Greyhound bus to California to find the bodybuilders I was looking to be like and compete against. The locals laughed, and said it would take more than one bus ride, and suggested that I head south for Key West. From there, I can travel West to California with a claim that I was as far South and West when I arrived in California/USA.

I arrived in Key West on February 14, 1983, (a bad time for the average tourist), to find a far different culture  than what I was familiar with and one that in no way reflected my way of life back home, what a lovely day, or was it the day of love – Valentine’s. My first night in Key West was spent on a park bench due to all the hotels being booked for this very famous date in Key West culture. I managed to find a place to stay the following night and worked odd jobs over the next few months to get myself started in the USA.

With a membership at a small gym in Key West and a job working with troubled kids (my first love) I slowly started to get busy with training and laying the foundations for my career as one of the greatest bodybuilders I could be. My first competition was the 1983 Junior Florida where my great form made it clear to those who saw me that they were witnessing the emergence of something special. In 1984, I again stunned spectators and judges at the USA Championships, winning my weight class next to an impressive Jon Lloyd.

After this show, the wheels nearly came off my goal to become pro. If it was today, I would be pro with this win at the U.S.A Championships. But the rule was, to turn pro you have to win the Nationals. As I turned my attention to competing at the American Nationals that same year, IFBB officials informed me that I would need to be a US citizen to enter the NPC Nationals. I remember asking the officials “What’s the difference, USA or Nationals?” since I had just won the USA Championship without being a citizen, nevertheless it appeared the door was closed. Realizing the seriousness of the situation but not prepared to walk away from the chance to compete at the Nationals, I applied for citizenship and resigned myself to sit by and wait for the process to take its course. I didn’t wait passively though, I got back in the gym and carried on training, fully focused on being ready to compete as soon as my citizenship was granted. In 1986 the attorneys informed us that while they would do all they could, they could make no guarantees. As an optimist, I continued my contest preparation, training and dieting with the same commitment as any guy who didn’t have the dark cloud of ineligibility looming over his head.

At virtually the 11th hour, just a week before the 1986 Nationals in Atlanta, I finally received my citizenship! I now realized that I would have to be more than ready as I would be going up against  all of my magazine idols, names like Matt Mendanhall and Rory Leidermeyer. Despite the events leading up to the Nationals, I remained confident that I could win no matter which big names I was up against. Having overcome all the hurdles placed in front of me, my gut instinct now told me that Atlanta would be my best day as an amateur. Sure enough, I was named victorious in Atlanta, walking away with something I had dreamt of for years…. I was an IFBB Pro…

My career immediately exploded into a massive whirlwind of magazine covers, worldwide guest appearances and the chance to stand next to Lee Haney in a photo shoot taken at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles, California.

I now realized that it would be a just a matter of time before I would have to take the stage in the Mr. Olympia. In 1987, I went to New York and was victorious in my first pro showing – ‘The Night of Champions 1987′ was now my first pro title. We call it the NY Pro now…

The Night of Champions was the start of many pro competitions that I would go on to win. In 1988, I made my Mr. Olympia debut, ripped to shreds and took a well-deserved fifth place. Over-dieted and knowing that I was not at my best I went on to mix it up at the 1989 Arnold Classic taking 3rd and followed that one week later with my second pro victory in Australia, backing it up with two additional pro victories in Europe.

“Gary Strydom had arrived and was being closely watched as he advanced his career by someone with an eye for talent. Rumors began to circulate about a new federation in the works (much like the current PDI) with talk of Vince McMahon, the famous wrestling tycoon, venturing into bodybuilding and creating a new federation of superstars, with none other than Gary Strydom at the top of his list”.

In 1990, Vince McMahon launched Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine followed by the WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation), a new bodybuilding federation with a focus on talent and entertainment. Tom Platz, one of Gary’s boyhood idols, was appointed the WBF’s director of talent development and approached Gary to sign up. In Gary’s mind it was the best business deal that would come his way in bodybuilding and he still beams when he speaks about this period of his life as he cherishes being the only WBF Champion in the history of bodybuilding.

When asked recently about this controversial decision Gary remarked: “I have no regrets, it was a business move. What would you do if a work opportunity was proposed that would pay you 12 times as much money with one-tenth the workload? It was a three year deal with guarantees!” Bodybuilding had never seen that kind of money before. The wrestling czar Vince McMahon had made an offer to Gary that no bodybuilder would have refused, and Gary was the only bodybuilder offered the deal he received. There are rumours of first class plane tickets and VIP treatment, all true according to Gary. “The athletes were well treated, well paid, and happy to have the opportunity and the exposure that Vince was able to provide them.”

He recalls the great show they put on in Atlantic City, “You Can’t Touch This”. “Everyone involved with bodybuilding at that time remembers the show, it was that impressive”. Gary won both shows and Atlantic City was Gary at his best. To this day people reminisce at how they would have liked to have seen Gary and Haney on the same stage that year. In 1992, the WBF show in Long beach was devastated by an extremely poor showing by many of the athletes due to strict drug testing. Gary still gave the crowd a great showing in Long Beach. He says, “If a deal that lucrative came along again, watch others do exactly the same.”

Gary still catches some flack for taking the WBF deal, but simply brushes it off as an opportunity of a lifetime that he alone was offered and took, and hopes that anyone offered a similar deal would be smart enough to take as well. So if there is any confusion about why Gary is back in the IFBB, he’ll be quick to tell you he is a professional bodybuilder and loves to be on stage entertaining the fans and bringing talent to the sport that is his life.

In 1992, fans around the world were disappointed when Gary announced his retirement to focus on his burgeoning California Crazee-Wear clothing business. Many believed they had still not seen the best of Gary and that his exit was premature. But even though he was out of competition and off the stage, Gary was by no means finished with bodybuilding.

Fast forward to May 2006 when, now 46 years of age, Gary pulled off the finest move of his career to date making a mind-blowing comeback at the Colorado Pro, placing 7th and stunning fans and media alike with probably the best form of his life. Gary was back, bigger and better than ever and the bodybuilding world sat up and took notice.Gary Strydom has reinvented himself unlike any other athlete in the sport of professional bodybuilding. In the twenty years since he first turned pro, countless others have come and gone and faded from memory. How many bodybuilders can claim to display their best form 20 years after turning pro?

Gary feels that bodybuilding has taken a down turn in recent years with athletes not considering lines and conditioning. “You cannot just pack on muscle. It has to be accommodated by what frame you have.” With his 6′ 2″ frame, he has the height, the mass looks right on him and he continues to maintain his waistline, “Crazy Coconut” deltoids, and long thick quadriceps. “Today its all about long muscle bellies, nobody looks like me up there,” he continues “Look at the physiques on stage today (especially Denver) so many of them look the same. I am 46 years of age on stage with 26 year old athletes, how many other sports do you see athletes doing this?” He has a point.

It is rare to find a comeback athlete who generates the kind of international frenzy that Gary Strydom’s 2006 appearance made. Denver placed Gary firmly back in the spotlight and once again he was on international magazine covers and inundated with requests to undertake guest appearances and seminars around the globe. It seemed the world had been waiting for a comeback of this calibre and what better man for the job than one of bodybuilding’s most popular and down to earth athletes who ascribes his success to nothing more than hard work, discipline and a focussed approach to achieving his goals.

My NPC and IFBB career spans between 1983 and 1990. In 1990 I defected to the WBF World Bodybuilding Federation under Vince Mcmahon. I claimed both titles in this federation. Many suggested that I should have stayed at the IFBB, but I didn’t I went with the new federation and have no regrets about it. It’s my history being the ONLY WBF champion ever no other athlete can claim that they were a WBF Champion it’s now recorded in the bodybuilding history books forever.

I claimed many amateur and professional titles such as the USA Championships the NPC Nationals the Night of Champions(NY Pro) and numerous other(French Swedish Australian) professional shows. After over 12 years in retirement, in 2006 and at 46 years old I made a much publicised comeback to prove age is not a factor in bodybuilding or a factor in maintaining a fit healthy physique. I actually surprised myself by undoubtedly showcasing my best form ever competing with other athletes including the current number one in the world Phil Heath and the current number 2 in the world Kai Green all these athletes were some 20 years younger.

I held my own proof that age is not a factor as long as you know what technique and nutrition to utilize. You can present your best physique later in life perhaps superseding what you did in your younger years. I set the bodybuilding world abuzz with my ‘DRY” old school physique that is still admired and a more pleasing approach to the mass monsters of today sporting big bellies and soft watery muscles. Bodybuilding is an Ageless sport. I traveled the world and my career yielded my dreams, and more with numerous magazine covers, endorsements, a world famous sports apparel company, TV shows, pay per view appearances, seminars and guest appearances.

Now I am graced by God with a chance to help kids of the world that are cold, hungry sick or disabled in a charity the “Strong for the Hungry”. I am grateful and blessed to be regarded today as one of the most recognized and respected names within the “old school” bodybuilders and I look forward to what the future of health and fitness holds for us all. Today I am living in the East and my goals are pretty simple. I want to maximize my own happiness in order to help others to reach their dream and live happily. My goal is to help educate the planet, feed the hunger and share my God given past experience with others.

I am a South African/Afrikaner/American citizen…My life as a professional athlete began on the school sports fields back in my home country of South Africa. Am highly competitive and determined by nature. In school I excelled in swimming, running track and rugby. I had aspirations to lead others and was always comfortable in a competitive environment.

Things were no different when it came time for me to perform my mandatory two year service in the South African Defence Force. I quickly advanced through the ranks from Private to Corporal and on to Sergeant, always leading by example and constantly pushing the envelope. After finishing my two year service and at a point when most others were relieved to have completed their national service, I opted to take up the challenge of a further two years with the army and qualified as a radar technician.

Life in the army was not one of comfort and ease, but it was these years that strengthened my character. I prepared me the for the trails and tribulations I faced later in life.

Towards the end of my army service, I developed a serious interest in bodybuilding. Reading about my idols in magazines like Muscle and Fitness, I realised that most of them were based in the USA. So at 20 years old, I decided that If I was to be like them I had to see them in person, train beside them and become a pro bodybuilder like Arnold. I then purchased a plane ticket, and headed for the U.S. At first I had mixed reactions. My mother, knowing her son’s appetite, replied “You’ll be home when you’re hungry son.” She underestimated my determination. I packed my bags and left South Africa, bound for New York with just $1000 and a plane ticket. I carried a bonus ticket to any destination on the East Coast if so desired. Once I board the flight, it did not take me long to make friends and begin conducting some quick research on US cities.

As the plane took off I knew in my heart this was the starting point of Gary Strydom’s epic journey to international success. However, while success which was still my dream was the end goal, my first priority was to decide if New York was to be the final stop or should I use the courtesy ticket and travel on to a different destination. The decision came to me very easily when I saw the snow through the plane windows. Touching down in a snow-covered New York and having heard fellow passengers’ opinions on where to continue on to, I decided Miami would be best with its warm climate much like South Africa’s. With no idea what to expect, I carried on to Miami. With my only knowledge about Miami being gleaned from a travel brochure. Still sporting the “army like” clean shaven hair cut and freshly out of South African I asked the “Bob Marley” looking taxi driver in a dead pan accent to “take me to Liberty City” he was greeted with a startled reaction. “Hey maan you don’t want to go there maan” The cab driver attempted to inform me that Liberty City was, and still is, one of the most dangerous parts of Miami but insisted. After one night in a dingy rundown hotel, I made my way to a nearby diner for one of my high protein breakfasts only to find a popular southern food called “grits” not cream of wheat as I was used to back home. While I was eating, I again made friends with some locals to whom I explained my plans to take a Greyhound bus to California to find the bodybuilders I was looking to be like and compete against. The locals laughed, and said it would take more than one bus ride, and suggested that I head south for Key West. From there, I can travel West to California with a claim that I was as far South and West when I arrived in California/USA.

I arrived in Key West on February 14, 1983, (a bad time for the average tourist), to find a far different culture  than what I was familiar with and one that in no way reflected my way of life back home, what a lovely day, or was it the day of love – Valentine’s. My first night in Key West was spent on a park bench due to all the hotels being booked for this very famous date in Key West culture. I managed to find a place to stay the following night and worked odd jobs over the next few months to get myself started in the USA.

With a membership at a small gym in Key West and a job working with troubled kids (my first love) I slowly started to get busy with training and laying the foundations for my career as one of the greatest bodybuilders I could be. My first competition was the 1983 Junior Florida where my great form made it clear to those who saw me that they were witnessing the emergence of something special. In 1984, I again stunned spectators and judges at the USA Championships, winning my weight class next to an impressive Jon Lloyd.

After this show, the wheels nearly came off my goal to become pro. If it was today, I would be pro with this win at the U.S.A Championships. But the rule was, to turn pro you have to win the Nationals. As I turned my attention to competing at the American Nationals that same year, IFBB officials informed me that I would need to be a US citizen to enter the NPC Nationals. I remember asking the officials “What’s the difference, USA or Nationals?” since I had just won the USA Championship without being a citizen, nevertheless it appeared the door was closed. Realizing the seriousness of the situation but not prepared to walk away from the chance to compete at the Nationals, I applied for citizenship and resigned myself to sit by and wait for the process to take its course. I didn’t wait passively though, I got back in the gym and carried on training, fully focused on being ready to compete as soon as my citizenship was granted. In 1986 the attorneys informed us that while they would do all they could, they could make no guarantees. As an optimist, I continued my contest preparation, training and dieting with the same commitment as any guy who didn’t have the dark cloud of ineligibility looming over his head.

At virtually the 11th hour, just a week before the 1986 Nationals in Atlanta, I finally received my citizenship! I now realized that I would have to be more than ready as I would be going up against  all of my magazine idols, names like Matt Mendanhall and Rory Leidermeyer. Despite the events leading up to the Nationals, I remained confident that I could win no matter which big names I was up against. Having overcome all the hurdles placed in front of me, my gut instinct now told me that Atlanta would be my best day as an amateur. Sure enough, I was named victorious in Atlanta, walking away with something I had dreamt of for years…. I was an IFBB Pro…

My career immediately exploded into a massive whirlwind of magazine covers, worldwide guest appearances and the chance to stand next to Lee Haney in a photo shoot taken at Gold’s Gym in Los Angeles, California.

I now realized that it would be a just a matter of time before I would have to take the stage in the Mr. Olympia. In 1987, I went to New York and was victorious in my first pro showing – ‘The Night of Champions 1987′ was now my first pro title. We call it the NY Pro now…

The Night of Champions was the start of many pro competitions that I would go on to win. In 1988, I made my Mr. Olympia debut, ripped to shreds and took a well-deserved fifth place. Over-dieted and knowing that I was not at my best I went on to mix it up at the 1989 Arnold Classic taking 3rd and followed that one week later with my second pro victory in Australia, backing it up with two additional pro victories in Europe.

“Gary Strydom had arrived and was being closely watched as he advanced his career by someone with an eye for talent. Rumors began to circulate about a new federation in the works (much like the current PDI) with talk of Vince McMahon, the famous wrestling tycoon, venturing into bodybuilding and creating a new federation of superstars, with none other than Gary Strydom at the top of his list”.

In 1990, Vince McMahon launched Bodybuilding Lifestyles magazine followed by the WBF (World Bodybuilding Federation), a new bodybuilding federation with a focus on talent and entertainment. Tom Platz, one of Gary’s boyhood idols, was appointed the WBF’s director of talent development and approached Gary to sign up. In Gary’s mind it was the best business deal that would come his way in bodybuilding and he still beams when he speaks about this period of his life as he cherishes being the only WBF Champion in the history of bodybuilding.

When asked recently about this controversial decision Gary remarked: “I have no regrets, it was a business move. What would you do if a work opportunity was proposed that would pay you 12 times as much money with one-tenth the workload? It was a three year deal with guarantees!” Bodybuilding had never seen that kind of money before. The wrestling czar Vince McMahon had made an offer to Gary that no bodybuilder would have refused, and Gary was the only bodybuilder offered the deal he received. There are rumours of first class plane tickets and VIP treatment, all true according to Gary. “The athletes were well treated, well paid, and happy to have the opportunity and the exposure that Vince was able to provide them.”

He recalls the great show they put on in Atlantic City, “You Can’t Touch This”. “Everyone involved with bodybuilding at that time remembers the show, it was that impressive”. Gary won both shows and Atlantic City was Gary at his best. To this day people reminisce at how they would have liked to have seen Gary and Haney on the same stage that year. In 1992, the WBF show in Long beach was devastated by an extremely poor showing by many of the athletes due to strict drug testing. Gary still gave the crowd a great showing in Long Beach. He says, “If a deal that lucrative came along again, watch others do exactly the same.”

Gary still catches some flack for taking the WBF deal, but simply brushes it off as an opportunity of a lifetime that he alone was offered and took, and hopes that anyone offered a similar deal would be smart enough to take as well. So if there is any confusion about why Gary is back in the IFBB, he’ll be quick to tell you he is a professional bodybuilder and loves to be on stage entertaining the fans and bringing talent to the sport that is his life.

In 1992, fans around the world were disappointed when Gary announced his retirement to focus on his burgeoning California Crazee-Wear clothing business. Many believed they had still not seen the best of Gary and that his exit was premature. But even though he was out of competition and off the stage, Gary was by no means finished with bodybuilding.

Fast forward to May 2006 when, now 46 years of age, Gary pulled off the finest move of his career to date making a mind-blowing comeback at the Colorado Pro, placing 7th and stunning fans and media alike with probably the best form of his life. Gary was back, bigger and better than ever and the bodybuilding world sat up and took notice.Gary Strydom has reinvented himself unlike any other athlete in the sport of professional bodybuilding. In the twenty years since he first turned pro, countless others have come and gone and faded from memory. How many bodybuilders can claim to display their best form 20 years after turning pro?

Gary feels that bodybuilding has taken a down turn in recent years with athletes not considering lines and conditioning. “You cannot just pack on muscle. It has to be accommodated by what frame you have.” With his 6′ 2″ frame, he has the height, the mass looks right on him and he continues to maintain his waistline, “Crazy Coconut” deltoids, and long thick quadriceps. “Today its all about long muscle bellies, nobody looks like me up there,” he continues “Look at the physiques on stage today (especially Denver) so many of them look the same. I am 46 years of age on stage with 26 year old athletes, how many other sports do you see athletes doing this?” He has a point.

It is rare to find a comeback athlete who generates the kind of international frenzy that Gary Strydom’s 2006 appearance made. Denver placed Gary firmly back in the spotlight and once again he was on international magazine covers and inundated with requests to undertake guest appearances and seminars around the globe. It seemed the world had been waiting for a comeback of this calibre and what better man for the job than one of bodybuilding’s most popular and down to earth athletes who ascribes his success to nothing more than hard work, discipline and a focussed approach to achieving his goals.