"I never intended to become number one or have fame and money," says Dorian Yates modestly

Dorian Yates, who rose to fame in the 1990s, has long since retired from competing, but his legendary tenure on the bodybuilding scene has stood the test of time as he is still one of the sport's greatest legends. During his career, Yates won the Mr. Olympia title six times in a row (1992-1997) and competed against the best bodybuilders, including eight-time Mr. Olympia winner Lee Haney.

He was on the professional scene for fourteen years and his last competition was the 1997 Mr. Olympia. Dorian entered this show despite struggling with acute chronic injuries, including torn biceps and triceps.

Despite this, Yates is still one of the greatest living legends of the sport and monoho people still take motivation from him. The seasoned veteran took to his Instagram and Facebook to share how he got started in bodybuilding and what his beginnings were like.

"Where it all started.
When I started bodybuilding, I never intended to become number one or have fame and money, I just knew deep down that the decision to build a great physique was a positive one - pure and simple. Bodybuilding made me feel good. At the time I had many reasons to feel negative, so I guess it was time to pursue some happiness, bodybuilding was that happiness for me.
The first character that caught my eye was the character of Robby Robinson. His incredibly narrow waist and extraordinary back and shoulder width, his monstrously ultra-pointed biceps made me marvel. The overall vibe he gave off was something I resonated with. And in 1983 I attended my first British Championships, albeit as a fan. I remember looking up on stage and witnessing such luminaries as Angelito Lesta and Ian Dowe... It was inspiring, fascinating, galvanising.

I was training at Martin's Gym (which later became Temple Gym when I took over) opposite the Temple Hotel in Birmingham and Martin brought in several American bodybuilders to guest in seminars and pose. This gave me the opportunity to see such luminaries as Jeff King and Lance Dreher first hand! In conjunction with their appearances, Martin decided to hold a local competition at the hotel that would be attended by all the best fighters from the local gyms.

He asked me to take part in the competition after he took my picture, believing I was "something" waiting to happen. But who could have guessed how big of a "something" it would turn out to be! I felt it was too early for me to compete, especially since I had only been training for less than a year. My physique wasn't ready to be on stage. Maybe fate intervened and caused me to get sick and take a week's training break. It was ten days before the competition and I ate very little during that time. I was already naturally slim, but now I was suddenly chiseled! After the sickness subsided, I started thinking that maybe I should compete here.
I ended up entering the contest and winning it! That was the ripple effect that opened the door to the very many competitions I entered over the next 14 years!"

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Source: Facebook