Bodybuilding Reaches New Heights
By Ben Weider, President,
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF BODYBUILDERS
*Reprinted from the March 1973 issue of MUSCLE BUILDER/POWER
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| Mr. Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, with Ben Weider |
When the history of bodybuilding is written, 1971 will go down as a landmark year. Bodybuilders around the world rejoiced when the IFBB became affiliated to the General Assembly of International Sports Federation (G.A.I.S.F.) during 1971.
Proudly, I took my seat in Vienna together with all the other international amateur sport federation presidents. I sincerely felt that my efforts to get bodybuilding recognized as true amateur sport had reached the ultimate. After twenty-five years of hard work, bodybuilders at last could feel proud that their sport was recognized on the same level as all amateur international sports. The sport of bodybuilding was finally on the same level as hockey, skiing, weightlifting, swimming, track and field and so forth.
The past year had certainly been most fruitful. Therefore, when I left Montreal this past summer to attend the Congress of the General Assembly of International Sports Federations in Lausanne, Switzerland, I went with the feeling that I was representing bodybuilding at the highest level in international sports. G.A.I.S.F. is the international sports federation that coordinates amateur sports throughout the world and acts as liaison with the International Olympic Committee. They only accept for affiliation, legally recognized international sports federations after they closely study their constitution and formation.
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| General Vladimir Stoychev, Executive Member of the IOC for Russia, and Ben Weider |
I stopped over in Geneva to meet with Dr. Raymond Sauvet, the National President of the Swiss Amateur Bodybuilding Federation. He was selected as the second official IFBB delegate to attend the G.A.I.S.F. Congress. This congress permits two delegates per federation to participate.
During our meetings in Geneva, Mr. Sauvet reported that his federation would hold the Swiss National Bodybuilding Championships (Mr. Switzerland) two days before the World Championships (Mr. Universe) which will be held in Baghdad, Iraq in November of 1972. Since the Iraqi airlines will be sending a charter plane to Geneva to collect all the delegates and contestants who will congregate there from all European and North and South American countries, Mr. Sauvet said that his federation will pay for two night’s accommodations for all the official participants. At the same time, this will give the Swiss public an opportunity to see for the first time, bodybuilding champions from all over the world. The Swiss Federation has also requested to organize the Mr. Universe Championships and IFBB Congress for 1973 in Geneva. They will have stiff competition as we have already received other bids from Puerto Rico, Lebanon, and Germany. Since only the IFBB Congress can select the site for next year’s championship, this important decision will be made during our congress in Baghdad.
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| Le Comte Jean de Beamont, IOC member of the Executive Council for France, andBen Weider |
After our lengthy meetings, Raymond Sauvet and I, together with our wives, drove through the lovely Swiss countryside following enchanting Lake Leman to Lausanne. This Swiss city is the headquarters of G.A.I.S.F. and the home of its Present, Mr. Thomas Keller.
The plenary session of G.A.I.S.F. took place at 9 o’clock the following day. Raymond Sauvet and I took our seats representing the IFBB. I had the pleasure of meeting many of my old colleagues and made many new friends. Notably amongst them were: Colonel Russell, President of the International Boxing Federation; Mr. Coquereaumont, President of the International Canoe Federation; Sir Stanley Rous, President of the International Football Federation; Mr. Charles Palmer, President of the international Judo Federation; Mr. Milan Ercegan, President of the International Wrestling Federation; General Sven Thofelt, President of the Modern Biathlon and Pentathlon Federation; Mr. W. Kethan, President of the International Softball Federation; Mr. R. W. Jones, Secretary General of the International Basketball Federation.
After three full days of discussing the various problems facing the international sports federations, a series of decisions were taken on questions to be discussed in a special Executive meeting between the international sports federations and the International Olympic Committee Executive. This meeting was to take place the day after the end of our congress.
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| Prince Takeda, IOC member of the Executive Council from Japan, and Ben Weider |
The G.A.I.S.F. Congress did not end before an election was held to elect the new President, General Secretary, and Councilors. These are the people who govern and direct G.A.I.S.F. I was proud to have nominated, on behalf of the IFBB, the following people for elections:
Mr. Thomas Keller, President
Mr. Oscar State, General Secretary
General Sven Thofelt, Councilor
Mr. Riolo, Councilor
Mr. Charles de Coquereaumont, Councilor
Mr. Don Porter, Councilor
Mr. Charles Palmer, Councilor
This was unanimously adopted.
I was pleased that Mr. Thomas Keller, who is also the President of the International Rowing Federation, was re-elected President, as I have never met a more amiable and dynamic person. He speaks English, French and German fluently and has a great personality and sense of humor.
Oscar State’s election as General Secretary of G.A.I.S.F. could not have been more deserved. He has been serving sports since 1930 in various positions and is the present General Secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation and was a former councilor of G.A.I.S.F. Mr. State has always been the guiding light of the IFBB and due to his vast experience the IFBB has been able to learn, grow, and take its rightful place in international amateur sports. The elections as General Secretary enabled Oscar to reach the highest office in international sports in his career. He speaks fluent English, French, German, and can get along quite well with Russian, Spanish, and Italian.
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| Sir Ade Ademola of Nigeria, IOC Executive member, and Ben Weider |
After this election, a special committee was elected to study the possibility for combining world championships in 2 sports in order to create more interest in sport and better relations between federations. Elected to this special committee were: Mr. E. Freid, General Secretary of the Austrian National Olympic Committee; Mr. Oscar State, General Secretary of the International Weightlifting Federation, and myself. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased when my colleague Mr. Charles Palmer, President of the International Judo Federation, recommended that I participate in this very important special committee. The three-man committee will meet shortly in Vienna to discuss these various questions and report back to G.A.I.S.F. in time for the international congress which will be held in Oklahoma City in May of 1973. The host federation for that congress will be the International Softball Federation.
During the Congress, Prince Alexandre de Merode, President of the International Olympic Committee Medical Committee, gave a lecture on the problems of sports medicine. Professor G. La Cava, President of the International Federation of Sports Medicine also attended, gave a lecture, and headed a special working commission. During the report of this commission, I was able to advise the G.A.I.S.F. Congress that the IFBB has formed a Medical Committee and would conduct a thorough medical research into all aspects of anabolic steroids. The research will be conducted by Dr. Lawrence Golding, Director for the Kent State University Applied Psychology Research Laboratory. The work will be done at Kent State University in Ohio. I also advised them that Professor G. La Cava had agreed to be the Hon. President of the IFBB Medical Committee and act as its advisor. We also have the full support of the International Federation of Sports Medicine in this work. Prince Alexandre de Merode expressed great interest in this work and asked that I send him a copy of the research when it is completed. I promised to do so and also to send a copy of this work to the presidents of all the international Olympic committees and international sports federations around the world.
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| Prince Alexandre de Merode, President of the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee, and Ben Weider |
Immediately after, His Worship the Mayor of Montreal, Jean Drapeau, together with his colleague, Mr. Pierre Charbonneau, made an appearance. The Mayor is also the President of the Canadian organizing committee for the 1976 Olympic Games. His Worship, in his usual energetic and humorous way, gave a very detailed report on the progress being made for the ‘76 Games. He also advised us of the fantastic stadium now being built in Montreal. When he finished, he received a very warm round of applause as his discussion was very much appreciated by all the delegates.
This was indeed a very exciting and exhilarating experience for the IFBB, but greater news was to come. If I thought that 1971 was a great year for international amateur bodybuilding, then 1972 was to be even greater.
During the G.A.I.A.F. Congress, G.A.I.A.F. invited the Executive of the I.O.C. to a boat cruise on beautiful Lake Leman. Approximately 150 delegates participated. While the boat was cruising Lake Leman, a dinner of cheese Raclette, a national Swiss cheese, and wine was served.
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| Mr. Raymond Sauvet, President of the Swiss Amateur Bodybuilding Federation, His Worship Mayor Jean Drapeau of Montreal, and Ben Weider |
At our table, I was seated with our national Swiss President, Mr. Raymond Sauvet, Mr. Oscar State, Sir Stanley Rouse, President of the International Football Federation, and Lord Killanin of Ireland. Lord Killanin is a member of the Executive Committee of the I.O.C. and is a favorite to step into Mr. Avery Brundage’s shoes, when he resigns. Of course, I spent as much time as diplomatically possible to inform Lord Killanin about the IFBB and our sport. He was impressed with the popularity of bodybuilding and the fact that 77 nations were officially affiliated to our federation. After a lovely dinner, I went on the upper deck where I introduced myself to Mr. Avery Brundage. I found Mr. Brundage warm, charming, and a complete gentleman. I spent over ten minutes talking to him about the IFBB, our aims, and our goals. I was able to counteract the misleading and false information that was given to him prior to the meeting in Lausanne, by one of the vilest and violent opposers of bodybuilding, Mr. G. Barahona, of Mexico, the Vice President of the International Weightlifting Committee. This, however, is another story which I will save for another day.
I also had the opportunity to visit with Dr. A. Csanadi once again. Dr. Csanadi is the I.O.C. delegate from Hungary and Chairman of an I.O.C. commission that deals with new members. I met Dr. Csanadi in Vienna last year and it was, in fact, he who told me to affiliate with the I.O.C. after he had learned of our development. I took the time to tell Dr. Csanadi about our continual evolution and progress and of the Medical Committee that we have formed. He was most impressed with the global popularity of our sport.
The fraternity for sports was felt everywhere on board.
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| Prof. G. La Cava, President of the International Federation of Sports Medicine, and Ben Weider |
The following day, the I.O.C. invited the official members and guests of G.A.I.S.F. to a buffet and wine reception tendered at the Chateau de Vidy, Headquarters of the I.O.C. in Lausanne. It is a beautiful chateau, somewhat austere, situated in a magnificent garden surrounded by trees and flowers. The sun was shining and sports amity reigned everywhere. I had the pleasure of meeting Prince Alexandre de Merode again and I was able to give him additional details of our Medical Commission’s structure and work. He wished me good success.
I also had the great pleasure to meet with Le Comte Jean De Beaumont of France who is a senior member of the International Olympic Committee Executive. He is also a contender for the elections to replace Mr. Brundage. I advised the Count about the IFBB and spoke to him in his native French tongue. I presented him with the official IFBB lapel pin and was extremely pleased to see him promptly place it on his lapel and wear it for the entire day.
In the garden, I met with Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda, senior member of the I.O.C. Executive from Japan. I advised the Prince of the IFBB’s activities in his native country and he surprised me by informing me that he was already aware of our activities and was extremely pleased about the work we are doing in developing a healthy youth through bodybuilding.
I also had a very interesting talk with Sir Ade Ademola of Nigeria. He is a member of the I.O.C. Executive. I told him that his nation was already a member of the IFBB. This surprised him. He mentioned that he supported physical culture and bodybuilding and asked me to have our affiliated federation in Nigeria communicate with him in order to see if there was any way in which he could be of assistance.
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| Clifford Buck, President of the United States Olympic Committee, Dr. Wlodzimierz Reczek, President of the Polish Olympic Committee, and Ben Weider |
Another I.O.C. Executive member whom I met was Mr. Constantin Andrianov of the Soviet Union. He proudly wore the IFBB lapel pin that I presented to him.
I left this reception with the feeling that in this one trip to Switzerland, in a period of but four days, the IFBB had made more international progress than it had made in the past twenty-five years.
BUT THE BEST WAS STILL TO COME. The following day, the International Federations that take part in the Olympic program were invited to participate in a special meeting to be held with the full Executive of the I.O.C. It is during such meetings that the International Sports Federations are able to make known to the I.O.C. their wishes, as discussed and approved by the G.A.I.S.F. members. When I asked to participate in this meeting, the IFBB was at first refused, because bodybuilding was not a part of the Olympic program. But due to the diplomatic efforts of G.A.I.S.F. President, Mr. Thomas Keller, the IFBB was permitted to attend. Therefore, sports history of a sort was created. The IFBB became the first international amateur federation which is not on the Olympic program to participate in an Executive meeting of the I.O.C. I sat through the entire meeting and felt proud for our beloved sport and for all the bodybuilders the world over. It was a great day for bodybuilding indeed.
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| Mr. Oscar State, Mr. Edgar Fried, General Secretary of the Austrian National Olympic Committee, and Ben Weider |
That same day, I received news by cable that our affiliated federations in Belgium and Pakistan were officially accepted into full membership by their National Olympic Committees. To express how I felt at that time, I will have to quote from the Bible. "My cup runneth over."
I could not close this report without expressing my thanks to two people. They are Mr. Charles Coquereaumont and Mr. Oscar State. Mr. Charles Coquereaumont is the President of the International Canoe Federation and Councilor of G.A.I.S.F. I especially want to thank him for his sympathetic understanding and guidance and the confidence he expressed in me, and in our federation, and the sport of bodybuilding. I want to thank Oscar State, the guiding light of the IFBB. He has been a loyal friend, confidant, and advisor "par excellence" of the IFBB. I hereby acknowledge a debt of gratitude to this great sportsman on behalf of the IFBB. When things were difficult, Oscar State was always there to encourage and assist me. When bodybuilding history is written, the name of Oscar State will shine as bright as the North Star at night.
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| Lord Killanin of Ireland meets with Raymond Sauvet, President of the Swiss Amateur Bodybuilding Federation, and Ben Weider |
A SPECIAL PRESIDENT’S REQUEST
I sincerely hope that this report will prove to bodybuilders throughout the world that the work the IFBB is doing is being done on their behalf. In order for us to continue to grow, we required dedicated and energetic people, who wish to participate in the growth of our sport. Regardless of the country in which you live, please send me a letter expressing your desire to cooperate. I will then put you in touch with the President of your national federation. He will, in turn, communicate with you and have you participate in the evolution of bodybuilding.
I hope that at the same time you will give me your views of this report. Send me any recommendation you think will help the IFBB and bodybuilding reach even higher heights. Write to me: Mr. Ben Weider, International President, International Federation of Bodybuilders, 2875 Bates Road, Montreal 251, Quebec, Canada.
