"O" Danny boy! On the eve of competing in the 2004 Masters Olympia, Danny "The Giant Killer" Padilla looks back at the controversial 1981 Mr. Olympia
- July, 2004 Issue of Flex Magazine

Dateline: October 10, 1981 | A look of deep concentration covered his face. He glanced to his left and lifted his arms into the most powerful front double-biceps shot of the night. His legs, angled outward, showed off his crescent quad sweep. His knees were in a dark void, shadowed by the huge teardrops of his quad muscles. Diamond-shaped calves jutted out. His compact waist was a layer of tiled rock, opening up to wide lats that billowed under his arms.

Then he whipped his right leg forward and turned it sideways to the audience as his hips and upper body followed. His quadriceps muscle rose like a half-moon on the front of his upper leg. His lower leg extended backward toward the floor at a 30-degree angle. His left arm rose backward and up, cocked in a biceps pose. Thick traps framed the road map of shadows and bright rippled muscles across his back.

He could feel the audience's tension building. He knew he had them. Screams rose intermittently above the collective gasp. He was Atlas, he was a god, he was perfect. He was Danny Padilla executing his inimitable three-quarters back pose, the Giant Killer's signature move.

He had saved his best for the 1981 Mr. Olympia. While he stood hearing the cheers, Padilla was certain he would finish as the runner-up and maybe even win the Sandow. But fate was about to deal a cruel blow.

STANDING TALL | The criticism was always the same: "Sure, he looks great standing alone, but put him next to a taller bodybuilder and he'll disappear." Few short men ever reach the pinnacle of the sport. Franco Columbu, at 5'4", is the only one to ever win the Mr. Olympia.

Padilla wasn't built like a typical short bodybuilder. He was just 5'2", but he was blessed with such perfect muscle insertions and skeletal proportions that his physique belied his height. "When you see Franco or Lee Priest in a picture alone," Padilla explains, "they still look short. But you could never guess my height and weight, even in contrast with others."

By the time he entered the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Padilla had been competing for eight years, winning competitions for five of them. He was massive and thick that night, but not with the conditioning the judges wanted. Or so they said. He placed a disappointing 10th at his first Mr. O.

He planned to answer his critics at the 1981 Mr. Olympia. He was going to change the rules and do things his way. It was the year everything came together for him, and the year it all fell apart. In other words, it was a typical year in Padilla's bodybuilding career.

BY THE NUMBERS | With 17 contestants in the '81 Mr. O, Padilla had to find a way to stand out from the lineup to force the judges to compare him to the favored bodybuilders. To accomplish this, he would have to do nothing less than take over the contest.

His height was a disadvantage, so he employed advice given to him by Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Dan, these guys are bigger than you," Schwarzenegger had said. "Wait until they pose first, then step forward."

Padilla had compiled a list of poses to use against each bodybuilder based upon that competitor's strengths and weaknesses. For example, one of Columbu's strongest poses was the most-muscular, so Padilla would avoid hitting that pose while standing next to him. Columbu's legs, however, were a weak point that Padilla could exploit. If the judges weren't going to provide the opportunity, he was going to create it himself.

PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE | When the prejudging began, the competitors were marched on stage, where the head judge introduced the lineup. Padilla seized his chance. He walked over to Columbu and began hitting his prepared poses. Tom Platz soon joined them to create an impromptu posedown among the three. "I was like a boxer," Padilla remembers. "I immediately took it to Franco and threw some poses in there. The audience was freaking out."

With the audience cheering, the judges ordered them back in line. Padilla soon jumped out of line again to confront his competitors one by one. Walking up to Roy Callendar, Padilla pointed to his calves. Callendar was eliminated. Chris Dickerson was quickly dispatched with some well-placed arm shots. Padilla eliminated Dennis Tinerino, known to have a weak back, with a few powerful back poses.

Platz was a different story. "That was his best year," Padilla says with a laugh. "Tom had a little bit of everything, so I just tried to avoid him."

Padilla had forced the judges to notice him, but the war was far from won. Padilla had to utilize every trick he knew.

That evening, Padilla posed to the powerful theme song from Exodus. His routine had 30 poses, each chosen specifically for the strengths displayed. He did his homework well. "It was just freaky. No matter what I did, it just worked," he recalls. "The audience stood up and went crazy." Backstage, his competitors congratulated him on a sure win. Platz assured Padilla, "You're top one or two; this is the best I've ever seen you." His training partner, Larry Baker, was equally certain of an impending victory.

Padilla had been here before. He knew what it was like to have one of the best physiques in a contest, dominate a show and leave the posing dais "a sure winner," only to face crushing disappointment later.

It had happened to him at the 1979 Night Of Champions. Despite winning the first three rounds, Padilla eventually lost to Robby Robinson. Says Padilla of that decision: "How do you win three rounds and lose the show? I'm still trying to get an explanation."

Backstage at the '81 Mr. Olympia, Padilla drew upon that experience. His lack of precontest publicity and low expectations meant the judges may not give him his due. Padilla told himself, "No matter what happens, they're going to have to push me out. I'm going to make it so obvious, they're going to be ashamed."

TOO GOOD FOR HIS TIME? | Then it happened. "Fifth place, Danny Padilla."

At the announcement, the audience booed. A few people began to throw objects on stage Joe Weider, seemingly disturbed by the outcome, walked out and wasn't around to present trophies.

Padilla was shocked. He hit a few poses for the audience and then walked offstage. There was no need for him to remain a part of the charade. Columbu ended up winning his second Mr. Olympia that night.

His competitors felt he was first or second. The audience gave him a standing ovation. So why had Padilla not only failed to win, but placed so low?

Some journalists and judges later claimed that Padilla had taken his dieting too far. His face was "caved in," they complained, while others said his hamstrings were too small. When Padilla countered, pointing out Columbu's lack of leg definition and chest size, the critics had no answer. "Franco was my hero, but I think that night I beat my hero," Padilla contends.

The only judge who scored Padilla in first place that night was Jim Manion. Manion, who went on to become the head judge of the IFBB, told Padilla, "I voted on what I saw and what I felt. I had you first."

Of course, some cried fix. But not Padilla. "I don't believe it was fixed," he says. "Franco had gotten injured earlier in the year, and I think that when the judges saw he was in great shape after being injured, he got the sympathy vote. Of the other guys up there, none of us were Mr. Olympia winners. It was an easy choice for the judges to make."

TOUGHER BATTLES AHEAD | For Padilla, the decision destroyed his ambitions in the sport. "I lost interest," he says. "If the best I can do is fifth place after being in the shape of my life, then it's time to quit."

He didn't quit. He competed sporadically over the next two decades, his last appearance to date being the 2000 Masters Olympia, where he finished 10th.

After that, bigger challenges confronted Padilla. He helped his parents through serious health problems, then faced his own in early 2003. One Sunday afternoon, he felt something wasn't physically right. He drove to a hospital and calmly told a nurse to get a heart specialist. When asked if he was in pain, he replied, "No, but I think it's time." Upon examining Padilla's heart, the doctors were astounded that he had been able to drive to the hospital: only 17% of his heart was functioning properly. Shortly after, Padilla underwent open-heart surgery.

His recovery has been quick and successful--so much so that his hunger for bodybuilding has been reborn. At 52, Padilla is planning to compete at the 2004 Masters Olympia. "I would have liked to have won at least one Olympia in my career," admits Padilla. "My drive kind of walked away from everything in '81. Maybe I can get some of it back."

Even 23 years past his peak, expectations are high that Padilla will be in top shape again. "I'm just as interested as everyone to see if this body will come back," Padilla admits. "A lot of people say it won't, but I'm going to prove them wrong!"

After overcoming years of disappointment and physical challenges, Danny Padilla is truly a bodybuilding hero. The message is clear: Never sell this Giant Killer short." - David Musicant, Flex