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A prodigy by definition is an extraordinarily talented youth. When Sergio Oliva exploded on the bodybuilding scene, he did so with a complete physique. Sergio was in his native Cuba during his teenage years, so we can only go by what he said about his early life, before he defected to the United States. He told me he had been squatting 500-plus pounds when he was 15. That was enough for me to put him in the prodigy category.
Sergio and Casey Viator were both prodigies, each having a unique structure and musculature, but prodigies none the less, as they were able to build muscle almost at will. I first saw Casey at the ’70 AAU Mr. America contest, which I co-promoted with Bill Pearl. Coincidentally, it was also my first introduction to Arthur Jones, the creator of Nautilus machines. An amazing weekend, to say the least.
Read the rest of the entry at John’s Blog
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