The Mr. America contest is a

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

competition started by the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU). It was first held on July 4, 1939, and the winner was named "America's Best Built Man". In 1940 this was changed to what is now known as the Mr. America contest. In the mid-1940s,

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

and Ben Weider started the IFBB as an alternative to the AAU. They held their opposing contest, the IFBB Mr. America, in 1949 and then from 1959 through 1977. Rights to the Mr. America name have been sold several times after AAU discontinued holding the contests in 1999.

History

The AAU voted to discontinue holding bodybuilding competitions in 1999. In 2004, the World Bodybuilding & Fitness Association (WBFA) announced they had acquired the rights to the Mr. America name and would resume running contests under that banner. In 2006 Bob Bonham acquired the rights and from 2011 through 2013 held the Mr America contest under the sanction of the INBF (International Natural Bodybuilding Federation), which is the amateur division of the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation). The contests were drug tested under strict WADA (World Anti Doping Agency) guidelines using U.S. Olympic laboratory testing. In 2015, rights to Mr. America were acquired by Bruce Ebel, and the contest's annual event cycle resumed via MRA Promotions. Qualifying events in spring were sponsored by the

National Gym Association The National Gym Association (NGA), founded in 1979, is a 501(3)(c) non-profit organization in the USA dedicated to the betterment of all-natural bodybuilding and providing high-quality certified professional fitness training programs. In fulfil ...

(NGA), Nspire Sports League (NSL), and Ultimate Fitness Events (UFE). The Mr. America Expo and contest was to have been held in

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in October 2017. The contest resumed in 2020 (with no specific organization affiliation), promoted by Marc Tauriello of Mr America LLC. The Mr. America Sports Festival & Expo is held in October in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and broadcast on the

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

Historic winners

Recent winners

References

External links

(archived)
The Mr. America Contest: 1988 Competition

Official Mr. America Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mister America (contest) 1939 establishments in the United States Mr. America Bodybuilding competitions in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1939

History

Historic winners

Recent winners

See also

References

Further reading

External links