Harold Poole (December 25, 1943 – August 7, 2014) was an AAU, IFBB and

WBBG WBBG (106.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Youngstown, Ohio, market with a country music format. The station is licensed to Niles, Ohio Niles is a city in Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. The population was 18,443 at the 2020 Uni ...

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

Biography

Born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

Poole's athleticism was apparent very early on. He was

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

on his

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team at Shortridge High School in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, placed fourth in the state high school

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

championships, ran 440 yards in 50 seconds and put the 12 pound shot 55 feet. In 1960, Poole entered the

AAU Mr. America The Mr. America contest is a bodybuilding competition started by the Amateur Athletic Union (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. ...

and, at the age of 16, took 18th place. His final AAU teen opportunity came in June 1963, where he won most muscular, but was the runner-up to Vern Weaver. Three months later, Poole switched to the IFBB and, at age 19, he won the Mr. Universe. In 1964, he became the first African-American to be named

IFBB Mr. America IFBB may refer to: * Independent Family Brewers of Britain * International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation * Institute for Food, Brain and Behaviour {{disambiguation ...

. Starting in 1965, Poole became the only man to compete in the first three

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...

contests finishing runner-up to Larry Scott in the first two Olympias. He is the youngest ever Mr. Olympia competitor; he was only 21 when he competed in the 1965 Mr. Olympia. He is noted for first popularizing the

most muscular The most muscular is a common bodybuilding pose, often used to highlight as much of a contestant's muscle repertoire as possible by demonstrating the maximum mass of muscle to the judging panel. It was first popularized by bodybuilder Harold Po ...

pose. Harold was an active businessman operating a gym and discothèque. He was also a bodyguard for fashion model Twiggy travelling across North & South America as well as the UK. He retired from bodybuilding competition following the 1982 IFBB Night Of Champions, where he placed outside the top 10. He lived in Florida, where he continued to train with weights and practice

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

until the end of 2010, when he moved to New York City. He was inducted to the

IFBB Hall of Fame The IFBB Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor outstanding athletes and officials in the sport of bodybuilding. There have been no inductees since 2011. Induction years 1999 * Carla Dunlap *Cory Everson *John Grimek *Lee Haney *Rachel Mc ...

in 2004 and the WBBG Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2008, Poole was voted the Greatest Teenage Bodybuilder of All-Time. Harold Poole died in New York City on August 7, 2014.Harold Poole: 1943-2014 A Legend Passes
/ref>

Competition and award history

1960 Mr America - AAU, 18th Mr Mid-America - AAU, Most Muscular, 2nd 1961 Mr America - AAU, 4th Junior Mr America - AAU, Overall Winner 1962 Mr America - AAU, Most Muscular, 1st Mr America - AAU, 2nd Mr North America - AAU, Winner 1963 Mr America - AAU, Most Muscular, 1st Mr America - AAU, 2nd Teen Mr America - AAU, 2nd Universe - IFBB, Tall, 1st Universe - IFBB, Overall Winner 1964 Mr America - IFBB, Tall, 1st Mr America - IFBB, Overall Winner 1965

- IFBB, 2nd 1966

- IFBB, 2nd 1967 Pro Mr America - WBBG, Winner

- IFBB, 2nd 1968 Pro Mr America - WBBG, Winner 1971 Mr USA - IFBB, Tall, 1st 1972 Mr World - IFBB, Tall, 3rd 1980 Night of Champions - IFBB, 12th 1981 Grand Prix California - IFBB, 7th Grand Prix New England - IFBB, 9th Night of Champions - IFBB, 6th Canada Pro Cup - IFBB, 8th 1982 World Pro Championships - IFBB, 9th 2004 IFBB Hall of Fame 2007 WBBG Hall of Fame

References

*Roark, Joe. (November, 2004)
"Featuring 2004 Hall of Fame inductee: Harold Poole"
Flex *Comstock, Loren. (August, 1962). "Introducing Harold Poole". Strength & Health *Palmieri, Ala

External links

Harold Poole Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Harold 1943 births 2014 deaths People associated with physical culture Professional bodybuilders

Biography

Competition and award history

See also

References

External links