Toney Freeman (born August 30, 1966) is an American IFBB professional

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 ...

and brand ambassador residing in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Biography

Freeman's nickname is The X-Man because his body characterizes the "X-frame" of classical bodybuilding: broad shoulders, narrow waist, and flaring thighs. He has been featured on the cover and pages of ''

Flex Flex or FLEX may refer to: Computing * Apache Flex, formerly Adobe Flex, technologies for developing rich internet applications * Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay * FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorol ...

'', ''

Muscular Development ''Muscular Development'' was an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine first published in 1964. It was founded by Bob Hoffman. It ceased publication in November 2023. History John Grimek was the editor from 1964, until its sale in 1986 to T ...

'', and ''

Musclemag ''MuscleMag International'' or ''Musclemag'' was a Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and men's magazine, considered one of the top magazines in its field. It was established in Canada in 1974 by Robert Kennedy (publisher), Robert Kennedy, an immigr ...

''. Freeman did not become a competitive bodybuilder until his late 30s because, for many years, it was a hobby and the sport was dominated by his idols

Lee Haney Lee Haney (born November 11, 1959) is an American former professional bodybuilder. Haney shares the all-time record for most Mr. Olympia titles at eight with Ronnie Coleman. The winner of the Mr. Olympia title for eight consecutive years, he is ...

and

Dorian Yates Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates (born 19 April 1962) is an English retired professional bodybuilder. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997. He earned the nickname "The Shadow" for his tendency to unexpectedly appear ...

. It took Freeman many years to fill out his large frame and he was mentored by Dave Palumbo to become a professional. Freeman's first (

National Physique Committee The National Physique Committee (NPC) is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the United States. Amateur bodybuilders compete in competitions from local to national competitions sanctioned by the NPC. While the term "bodybuilding" is ...

(NPC)) competition was in 1993, where he won the heavyweight class of the NPC Junior Nationals. His first IFBB event was the Night of Champions competition, where he placed 11th. His first

Arnold Classic The International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness Professional League, IFBB Pro Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arn ...

was in 2005, where he placed 10th. His first Ironman Pro Invitational was in 2006, where he placed 7th. His first

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 ...

appearance was in 2006, where he placed 7th. In 2007, he won the Ironman Pro and Sacramento Pro and placed 3rd at the Arnold Classic. He made the top 5 at the 2008 Mr. Olympia. On December 8, 2010, during a visit to Sweden, Freeman was escorted by the police from

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. Old town i ...

while undertaking a promotional appearance in a local store. The police knew Freeman and other international bodybuilders were coming to Sweden for a fitness festival from promotional posters. According to Freeman, he was taken to the police station and was denied a legal representative and forced to give a urine sample. Reports allege that Freeman tested positive for

testosterone Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in Male, males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting se ...

human growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in ...

, and

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

. He was released the same day with no charge. On December 31, 2010, Freeman responded to the allegations with an official statement and a video in which he emphasized he had not been treated properly by being denied an advocate or communication with the

U.S. embassy The United States has the second largest number of active diplomatic posts of any country in the world after the People's Republic of China, including 272 bilateral posts (embassies and consulates) in 174 countries, as well as 11 permanent miss ...

. Freeman became the first international professional bodybuilder to be detained by the Swedish police under "muscle profiling", a profiling method used by Swedish police in which suspicion of

performance-enhancing drug Performance-enhancing substances (PESs), also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. Many substances, such as anabolic steroids, can be used to improve at ...

use is based solely on physical appearance. The possession of such substances as steroids is illegal in Sweden. According to others who have been detained in this manner, police use the size and appearance of the bodybuilder to detain them, then aim to prove their case with blood or urine samples taken at the station. Police staff member Henrik Blusi generalized the actions taken against Freeman to all professional bodybuilders, saying: "If you are a professional bodybuilder you should not come to Sundsvall. We are very well informed here. We are currently conducting the largest doping trial in Europe, and then one should understand that we have an eye out for these things now."

Stats

*Height: *Contest Weight: *Off Season Weight: *Waist: 32 in (79 cm)

Competitive history

* 1990 AAU Junior Mr America, Tall, 4th * 1993 NPC Junior Nationals, Heavyweight, 1st * 1993 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 6th * 1994 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 4th * 1995 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 4th * 2001 NPC Coastal USA Championships, Super-Heavyweight, 2nd * 2001 NPC Nationals, Super-Heavyweight, 8th * 2002 NPC Nationals, Super-Heavyweight, 1st and Overall * 2003 IFBB Night of Champions, 11th * 2003 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 9th * 2004 IFBB Night of Champions, 10th * 2004 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 8th * 2005 IFBB

, 10th * 2006 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th * 2006 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 7th * 2006 IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 5th * 2006 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st * 2006 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2007 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 1st * 2007 IFBB Sacramento Pro, 1st * 2007 IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd * 2007 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 14th * 2008 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 8th * 2008 IFBB Arnold Classic, 7th * 2008 IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix, 4th * 2008 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro, 1st * 2008 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st * 2008 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 5th * 2009 IFBB Arnold Classic, 4th * 2009 IFBB Australian Pro, 3rd * 2009 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 8th * 2010 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 9th * 2010 IFBB Phoenix Pro, 3rd * 2011 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th * 2011 IFBB British Grand Prix, 6th * 2011 IFBB Mr Europe Grand Prix, 5th * 2011 IFBB Hartford Europa Battle of Champions, 6th * 2011 IFBB Europa Super Show (Dallas), 1st * 2011 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2012 IFBB Arnold Classic Europe, 5th * 2012 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2013 IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd * 2013 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 15th

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Tony African-American bodybuilders American professional bodybuilders 1966 births Living people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen

Biography

Stats

Competitive history

See also

References