Arnold

Introduction

There was no way of knowing it at the time, but a baby boy born in Graz, Austria, was pre-destined for greatness. His father strongly encouraged him to become involved in athletics in order to develop a strong sense of determination trait that evolved into nothing short of a dogged pursuit of excellence in every aspect of his life. He participated in the sport of soccer and competed in track and field events before discovering his true passion for weight lifting at the age of 15. Three years later, he trained as a professional bodybuilder and by the age of 20, he became none other than Mr. Universe. That baby boy grew up to be ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER.

Early life

Arnold was born July 30 1947, in the little town Thal in Austria, four miles from Graz.

The name Schwarzenegger means "black plowman".

His father Gustav was a former military officer who later became a policeman and his mother was a house wife. They all lived above the police station, where Gustav worked. Arnold had a one year older brother, Meinhard, who died in a car accident when he was in his twenties. They were both raised in a very strict catholic home. One day after seeing the Olympic swimchampion Johnny Weissmüller in Graz, Arnold was so inspired by Johnny's physique that he decided he wanted to become a champion athlete and started training.

In the early years Arnold and his brother practiced a lot of different sports such as skating, skiing, hiking, swimming and table-tennis. Because of the interest in sports the school came in second place and did not get much attention. The brothers were always competing against each other both in sports and in school. Gustav wanted Arnold to become a world-class soccer player, but at the age of thirteen Arnold dropped out of the soccer team.

He was looking for a role model and found one on the silver screen, Hercules. He watched all the Hercules movies over and over.

He started to collect muscle magazines and was so impressed by the strength and the muscles in the magazine that he had just one goal clear in his mind.

So he started to train.

Bodybuilding

Just about everyone who walks the face of the earth has heard of the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger. The man is an inspiration to millions of men around the world, both in success and fitness.

Even though times have changed -- today's bodybuilders are far bigger than in Ar...

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...Bodybuilder as well as two volumes of the Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.

Governor

On August 6th, 2003, the audience attending the Tonight Show received a direct witnessing of an historic, jaw-dropping occasion: the announcement of candidacy for the California governorship. Arnie smiled for the camera, waved a massive American flag, and gave a full-on political speech, while adding catchphrases from his blockbuster hits.

Then on the 17th of October 2003 Arnie Was elected, by a wide margin, to be the Californian Governor.

Throughout his lifetime so far, Arnold Schwarzenegger has provided the world with so many significant contributions and achievements of work ranging from acting, directing and producing to athletic competitions, business ventures and community service and now even Governor of California. From his early days as Mr. Universe to a well-respected patron of the arts to reigning box office champion he expects the best from himself and inspires the best in others. All the while Schwarzenegger puts his family first as husband of fifteen years to broadcast journalist Maria Shriver and father to their four children Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher.