'Greatest ever' bodybuilder whose strength 'wasn't human' now barely able to walk
dailystar.co.ukbodybuilding scene from 1998, holding the Mr Olympia title for eight consecutive years.At his peak, Ronnie's body and strength "wasn't human", said fellow weightlifting champion Kevin Levrone."You don't have a chance of looking like him.
It's a gift from God. It's a gift of genetics," he said.Ronnie's unbeatable run earned him the nickname, The King. But the fitness world was left stunned and saddened when Ronnie, now in his 50s, revealed he may never walk unaided again.Ronnie's rise and fall story is shared in the documentary Ronnie Coleman: The King, currently showing on Netflix.The former world champ cuts a sad figure as he is seen following his three and four-year-old children around the house on crutches, breathless and unable to stand up on his own.Ronnie's health problems, he says, are the result of numerous surgeries in his back and hips.
Doctors say it's also due to the degenerative wear and tear from the years and years of training.In one moving scene, Ronnie says: "I just get up on a morning, and you know, takes a minute for me to get going."I just got to get used to it." Close pal and gym owner Brian Dobson said he cried when saw his "supernatural" friend using a walker.Born in 1964, Louisiana, Ronnie graduated with an accountancy degree from Grambling State University in 1984.He moved to Texas and, after reading an advert in a local newspaper, became a police officer in Arlington.It was during this period a fellow officer persuaded him to join MetroFlex gym.
And in exchange for participating in the Mr Texas competition, Coleman was offered a free gym membership.Suffering with problems with his back from a young age, Ronnie had refused to let the pain stop him becoming world champion.He confessed that he.
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