It is a long way from Sardinia to Southern California, and no one knows this better than Franco Columbu, who arose from humble beginnings on the Italian island of Sardinia where people live in much the same way as they have for centuries. His successes as a boxing champion, international bodybuilding superstar, entrepreneur, author, Doctor of Chiropractic, and most recently actor and film producer, are deeply rooted in his Catholic upbringing and the strong work ethic which he learned as a young shepherd and farmer in Ollalai, in the primitive inland mountain region of Sardinia.
Columbu competed in the first World’s Strongest Man competition and was in first place in total points during the competition; a remarkable outing, considering that Franco weighed much less than all his competitors.
Then came the refrigerator race, which called for a downhill race in which a heavy, bulky, unwieldy refrigerator is strapped to the racer’s back. While ahead, Franco stumbled, and was shown on national television collapsing with a grotesquely dislocated leg. This ended his participation in the World’s Strongest Man contest Doctors told him he would never walk again, but Columbu fully recovered in three years. After Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comeback victory in the 1980 Mr. Olympia, Franco followed suit and won the 1981 Mr. Olympia.
Columbu is a long time friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom he met in Munich in 1965 and against whom he competed in several international-level bodybuilding competitions. Arnold and Franco were inseparable during the early to mid-1970s and were training partners. Columbu served as the best man at the wedding of Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver in 1986. Columbu and Schwarzenegger had been encouraged to come to America by bodybuilding guru Joe Weider in 1969
From the time he arrived in America in 1969, Franco Columbu was considered one of the world’s strongest men. He held a number of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting world records. He also performed a strongman act in which he routinely blew up a hot water bottle by inflating it orally, lifted vehicles on stage (while someone else was changing a tire) and deadlifted over 700 lbs for repetitions. He is both a chiropractor and a weightlifter and a legend in the iron game and body building.
