Yahoo News Meet ‘Flex’ Lewis - the extreme bodybuilder who has just matched Arnie's record
A 33-year-old bodybuilder from Wales has just been named Mr Olympia for the sixth consecutive time – matching the record of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
James ‘Flex’ Lewis, from Llanelli, has become a bonafide wrestling celebrity in the United States after winning the 212lb weight category in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Flex only started bodybuilding as a way to improve his rugby playing when he was a teenager but now he appears on the front of magazine covers and on television in America.
However, despite his Stateside fame, Flex would hardly get noticed on the street in his home country.
He told the BBC: “I get a lot of love around the world. I’m on US television, on the front cover of magazines, but in my own country I get a small column in my local paper, the Llanelli Star.”
Flex was urged to enter a bodybuilding contest when he was 19 and he was shocked to emerge as the winner.
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From there he won junior Mr Wales and junior Mr Great Britain twice – before winning junior Mr Universe.
He was competing against men in their late 30s when he was just 22 and by 24, Flex had turned fully professional.
In 2012, Flex – who now has a family and several businesses in America – won his first Mr Olympia competition and has now claimed his sixth title, matching his hero Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won seven titles overall.
Flex added: “To equal Arnie’s record of consecutive wins at Olympia is a dream come true for me as I have always been inspired by him.
“I am so thrilled to have made Wales and the people of Great Britain proud.”
