Kevin Levrone

Kevin Mark Levrone (born July 16, 1964) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, IFBB Hall of Famer, musician and blogger.

Kevin Levrone
Bodybuilder
Personal info
Born (1964-07-16) July 16, 1964
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Weight253 lb (115kg)[1]
Professional career
Pro-debut
  • NPC Nationals
  • 1991
Best win
  • IFBB Arnold Classic 1994/1996, IFBB Mr.Olympia runner-up 1992/1995/2000/2002

During his professional career, Levrone competed in 68 IFBB Professional contests. Considered as one of the best bodybuilders of the 1990s,[2] even though he never won the prestigious Mr. Olympia title, he has won 23 pro shows, holding the record of the most wins as an IFBB professional until Ronnie Coleman set the new record in 2004 and that record was eventually broken by Dexter Jackson in 2016 with 28 wins.

Early life

Levrone was born on July 16, 1964 in Baltimore, Maryland to an Italian-American father and African-American mother. He lost both parents to cancer at a young age.[3] Kevin was first inspired to pursue bodybuilding by his cousin. After seeing the size and condition of his cousin, who had returned from serving in the military, Kevin became more serious about working out and bodybuilding in general.[4]

Training

Levrone began his professional IFBB career in 1991 after finishing first in the NPC Finals. After placing 2nd at the 1992 Mr. Olympia contest, for his first participation, he had a severe injury in February 1993, completely tearing his major and minor pectorals while bench-pressing 600 pounds, and he needed surgery to reattach them.[2] He had two surgeries, the first one lasted 8 hours, then while he was healing he got an infection and he needed a second surgery. At that time everyone thought that Levrone's career was over, yet he managed to be in contest shape for the 1994 Mr. Olympia only eight weeks later, and placed 5th.[2] He placed 2nd at Mr. Olympia four times — in 1992 and 1995 behind Dorian Yates (six times winner), in 2000 and 2002 behind Ronnie Coleman (eight times winner).[5]

When he stopped competing in 2003, Levrone did not officially announce his retirement; he explained this as he never thought about retirement, but just decided to do something different, find other challenges.[6]

Despite having been away from competition for well over a decade since 2003, Kevin officially announced in May 2016 that he would return to once again compete at the professional level at the Mr. Olympia contest, by special invite;[7] he indeed entered the 2016 Mr. Olympia contest, at age 51, and placed 17th, with only five months of preparation.[8] In 2018, in the lead up to competing in the Arnold Classic Australia competition, Levrone announced that this would be his last competition; he placed 13th out of a field of 14. Many believe he had improved over his 2016 Mr Olympia condition, but he was still far from the condition that had made him a big name in bodybuilding in the 90s and early 2000s.

Levrone has been in 13 Mr. Olympia competitions (including the 2016 edition). Despite placing a number of times (including four times second), Kevin never took first place in a Mr. Olympia competition earning him the nickname, "The Uncrowned King of Mr. Olympia" (an honorary title he shares with Kenneth “Flex” Wheeler and Shawn Ray). Levrone has been applauded for his ability to train quickly for competitions, rather than training year-long.[2] This fact is often attributed to the reason why he was able to come back for the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition. Despite not placing in the top 10 for the first time, Levrone got himself in competition-shape in only 5 months. After the 2016 Mr. Olympia competition Levrone revealed he had trained despite injuries to his pectorals and knee.

Post professional career

Since ending his competition career, Levrone enjoys playing other sports like tennis and golf. He has acted in several films and is also a musician. He released an online training platform in early 2016 naming it TeamLevrone.com. In 2015, he released a supplement line called, "Kevin Levrone Signature Series".[9]

Stats
  • Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 11 in)[10]
  • On Season Weight: 100 kg (220 lb)[10] (post active competitive career)
  • Off Season Weight: 120 kg (260 lb)[11] (peak during active competitive career)
  • Competition Weight: 110–115 kg (243–254 lb)
  • Arm Size: 60 cm (24 in)[11] (active peak)
  • Leg Size: 82 cm (32 in)[11]
  • Waist Size: 73.66 cm (29.00 in)
  • Chest size: 145 cm (57 in)
  • Best Bench Press: 240 kg (530 lb)(RAW, i.e. unequipped, with belt)[10][12][13]

Competitive history
gollark: Best bracket style: no newlines! Everything in one line. Removes all hard decisions.
gollark: What is this `reimann sphere`?
gollark: I never figured out how to get CPU temp.
gollark: I think it's getting GPU temperature, actually.
gollark: I have no idea what it's getting the temperature *of* though.

References
  1. Pro Profiles. "Kevin Levrone Pro Bodybuilding Profile". Bodybuilding.com. Bodybuilding.com, LLC. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
  2. "90's Bodybuilding... (The Golden Era?)". Protein Hunter. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2019-01-29.
  3. "Kevin Levrone". IMDb. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  4. "The Kevin Levrone Interview". Bodybuilding.com. 2004-11-26. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  5. https://www.revistasuplementacao.com.br/impresso/detalhes/2772-mitos-do-bodybuilding-kevin-levrone.html
  6. "The Kevin Levrone Interview". Bodybuilding.com. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  7. Chris Nicoll (videographer). "Kevin Levrone Is Back!". FLEX Online. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  8. "2016". Mr. Olympia. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
  9. "Kevin Levrone: revolutionary sports supplement brand created by me, Kevin Levrone". levrosupplements.com. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2015-08-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Kevin Levrone – Evolution of Bodybuilding". Evolutionofbodybuilding.net. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  12. Greg Merritt. "Kevin Levrone's Training Philosophies". FLEX Online. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  13. "Bodybuilder Kevin Levrone". Criticalbench.com. 1965-07-16. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
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