Arnold
...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...
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