Blood bath: Don Youngblood inflicts grievous competitive harm on Vince Taylor at the 2002 Masters Olympia - Contest Report - bodybuilding - includes related article

Flex, Dec, 2002 by Jim Schmaltz

It was Vince Taylor's own personal Alfred Hitchcock moment. When the champ who had reigned since 1996 was announced second at the 2002 Masters Olympia in Lynchburg, Virginia, on August 17, it was as if Norman Bates from Psycho had lunged knife-first into Taylor's relaxing morning shower. Cut, slash, ouch! The screeching soundtrack was the only thing missing.

Blood was everywhere--247 pounds of Don Youngblood, that is. The 48-year-old bodybuilder had his own cinematic moment, but it was more Frank Capra than Master of Suspense: the all-American underdog achieving fame and fortune--well, maybe not fortune--by knocking out the indomitable champ. Instead of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Youngblood is going to Las Vegas, thanks to an automatic invitation to the Mr. Olympia on October 19. It was a real-life happy ending.

Youngblood nearly cast himself in the up-from-the-bootstraps-world-beater role last year, when he nearly vanquished an unprepared Taylor, who ended up snatching his fifth-straight Masters Olympia trophy anyway by rallying in the posing rounds to overcome the lead Youngblood had amassed after the prejudging. This year, the Invincible One was in the same position, but the unassuming Youngblood turned up the sizzle and flash in his posing stints and the deed was done. Taylor was toast.

Taylor saw it differently, not surprisingly. To him, the evening was less a good movie than a bad dream. "I'm shocked," he said backstage after escaping the glow of Youngblood's victory. "I thought I looked excellent. I'm 10 times better than last year. I knew that I brought in a helluva physique this time. I dialed in. Whatever the judges saw, that's fine with them, I'll go with the program. I just don't agree with the decision."

The 46-year-old IFBB superstar thought the tougher competition came from Norwegian standout Geir Borgan Paulsen, who finished a strong third. "I saw a good matchup with Geir," commented Taylor. "I had Don third, but congratulations to him."

Paulsen deserves plaudits, but this was Youngblood's night. The motif of the Jan Tana Classic, held in conjunction with the IFBB senior circuit, was "Go Hollywood." Swept along in that theme, the Masters O was anticipated to be a showdown between Taylor and relative newcomer Youngblood--a kind of Rocky II for the post-40 pose-for-pay set. As a prelude, many had thrown around the word "gift" to describe Taylor's victory in 2001. Youngblood knew he had the champ on the ropes and expected a raging bull this time in Lynchburg.

"1 saw Vince at the Arnold [Schwarzenegger] Classic this year and he served me notice," said Youngblood, an articulate, soft-spoken unpretentious type. "He said, 'Eat your Wheaties this year. You better bring your A body.' I said, 'OK, I'll bring it."'

Youngblood brought it. He put six pounds of tight and veiny renovations on his 2001 physique without sacrificing condition, and it paid off. The Arkansas resident looked like he smuggled a couple of peaks from the Ozarks in his biceps, and his cuts were deeper than an Ingmar Bergman film. If this contest were a movie, it would have been called My Back Your Funeral. When Youngblood turned around and tensed his rhomboids, traps and Christmas tree, he overpowered his competition, including Taylor. You could say Youngblood backed into the title.

Despite Taylor's dismissive attitude toward him, Youngblood, who owns a trucking business in Alma, Arkansas, trucks no malice toward his more experienced rival. "I really admire Vince," said Youngblood. "I've always looked up to him as an icon in the sport. I hope he doesn't hold bad feelings toward me. I heard there were a lot of derogatory things said about me in the wings while I was posing, and I read in FLEX magazine where he said that I wasn't even in his league and didn't belong onstage. That kind of hurt."

As the song goes, "Who's crying now?" Not Youngblood, and not the more than two dozen fans bedecked in T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Back in Blood" and who screamed maniacally whenever their hero hit a pose onstage. For the new champ, the contest was part family reunion and part good old-fashioned Southern hoedown. And the party's just getting started. Youngblood will now take the clan to the Mr. Olympia contest for an appearance he calls "a dream come true." Not bad for a guy who didn't take up bodybuilding until he was 34.

Going the other direction is Taylor, who hinted that he might be near the end of the competitive road. "I'm not too far from [walking away from the sport)," Taylor said after his Masters disappointment. "When I get to the point when I can't win the Masters, it's time for me to stop. I've said that for many years. This show puts that question back on the table."

The days of the Masters Olympia being a cakewalk for anybody appear to be over. Besides the excellent showing of Geir Borgan Paulsen, the contest this year featured strong performances by 1985 USA light-heavyweight and overall winner David Hawk, 41, who finished fourth, and 1992 National heavyweight champ Chris Duffy, who finished fifth.