Samir Bannout

Samir Bannout (born November 7, 1955) is a Lebanese former professional bodybuilder and coach. He won the 1983 Mr. Olympia title. Biography Known as "the Lion of Lebanon", Samir Bannout won the Mr. Olympia title in 1983. Bannout has appeared on the covers of many fitness and bodybuilding publications, including Strength and Health, MuscleMag International, Muscle Digest, Flex, Muscle Training Illustrated, Muscle and Fitness, Muscle Up, IronMan and Muscular Development magazines. Samir Bannout left his native Lebanon and immigrated to America, where he first moved to Detroit, Michigan. He began competing at the amateur level, where he rose up the ranks and eventually achieved IFBB pro status by winning his light-heavyweight class at the 1979 IFBB World Amateur Championships. By this time, Samir had already relocated to Santa Monica, California. Bannout took fourth place at the 1982 Mr. Olympia contest and returned the following year to take home the title in 1983, winning the contest to become Mr. Olympia 1983. The contest was held in Munich, Germany that year, and the trophy awarded to him is called a "Sandow" for Eugen Sandow. Bannout weighed for his win at the contest, making him the last Mr. Olympia to weigh under . His victory ended what is referred to as the "aesthetics" era for the Mr. Olympia contest, which had originally started with American Frank Zane winning the title in 1977 and reverted to emphasizing increased mass and size starting with American Lee Haney winning in 1984 for the first time and following up his inaugural victory with seven additional consecutive wins for a record grand total of eight titles. The extreme muscular definition that Bannout achieved in his lower back region helped to shape "Lebanon Cedar" when referring to the shape made visible during a back pose on the competition stage.