| In the West, it is believed that bodybuilding first came | | | | From the 1970s onwards, professional bodybuilding |
| to prominence between 1880 and 1930, when it was | | | | began to be far more organized than previously, with |
| promoted by the man who is now often dubbed 'The | | | | many new organizations such as the International |
| Father of Modern Bodybuilding', Eugen Sandow. Indeed, | | | | Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB), and later the |
| it was Sandow who organized what is generally | | | | National Physique Committee, which according to |
| accepted to be the first ever bodybuilding competition, | | | | many is the most successful professional bodybuilding |
| which he (with commendable understatement) called | | | | organization in the USA and also acts as the amateur |
| 'The Great Competition'. This took place at the Royal | | | | division of the IFBB. |
| Albert Hall in London on September 14, 1901, with one | | | | It was also around about the same time that |
| of the judges being Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer | | | | performance enhancing drugs started to become a |
| of the world-famous Sherlock Holmes novels. | | | | problem in many sports, and bodybuilding was no |
| Although Sandow did not win the competition, the man | | | | exception to this. Back in the 70s, the main drug |
| who did was presented with a bronze statue of | | | | problem was caused by the use of anabolic steroids |
| Sandow as his first prize, which is interestingly still given | | | | by participants in many sports, a problem that was |
| out to the winner of the most prestigious professional | | | | widely discussed and analyzed, because at that time, |
| bodybuilding competition, Mr. Olympia to this day. | | | | anabolic steroids were not an illegal substance. |