IronMan, Vol 14, No 2, Page 29, September 1954

Mr. Universe Titles Won by Jim Park and Enrico Tomas

by G L Harris

THE sixth Mr. Universe contest to be held in London was, like so many others, dominated by the American entrants.

The Scala Theatre, where the show was held, has seen many great physiques before and men who have won the highest award in bodybuilding include Grimek 1948, Reeves 1950, Park 1951, Ferrero 1952. Last year's winner Bill Pearl won the title at the London Palladium.

The announcing of the winners. Professional and Amateur, was done on Saturday, June 26th at the Scala Theatre, but the drama was at the judging the day before. This was held at the Royal Hotel, where the reunion dinner was held in the evening. First class to be judged were the under 5'8" professionals. There were only five entrants and the judges gave their votes to Jim Saunders of England. Runner up was Stan Howllet. Stan is an actor at present engaged with South Pacific. He has been with the show since the opening in London's West End. 3rd was Henri Glorieux, Belgium and 4th was Jack King, Eng.

In the tall class was American entrant (previous winner of Mr. America and Mr. World titles) Jim Park. Popular English bodybuilder Reub Martin, Pierre Luiten, Belgium, and George Sheridan, England, in the order in which they finished. Jim Park told me that he had intended to fine down to 185 pounds for this contest, but he had gone down to as little as 180 lbs. and looked fine drawn around the face. This made his definition look greater than ever, his arms are sensational to say the least, and his posing is first-class, emphasizing his arms and small waist. He was a worthy winner and British bodybuilders placed him up to the standard of previous American champions they have seen on this side of the Atlantic.

The Amateur Class 3 for men under 5'6" was next on the agenda and there were 14 contestants from as far off as Syria, Hong Kong, Viet Nam etc. First in this class was American serviceman John Leonard. John had the largest legs seen on a short man and his calves must be near 17". John placed second to Yas Kuzuhara in the Mr. World contest last year. He arrived in London with two buddies, a reporter and photographer representing the Army paper in Germany.

They had bad luck on the way over as they lost their photographic equipment at Rotterdam but the Health & Strength Magazine let them have copies of theirs.

Kurshad Ahmed of Pakistan was second and third place was won by Paul An of Viet Nam. Fourth position was occupied by Alan Fung of Hong Kong. Alan had the smallest waist in the competition, 25". Other notables in this contest that did not place were Wally Wright of England and Leon Himitian of Syria. Wright was runner up in last year's Mr. Britain. He was the largest man in the contest with arms at 17 1/8. Himitian, though unable to place this time, has two previous times been in the first three.

The next class to have been judged was Class 2, under 5'9" but Enrico Tomas had not arrived from the States so the judges took the tall men's class. This was dominated by John Lees of England who was favorite for the contest, but he was surprisingly beaten by Jannie Graaff of South Mrica. This was the surprise of the show. Lees won the 1953 Mr. Britain, and in the company of Reg Park he had been concentrating on the winning of the Universe, A strong boy, he cleans 300 lbs. without a dip, bench presses 370 three reps and presses 265 lbs. and was winner of Mr. South Africa. Second was John Lees. Henry Downs of the Channel Islands won third place. A little more on the legs and Henry would rate with the best. Hubert Thomas of Wales and Ted White of England tied for fourth place.

After the judging of this class, Enrico Tomas had still not arrived so the judging was still held up. Rules of the contest state that if a competitor is late he is disqualified, but Enrico had saved up the fare himself and should have been in London on Thursday but his plane developed trouble at Gander. After taking off in another plane they had to return to Gander as this plane also had trouble. In the end he landed in England a day late, even then he was unlucky, for the coach he left the airport in for London was involved in a collision, so by the time Tomas arrived at the Royal Hotel the judging had commenced, but they re-judged the whole class once more after taking into consideration the fact that Enrico was late because of circumstances beyond his control. Whilst we were waiting I questioned Jim Park about Enrico. Jim told me that he was glad Enrico was not in the Professionals. When he did arrive it was in sweat suit, pants and jacket. He rushed into the line-up and we were not disappointed with our wait. It turned out that he won this class. He was asked the size of his arms. 17½ said Enrico, but when measured they were found to be 18¼. Enrico calmly commented that they must have gone up a bit. Second place winner was Arthur Robin of France, a colored boy who has the best physique that France has produced. Third place man, Harry Henry of the West Indies was a very popular contestant and on the stage of the Scala got the most applause of all competitors. . . definitely a man to watch, he has everything. . . big measurements with great definition. Another colored boy, Cecil Addison of Jamaica, took fourth place.

This class was the best of the contest. All the first four or even the first six would have made good winners, but Enrico had that little edge that made him the winner.

On Saturday the Scala Theatre was packed, not a seat left, and many disappointed fans were left outside.

First item was the parade of entrants, flags of all the countries who had entrants were displayed -- a fine sight of 54 superbly developed athletes from all over the world. Then the great audience saw the Professional classes of the Universe contest and Oscar Heidestan, the compere, (himself an entrant in previous years) announced Jim Park as the Mr. Universe for 1954.

As a change from physiques we saw a gymnastic contest won by the Army and a comedy handbalancing and tumbling act by Ted and George Durant. This act is a riot and has appeared at all the top theatres including the London Palladium. Bearer was Ted Aston, son of the famous Edward Aston who was once professional middleweight champion of the world. He also bent pressed 300 lbs. We then saw the Junior Miss Britain won by lovely Dorothy Peak, and the Junior Mr. Britain won by sixteen year old Jimmy Stevens. Jimmy is our greatest find for the future and weighs 175 lbs at 5'6". He has 16¼" arms and is reported to have bench pressed 400 lbs. and squatted with 460 lbs.

When we saw the amateurs the audience was overwhelmed with the class of the competitors. This was the highest standard seen in these contests and the winner was once again an American -- Enrico Tomas. Enrico gave a little speech and told us of his fears that he would not be in time to enter, and at one stage of his journey he felt like returning to the States, but now everything was great and Enrico was overjoyed at winning the premier title of bodybuilding.

So ended the American invasion, but I am sure that things will be made harder for the U. S. Champions in the next few years as the standard of bodybuilders has vastly improved all over the world and is still improving.

REPORT ON MR. UNIVERSE 1954

PROFESSIONAL MR. UNIVERSE

(Open to any athlete in the world)
Winner: Jim Park, U.S.A.

Class One:
(Over 5'8")
Class Two
(5'8" and under)
Jim Park, U.S.A.;
Reuben Martin, England;
Pierre Luiten, Belgium;
George Sheridan, England.
Jim Saunders, England;
Stan Howlett, England;
Henri Glorieux, Belgium;
John King, England;
Syd Baker, England.

AMATEUR MR. UNIVERSE

(Open to any bona fide amateur in the World)
Winner: Enrico Tomas U.S.A.

Class One: (over 5'9") Class Two: Class Three:
Jannie Graaff, South Africa;
John Lees, England;
Henry Downs, C. Islands;
Hubert Thomas, Wales
Ted White, England;
Gerry Crampton, England;
Dennis Stallard, Wales;
Peter Gunn, England;
John Meredith, Wales;
Andrei Zwierchowski, Poland;
Ivan Dunbar, Ireland.
Enrico Tomas, USA;
Arthur Robin, France;
Harry Henry, Ned. W. I.;
Cecil Addison, Jamaica;
Roy Powell, Jamaice;
Kamal Bhandari, India;
Achilles Kallos, South Africa;
George Baines, England;
Andre Coel, Belgium;
Archie Brennan, Scotland;
Tony Hillman, England;
Ken Latham, England;
Gordon MacKay, Scotland;
Robert McShane, Ireland;
Derek Manthorpe, England;
Keith Pickering, England;
William Proctor, England;
James Winton, Scotland;
Marcel Desmedt, Belgium;
Daniel Cazaerck, Belgium.
John Leonard, USA;
Kurshid Ahmed, Pakistan;
Paul An, Viet Nam;
Alan Fung, Hong Kong;
James Wood, Scotland;
Wally Wright, England;
Santi Chakravarti, India;
Robert Armstrong, England;
Ramlingam Govender, S. Africa;
Leon Himitian, Syria;
Trevor Jones, Wales;
Paul Pastierik, France;
Alan Robinson, England;
Gilbert Pouydebat, France.

Judges: Dr. Ian McQueen; Prof. P. E. Craeye, Belgium; Oscar Heidenstam, England; David Webster, Scotland; George Kirkley, England; Norman Guest, England; All NABRA International Judges. Judges' Secretary: Emlyn Jenkins, Wales.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

- JIM PARK. at upper right won the professional Mr. Universe title while the photo below shows JOHN LEONARD of USA, first in class three; JIM PARK, Pro. Mr. Universe; ENRICO TOMAS of USA, Amateur Mr. Universe; Jannie Graaff of South Africa, winner of class one. Photos courtesy of Health and Strength of England.

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