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6x Mr. Olympia, 1992–1997

Dorian Yates

GenderMale
Born1962
Born inHurley, Staffordshire, England
Social X
StatusRetired

Dorian Yates is a Men's Open Bodybuilding competitor from the United Kingdom with a competitive record spanning 1990–1997.

About

Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates is six-time Mr. Olympia champion who dominated professional bodybuilding during the 1990s. He won the title consecutively from 1992 to 1997 and became known by the nickname "The Shadow" for his discreet approach to competition, often appearing at major events without prior public confirmation. Between contests, Yates maintained a low public profile. This also contributed to his distinctive reputation within the sport. Known for his impressive conditioning and wide and thick back, he is regarded as one of the greatest professional bodybuilders of all time. Influenced by the concepts of Mike Mentzer, Yates is credited with popularising high-intensity training (HIT) in the 1990s. He was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2003.

Championship record

Where the titles came from

Counted from the same results table below: an appearance is one contest entered (in the years the Olympia also judged weight classes, one appearance can carry two placings), an Olympia title is the overall win in that division, and Top 3 counts first, second and third together. The last row is every professional contest on record for Dorian Yates.

Mr. Olympia

7Appearances
6Titles
7Top 3

All contests on record

17Contests
15Wins
17Top 3

Professional results

Every professional contest result on record for Dorian Yates, 17 in all. The table opens on the first 15 and expands in place from there. Nothing sits on a separate page. Won by names the winner of the division Dorian Yates competed in, and shows a dash where that winner cannot be pinned to one person in the database.

YearContestDivisionPlaceWon by
1997 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1996 Grand Prix England Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1996 Grand Prix Germany Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1996 Grand Prix Spain Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1996 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1995 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1994 Grand Prix England Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1994 Grand Prix Germany Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1994 Grand Prix Spain Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1994 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1993 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1992 Grand Prix England Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1992 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1991 Grand Prix England Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1991 Mr. Olympia Men's Open Bodybuilding #2 Lee Haney
1991 Night of Champions Men's Open Bodybuilding #1 Winner
1990 Night of Champions Men's Open Bodybuilding #2 Mohammed Benaziza

Showing 15 of 17 professional results. Showing all 17 professional results.

Where these results come from. Each contest in the table was recorded from a named source, and for Dorian Yates that source is MuscleMemory. Open any contest above and that page names its own source and links to it where the source is still reachable. That archive no longer answers at the addresses we hold, so it is credited by name here and not offered as a link.

Every professional season

1990 to 1997 shown · 17 professional results

Peak Year 1994 (4 wins)

Measured against Dorian Yates’s own seasons, not against the field. See the full peak window →

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Olympia 1st place 2nd place 3rd place Other
Pro Debut
1990
First Win
1991
Peak Year
1994
Last Contest
1997

Dorian Yates at the Olympia, year by year

Dorian Yates at the Mr. Olympia: 6 titles (1992 to 1997), first appearance 1991. Source: Fitness Volt Bodybuilding Database.
Year Placement Division
1991 2 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1992 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1993 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1994 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1995 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1996 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding
1997 1 Men's Open Bodybuilding

Data updated

Physique benchmark

How Dorian Yates measures up

Fat-free mass index turns the height and weight on this profile into one number for how much muscle a frame carries, so a shorter competitor is not flattered by a bodyweight comparison. The normalised figure adjusts it again to a standard height, which is the version worth ranking. Both assume the 6% body fat a competitor steps on stage at, because that is the only condition the recorded weight was taken in.

35.5FFMI
35.6Normalised FFMI
37thOf 316 measured men

The closest Olympia champion on that measure is Nick Walker, at 36.0.

What this rank is not. This database holds a height and a weight for just 463 athletes, and they are overwhelmingly the ones somebody bothered to measure: 74 of them hold an Olympia title. Almost every competitor on record carries no measurement at all. The pool also mixes every division and era together, from the lightweight women's classes to the open heavyweights, so it ranks size and nothing else. It says where Dorian Yates sits among the athletes we hold measurements for, not among competitors.

Amateur and other shows not counted above

1 result from amateur shows and other contests this archive does not class as professional. Every total on this page covers the professional career only, so these are listed here but never counted, and they have no contest page.

Show the list
YearContestDivisionPlace
1985 World Games Men's Bodybuilding (Heavyweight) #7

In 7 meetings, Dorian Yates finished ahead of Ronnie Coleman 7 times to 0.

Opponents are ranked by how often they shared a stage and how big the stage was, not by reputation. A meeting is one contest where both competed in the same division and both were placed.

Win rate here is first-place finishes as a share of all 17 professional contest results. It is published only where a career holds at least five, because below that a single placing moves the figure by twenty points or more.

High confidence 17 professional results, Well-verified source Updated September 30, 2026 Accurate?

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