2 career wins
Markus Rühl
Markus Rühl is a Men's Open Bodybuilding competitor from Germany with a competitive record spanning 1997–2010.
About
Markus Rühl is a retired IFBB professional bodybuilder, who is widely regarded as one of the biggest "mass monster" bodybuilders of all time.
Championship appearances
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 Markus Rühl.
Mr. Olympia
Arnold Classic
All contests on record
Professional results
Every professional contest result on record for Markus Rühl, 32 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 Markus Rühl competed in, and shows a dash where that winner cannot be pinned to one person in the database.
| Year | Contest | Division | Place | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Europa Supershow | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #7 | Essa Hassan Obaid |
| 2009 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #15 | Jay Cutler |
| 2009 | New York Pro Championships | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #3 | Evan Centopani |
| 2007 | Arnold Classic | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #9 | Victor Martinez |
| 2007 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | Unplaced | Jay Cutler |
| 2007 | Santa Susanna Pro | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Paco Bautista |
| 2006 | Grand Prix Austria | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #3 | Jay Cutler |
| 2006 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #8 | Jay Cutler |
| 2006 | Santa Susanna Pro | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Paco Bautista |
| 2005 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #15 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2004 | Arnold Classic | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Jay Cutler |
| 2004 | Grand Prix Australia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #3 | Dexter Jackson |
| 2004 | Grand Prix England | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #4 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2004 | Grand Prix Holland | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2004 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2003 | Arnold Classic | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #3 | Jay Cutler |
| 2003 | Maximum Pro Invitational | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Darrem Charles |
| 2002 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #8 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2002 | Night of Champions | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #1 | Winner |
| 2002 | Toronto Pro | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Art Atwood |
| 2001 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #14 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2000 | Grand Prix England | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2000 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #7 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 2000 | Night of Champions | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #2 | Jay Cutler |
| 2000 | Toronto Pro | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #1 | Winner |
| 2000 | World Pro Championships | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #5 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 1999 | Grand Prix England | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #7 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 1999 | Mr. Olympia | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #12 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 1999 | Night of Champions | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #4 | Paul Dillett |
| 1999 | World Pro Championships | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #7 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 1998 | Night of Champions | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #9 | Ronnie Coleman |
| 1997 | Grand Prix Germany | Men's Open Bodybuilding | #10 | Kevin Levrone |
Showing 15 of 32 professional results.
Where these results come from. Each contest in the table was recorded from a named source, and for Markus Rühl 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
- Pro Debut
- 1997
- Olympia Debut
- 1999
- First Win
- 2000
- Last Contest
- 2010
Markus Rühl at the Olympia, year by year
| Year | Placement | Division |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 12 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2000 | 7 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2001 | 14 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2002 | 8 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2004 | 5 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2005 | 15 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2006 | 8 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
| 2009 | 15 | Men's Open Bodybuilding |
Data updated
How Markus Rühl 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.
The closest Olympia champion on that measure is Dexter Jackson, at 37.5.
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 Markus Rühl sits among the athletes we hold measurements for, not among competitors.
More Men's Open Bodybuilding athletes Athletes from Germany
Most-met rivals
Compare any two athletes →In 16 meetings, Ronnie Coleman finished ahead of Markus Rühl 16 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 32 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.

