Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son wins first bodybuilding competition – and the photos are jaw-dropping
For most of his life, Joseph Baena was known more as a headline than a human being – the hidden son of Hollywood’s most famous bodybuilder, the product of an affair that rocked a family and fascinated the world. Now, at 28, he’s forcing people to look again.
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Standing center stage at the NPC Natural Colorado State, he didn’t just echo his father’s silhouette; he earned his own applause, his own trophies, his own story. The boy who once got cut from school teams for being out of shape now moves with the precision of a sculptor proudly unveiling his work. Training beside Arnold at Gold’s Gym, he absorbed not just technique but a standard. Walking through Los Angeles the day after his win, relaxed and confident, Baena no longer looked like a shadow of a superstar. He looked like the beginning of a new dynasty.
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Baena, whose mom is Mildred Patricia Baena, celebrated his first victory just days after he spent some time training and receiving tips from his dad at Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, Calif.
The Terminator star, 78, started training at the same gym after moving to the United States in the 1960s.
From there, Schwarzenegger has been widely considered one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, having won the Mr. Olympia title seven times and Mr. Universe five times, before he stopped competing in 1980.
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