Phillip Jerrod Heath (born December 18, 1979) is an American IFBB Pro League professional bodybuilder. Known as 'The Gift',[2] he is a seven-time Mr. Olympia winner, having won the competition every year from 2011 to 2017. Heath is tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger for the joint-second number of all-time Mr. Olympia wins, behind Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney, who are joint-first with eight wins each.
Phillip Jerrod Heath was born in Seattle, Washington,[3] on December 18, 1979.[4] He attended Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, where he was the shooting guard on the varsity basketball team, which won the state title in 1998.[5][3] He attended the University of Denver on an athletic scholarship, majoring in business administration while playing shooting guard for the university's Division I basketball team.[3][6]
Heath entered bodybuilding in 2002. In 2005, he won the overall title at the NPC (National Physique Committee) USA Championships, earning the right to compete as an IFBB Pro. He won his first two IFBB professional events the following year: The Colorado Pro Championships and The New York Pro Championship. In 2007, Heath placed fifth at the Arnold Classic.[7] Although he still qualified to compete in the 2007 Mr. Olympia contest, Heath, nevertheless, decided not to enter the contest, stating that he needed additional time to improve his form.
Heath won the 2008 Iron Man show and placed second to Dexter Jackson at the 2008 Arnold Classic. In his 2008 Mr. Olympia debut, Heath finished third to become the first novice to place in the top three since Flex Wheeler in 1993. He claimed the fifth position at the 2009 Mr. Olympia title and second place at the 2010 event. He gained the crown in 2011. Heath defended the title of Mr Olympia consecutively six times since then until 2018 when he placed second to Shawn Rhoden.
During the countdown to TNA's Bound for Glory pre-show on October 20, 2013, Heath accompanied The BroMans (Jessie Godderz and Robbie E) to the ring for their tag team gauntlet match, which they won; later in the night, he accompanied them to their TNA World Tag Team Championship match against Gunner and James Storm.[8] After the match, he celebrated their title victory with them in the ring and backstage during an interview.
^Merritt, Greg (September 15, 2023). "Phil Heath & Basketball". The Barbell. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
^Branch, John (October 28, 2016). "No One Is Looking at This Headline". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2018. got a Division I basketball scholarship at the University of Denver. He majored in business and averaged 1.3 points over four seasons.
Media related to Phil Heath at Wikimedia Commons
