The Trails Of Sergio

With victories like these, who needs defeats? Serigo Oliva Jr.'s rookie year was no walk in the park!

- Peter McGough

It was 10:20 p.m. as Jon Delarosa and Sergio Oliva Jr. stood waiting as the last two men standing—one of them would be declared winner of the 2017 New York Pro. It was Delarosa’s fifth attempt at the event and Oliva’s first. In fact it was the latter’s pro debut, a status earned when he took the super-heavyweight and overall titles at the 2015 NPC Nationals. Because of the inheritance of one of the most famous and lauded names in bodybuilding (his father, Sergio Senior, was three-time Mr. Olympia, 1967–69, and a leading icon of the sport), his debut was under extreme observation. It was like watching Mickey Mantle Jr. getting into the major leagues. Could the kid handle the burden of one of the most famous names in bodybuilding?

In his stentorian “Live from Burbank” TV announcer voice, emcee Bob Cicherillo rasped out the name “Jon Delarosa!” The runner-up slumped forward in disappointment, the winner sank to his knees and held his head in his hands, his body shaking with emotion.

It should have been one of the happiest moments of Oliva’s life; a dream fulfilled, critics answered. Instead it was the culmination of the most miserable and desperate period of his life. Absorbing the win caused a sense of relief to slowly, slowly envelop him. He digested his present position. At that moment of victory, he had hardly any money to his name. A long-standing sponsor had terminated his contract earlier in the year, and then a prospective new sponsor who seemed ready to make a deal pulled out eight weeks before his Big Apple assignment.