Toney Freeman (born August 30, 1966) is an American IFBB professional

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

and brand ambassador residing in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Biography

Freeman's nickname is The X-Man because his body characterizes the "X-frame" of classical bodybuilding: broad shoulders, narrow waist, and flaring thighs. He has been featured on the cover and pages of ''

Flex Flex or FLEX may refer to: Computing * Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay * FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorola 6800 * FlexOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research * FLEX (protocol), a comm ...

'', ''

Muscular Development ''Muscular Development'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine first published in 1964. It was founded by Bob Hoffman. History John Grimek was the editor from 1964 until its sale in 1986 to Twinlab.

'', and ''

Musclemag ''MuscleMag International'' or ''Musclemag'' was a Canadian bodybuilding, fitness and men's magazine, considered one of the top magazines in its field. It was established in Canada in 1974 by Robert Kennedy, an immigrant to Canada and leading expe ...

''. Freeman did not become a competitive bodybuilder until his late 30s because, for many years, it was a hobby and the sport was dominated by his idols

Lee Haney Lee Haney (born November 11, 1959) is an American former IFBB professional bodybuilder. Haney shares the all-time record for most Mr. Olympia titles at eight with Ronnie Coleman and is regarded as one of the greatest bodybuilders to ever grace th ...

and

Dorian Yates Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates (born 19 April 1962) is an English retired professional bodybuilder. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997 and has the fifth-highest number of Mr. Olympia wins in history, ranking behind ...

. It took Freeman many years to fill out his large frame and he was mentored by Dave Palumbo to become a professional. Freeman's first (

National Physique Committee The National Physique Committee (NPC) is the largest amateur bodybuilding organization in the United States. Amateur bodybuilders compete in competitions from local to national competitions sanctioned by the NPC. While the term "bodybuilding" is ...

(NPC)) competition was in 1993, where he won the heavyweight class of the NPC Junior Nationals. His first IFBB event was the Night of Champions competition, where he placed 11th. His first

Arnold Classic The IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, is an annual multi-sport event consisting of professional bodybuilding (''Arnold Classic''), strongman (''Arnold Strongman Classic''), fitness, figure and ...

was in 2005, where he placed 10th. His first Ironman Pro Invitational was in 2006, where he placed 7th. His first

Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually by the International Federation ...

appearance was in 2006, where he placed 7th. In 2007, he won the Ironman Pro and Sacramento Pro and placed 3rd at the Arnold Classic. He made the top 5 at the 2008 Mr. Olympia. On December 8, 2010, during a visit to Sweden, Freeman was escorted by the police from

Sundsvall Sundsvall () is a city and the seat of Sundsvall Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden. It has a population of 58,807 as of 2020; more than 95,000 live in the municipal area. It is Sweden's 21st largest city by population. History Th ...

while undertaking a promotional appearance in a local store. The police knew Freeman and other international bodybuilders were coming to Sweden for a fitness festival from promotional posters. According to Freeman, he was taken to the police station and was denied a legal representative and forced to give a urine sample. Reports allege that Freeman tested positive for

testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondar ...

human growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in h ...

, and

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

. He was released the same day with no charge. On December 31, 2010, Freeman responded to the allegations with an official statement and a video in which he emphasized he had not been treated properly by being denied an advocate or communication with the

U.S. embassy The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

. Freeman became the first international professional bodybuilder to be detained by the Swedish police under "muscle profiling", a profiling method used by Swedish police in which suspicion of

performance-enhancing drug Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

use is based solely on physical appearance. The possession of such substances as steroids is illegal in Sweden. According to others who have been detained in this manner, police use the size and appearance of the bodybuilder to detain them, then aim to prove their case with blood or urine samples taken at the station. Police staff member Henrik Blusi generalized the actions taken against Freeman to all professional bodybuilders, saying: "If you are a professional bodybuilder you should not come to Sundsvall. We are very well informed here. We are currently conducting the largest doping trial in Europe, and then one should understand that we have an eye out for these things now."

Stats

*Height: *Contest Weight: *Off Season Weight: *Waist: 32 in (79 cm)

Competitive history

* 1990 AAU Junior Mr America, Tall, 4th * 1993 NPC Junior Nationals, Heavyweight, 1st * 1993 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 6th * 1994 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 4th * 1995 NPC Nationals, Heavyweight, 4th * 2001 NPC Coastal USA Championships, Super-Heavyweight, 2nd * 2001 NPC Nationals, Super-Heavyweight, 8th * 2002 NPC Nationals, Super-Heavyweight, 1st and Overall * 2003 IFBB Night of Champions, 11th * 2003 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 9th * 2004 IFBB Night of Champions, 10th * 2004 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 8th * 2005 IFBB

, 10th * 2006 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th * 2006 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 7th * 2006 IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 5th * 2006 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st * 2006 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2007 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 1st * 2007 IFBB Sacramento Pro, 1st * 2007 IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd * 2007 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 14th * 2008 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 8th * 2008 IFBB Arnold Classic, 7th * 2008 IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix, 4th * 2008 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro, 1st * 2008 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st * 2008 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 5th * 2009 IFBB Arnold Classic, 4th * 2009 IFBB Australian Pro, 3rd * 2009 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 8th * 2010 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 9th * 2010 IFBB Phoenix Pro, 3rd * 2011 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th * 2011 IFBB British Grand Prix, 6th * 2011 IFBB Mr Europe Grand Prix, 5th * 2011 IFBB Hartford Europa Battle of Champions, 6th * 2011 IFBB Europa Super Show (Dallas), 1st * 2011 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2012 IFBB Arnold Classic Europe, 5th * 2012 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 7th * 2013 IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd * 2013 IFBB Mr. Olympia, 15th

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Tony African-American bodybuilders Professional bodybuilders 1966 births Living people 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Biography

Stats

Competitive history

See also

References