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Was Kai Greene the Best Natural Bodybuilding Athlete Ever?

A decade ago, Kai Greene was the number two bodybuilder in the world. Greene’s longstanding and, at times, explosive rivalry with seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath raised his profile in the larger-than-life Men’s Open division.

Long before Greene and Heath’s famous feud, though, Greene had a career in natural bodybuilding that flew under most fans’ radars.

  • In 2009, Greene actually out-ranked Heath at the Mr. Olympia, placing fourth to Heath’s fifth. They met on bodybuilding’s biggest stage five more times, but Greene couldn’t overtake Heath again. 

Years later, some of the world’s most renowned coaches and competitors consider Greene to be one of the best natural bodybuilders ever. 

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Kai Greene: The Best Natural Bodybuilding Athlete Ever? 

If you’re relatively new to the sport of competitive bodybuilding, you’ll need a quick history lesson. Greene competed at the Mr. Olympia from 2009 to 2014, an event that doesn’t require the sort of stringent drug testing you’d see for most international sports.

Everyone has a past, though. Before making it into the big leagues, Greene had tremendous success in the natural bodybuilding industry. So much so that his legacy made for a hot topic between pro coaches (and competitors) Dr. Eric Helms and Alberto Núñez: 

  • “I see pre-enhanced Kai Greene as one of the greatest natural bodybuilders of all time,” Núñez said during a Sep. 9, 2024 episode of the Iron Culture podcast. “When I think of Kai, I think of an artist at heart.”

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Greene won the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF) World Championships in 1996, according to MuscleMemory. That show, Helms noted, not only drug tested its competitors, but athletes were also required to subject themselves to a polygraph evaluation regarding any potential usage of anabolic steroids.

  • “I want to say he was only 20 or 21, and he won the overall,” said Dr. Helms of Greene’s extraordinary pedigree as a young and, presumably, unenhanced bodybuilder. “He had to have been polygraph and urine tested.” 
  • To endorse Greene’s status as a then-natural athlete, Dr. Helms mentioned that Greene’s body weight on stage leapt up “60 or 70 pounds” between his WNBF days and when he bagged his IFBB pro card. 

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From the Vault: Footage of Greene as a natural competitor in his teens is hard to come by. In the video above, reportedly from ‘94, you can see a burgeoning Greene posing on stage two years before his win at WNBF Worlds. 

Beating out older, more tenured athletes at WNBF Worlds in ‘96 wasn’t Greene’s only triumph. A year prior, he won the overall title at the 1994 NGA American Nationals show. In ‘97, Greene competed a ludicrous six times, placing either first or second every time. 

With Greene’s early career in natural bodybuilding in context, it’s no wonder he ended up on the Mr. Olympia stage, giving Heath — famously dubbed “the Gift” for his borderline perfect genetic propensity for bodybuilding — a run for his money. 

Kai Greene on Natural Bodybuilding

During an interview on the expo floor of the Arnold Sports Festival, Greene once provided a few choice remarks about his bodybuilding philosophy — including the importance of viewing PEDs as a last resort, instead of a first stop, on one’s physique journey: 

  • “It’s important to be able to find out what you can do and be willing to go as far as you can being natural. I competed for more than 15 years as an unenhanced natural athlete, and I’m very, very, very proud of that,” Greene said.

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Greene carries a complicated reputation in the world of pro bodybuilding, but one thing is crystal clear: he walked the walk. And his early successes, despite not quite elevating him to the fame he achieved in the first half of the 2010s, prove he has a real case as one of the unsung G.O.A.Ts of the natural bodybuilding scene. 

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Featured Image: @kaigreene / Instagram

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