John Citron

John Citron was born on May 17, 1943 in the UK. He has Italian roots, his historical homeland is Frosinone, a province located near Rome. At the beginning of the Second World War, John's parents moved to the UK, where they founded an ice cream factory in the small town of Chester-le-Street in County Durham. The factory was passed on from his parents to John and his twin brother Eddie. John subsequently left the factory to Eddie and it is currently closed.

Bodybuilding career

John began training as a teenager. And I have been participating in competitions since 1960. Strength has always been Citron's hallmark. Already at the very beginning of his career, after just a few months of training, he could bench press 100 kg with his own weight of 65 kg.

John never stopped working and developing his strength, and after just a couple of years of training, he was able to increase his maximum bench weight to 135 kg with a body weight of 68 kg. In 1968, at the age of 25, he showed an incredible result, pressing 221 kg at a major competition in Northern Ireland (John himself weighed 80 kg).

His first title was Mr. Britain Junior, which he won at age 18. Then, at the age of 19, John won the British Powerlifting Championships. In 1966, at the age of 21, Citron became Mr. Britain, making him the youngest and shortest (he was 165 cm tall) holder of this title in history.

In 1964 and 1965, Citron took part in the Mr. Universe competition. John received his first title “Mr. Universe” (Class III) in 1966, in the same year he became “Mr. Europe”. After that, he won the Mr. Universe (Class III) competition three more years in a row, thus becoming Mr. Universe 4 times in a row. In 1968, Citron even defeated the famous American bodybuilder Freddie Ortiz. John Citron, like many bodybuilders, dreamed of winning the title of absolute champion of the Mr. Universe competition, but unfortunately for him, he competed at the same time with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won this title three years in a row: in 1967, 1968 and 1969 year. Despite their rivalry, John and Arnold have a friendly relationship.

In 2004, 61-year-old John Citron also won the title of "Mr. Universe" of the Masters series (among athletes over 50 years old). Before that, he won the title of Mr. Universe Masters series four times in the over 40 age category. He also won the NABBA World Championships 5 times in the over 40 age category. The last competition John Citron won was the NABBA World Championships in Brazil in 2005. After this,  he ended his professional career, becoming the longest-serving bodybuilder.

After retirement

Now, together with his wife, he runs a nutrition business, namely Peak Body, which supplies healthy food products to clients around the world. It is also known that John’s heir, Carlo Citron, also has a passion for sports. True, to a different sport. Carlo is a professional poker player and has already earned over $1 million in his career. His last big live tournament win was almost $50,000, which he earned in Malta in 2015 on the European Poker Tour, organized by PokerStars.

Champions are not born, champions are made, and Citron’s career is proof of this. John achieved recognition and success through unwavering determination, grueling training and a passion for bodybuilding.

In 2000, John Citron was inducted into the British Bodybuilding Hall of Fame alongside such legends as Bill Pearl, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Platz.