Bodybuilder Bob Paris described as world’s ‘most aesthetically pleasing’ unrecognizable after shunning limelight
BODYBUILDER Bob Paris was known as "The Flawless Marvel" but a brave decision in the late 1980s saw him quickly retire and shun the limelight.
Paris, 63, is now unrecognizable following his retirement after rising to fame in the golden era of bodybuilding alongside other legends like Frank Zane.
The six-foot chiseled bodybuilder was dubbed "the most aesthetically pleasing athlete" in the history of the sport, by the official publication of the IFBB, Flex Magazine in 2006.
During his hugely successful career spanning almost a decade, Paris won the 1983 NPC American National and IFBB World Bodybuilding Championship.
He was photographed by legendary photographers including Herb Ritts and Bruce Weber and became a front-cover star for a number of bodybuilding magazines.
However, Paris pushed not just physical boundaries but also cultural and social ones.
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In 1989, he became the first male athlete to come out as gay while still competing.
The announcement was made in an edition of Ironman and he later told Oprah Winfrey how the move negatively impacted his career.
“I lost about 80 percent of my business. Literally had doors closed in my face,” he said.
"There were a number of times where my life was threatened. Some death threats came by phone, by mail."
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Just two years later in 1991, he retired from the sport and shunned the limelight.
He then embarked on a successful writing career in which he produced a number of best-selling books including an autobiography and an honest portrayal of the world of bodybuilding.
The writer also continued his work advocating for gay rights and also turned his hand to a few acting jobs.
He now lives a quiet life on an island near Vancouver, British Colombia with his husband Brian LeFurgey whom he started dating in 1997 and married in 2003.
Despite losing much of his muscular physique, Paris continues to embrace a healthy lifestyle by practicing yoga, hiking, and other activities.
In 2012, he explained on his website: "It’s this diversity of interests that eventually led me away from a strict focus on hard-core weight training as a central part of my life.
"Don’t misread that, though. I'm the fittest and healthiest I've ever been, and certainly the happiest and most authentic.
"I love my intense yoga practice, my cycling, my hikes, and trail runs - and yes, my regular, moderate resistance training."
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Despite his accolades and his ongoing legacy within the bodybuilding world, he admitted finding his physique "uncomfortable."
On his blog, he said: "In fact, I often found myself (as I wrote in GORILLA SUIT) desperately wishing I could leave the by-product of my hard training (ie that massive and generally uncomfortable physique) in the gym, as a baseball player leaves behind his bat, a track athlete her cleats."
