Throughout his career, Kevin Levrone earned 4 runner-up spots in the Mr. Olympia contests in 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2002, earning the status of Uncrowned King in bodybuilding.

Now, the Uncrowned King openly says that he felt he must have earned the Mr. Olympia title every time Levrone came in second.

On May 21, Muscle Discord posted a short interview clip of Lavrone on its Instagram channel, in which the host asked him, “Speaking about the Mr. Olympias, is there any Olympia that you competed in that you thought, I think I should have won that?”

In response, Levrone said, “Every time I got second, I felt like I should have won. In all shows. How about that? I got 18-second times throughout my whole career.”

Levrone next cleared his message by saying, “You know, I don't compete to get fed….. The mindset is different. I was already sure I was never content with getting second. I accepted it, but I never complained about it and changed my look, came back, and tried something different.”

Levrone also said that when people think too much about coming in second, they get depressed. They go through a process in which they don't want to stay connected with anyone.

However, despite losing the title by just a few points, Levrone never lost hope. He always came back with hope. And that is where his satisfaction lies.

That hope and consistency helped him win the Arnold Classic 2 times. And the pride in his voice can be understood when he said, “I was the first athlete to ever win the Arnold Classic twice. I'm the first athlete to this day that ever got four times runner-up.”

While Levrone talks about his approach to handling defeat, he has also revealed how his grief and inner pain have pushed him every time.

Kevin Levrone, a career born out of pain

Although Levrone never won Mr. Olympia, his physique and muscular development set a benchmark in the 1990s.

What did Levrone use to think while standing alongside Ronnie Coleman or Dorian Yates?

In a 2025 interview on the YouTube channel First Things THRST, Levrone revealed that his bodybuilding career was built on pain.

During the interview, he talked about how he lost both of his parents to cancer, and that grief pushed him through his rough days.

Levrone said, “Every set, every rep, every competition, I thought about my parents. I had to go to a very dark place to create that character - that bodybuilder that people saw. He was made from the pain and everything I went through.”

So, Levrone may not win any Mr. Olympia titles, but his journey will always motivate all of his fans.

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil