Azman Abdullah
Azman bin Abdullah in Singapore is a Singaporean bodybuilder who became a local icon and world-leading sportsman in the 1990s.
In 1982, he was second to TANG Yong Kiang (AKA Victor) in the Junior Mr Singapore Championship. But the loss was one that was not repeated for a long time.
Winner of the Mr Singapore title on five separate occasions and the continent-elite Mr Asia five times from 1989 to 1993, he also scooped the prestigious Asian Pro-Am Classic in 1992, and was a multiple gold medal winner in the Southeast Asian Games in 1989, 1991 and in 1993, when the biennial games were held in Singapore.
In 1993, Azman made history as the first Singaporean to strike gold in the World Games Bodybuilding Championships. An event sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee, he defeated a staggering 51 of the world's top competitors in the middleweight category for the IFBB Mr World title. In that very same year, he also won gold in the World Bodybuilding Championships in the middleweight class to become Singapore's first ever IFBB Mr Universe after taking silver the previous year. His outstanding efforts earned him the Singapore Sports Council's Sportsman of the Year title twice in 1992 and 1993, and an induction into the Singapore Sports Council's Hall of Fame, upon which he was presented with a glittering trophy in the shape of a laurel wreath.
In 2003, Azman made a much-anticipated comeback to the world of bodybuilding, taking the bronze medal in the SEA Games. He avenged his loss there with a spectacular victory at the 2004 South-East Asian Bodybuilding Championships, capping off his return to the summit of Southeast Asian bodybuilding in style.