Big disappointment for the bodybuilder from the Côte d'Azur, Eric Orrao, who finished 4th in the Mr. Universe competition in Italy (and he is questioning his future)

"I can't do it anymore, I lost 20 kilos, I couldn't do more, but it was to the detriment of my muscle volume and quality. I wanted to reach 40 years of competition , it's done. Now, it remains to be seen if there will be others, I don't know, but what I know is that living without it will be terrible, so I don't know..." Affected, but not yet sunk, Menton's Éric Orrao is taking the hit after his recent participation in Mr. Universe in the +60 years category where he finished - only - fourth. A competition placed under the aegis of the IBFA which he has just experienced in Sapri (Italy).

"It was a great competition, and the joy of meeting my foreign bodybuilding friends is still present. I marveled at these promising young people, I hope they last as long as me. After a fulfilling career, I must admit that I don't remember having placed fourth in a competition, but as I always said, once you reach the top of the mountain, you have to come back down and make way," said the most famous philosopher of Menton bodybuilders.

The man has nevertheless always been able to bounce back throughout his career, but currently, his thinking is pushing him into gray areas he wasn't used to exploring. "Now, back to training, the question is whether the motivation will be the same. Because if in the end, there are no competitions, it's like a guy who trains for football and never plays a match. In any case, if I do another competition, I'll move up into the over-65 category."

Given his poor form, Eric Orrao decided not to participate in the European Championship the day after Mr. Universe, "one defeat was enough for me for the weekend..."