The John Terilli Story

John Terilli is one of the All-Time-Legends of Australian Bodybuilding.

John Terilli Photo Gallery

GMV had the privilege of being present at many of John’s contest victories. We salute a great Aussie champion.  You can see some of our best photos of John in his photo Gallery (see link above).

We first became aware of John in 1980 when he won the Best in Australia amateur contest that preceded the 1980 Mr Olympia. The Best in Australia Contest was held at the Sydney Opera House.  It proved to be a convincing victory by the outstanding young star John Terilli with Graeme Lancefield 2nd and John Koziura 3rd. John went on to become a Mr. Universe and then a top IFBB Pro. This 1980 Sydney footage is seen in our video Classic Collection #7.

John then went on to compete in the 1980 IFBB Mr. Universe held in Manila in the Philippines, where he rubbed shoulders with overseas stars such as Hubert Metz, Jorma Raty, Gary Leonard, Richard Baldwin and many other champions.

In 1982 John won the National Australian title in Sydney.

Completing the double, in 1982 and 1994 John won NABBA Universe titles. Other high points included second place in the 1983 Las Vegas IFBB Grand Prix, and a 5th placing in the 1983 Night of Champions in NYC. Then in the 1986 Olympia, John placed in the top 10.
His career started with a victory in 1980 and he made it a perfect bookend by winning his final contest in 1994.

CONTEST RECORD:

1980
Best in Australia – IFBB, 1st
World Amateur Championships – IFBB, Light-HeavyWeight, 6th

1982
Mr Universe – NABBA, Medium, 1st

1983
Grand Prix Las Vegas – IFBB, 2nd
Night of Champions – IFBB, 5th

1984
|World Pro Championships – IFBB, 8th

1985
Night of Champions – IFBB, 6th

1986
Los Angeles Pro Championships – IFBB, 6th
Olympia – IFBB, 9th
World Pro Championships – IFBB, 5th

1988
Niagara Falls Pro Invitational – IFBB, 6th

1989
Arnold Classic – IFBB, 13th
Grand Prix France – IFBB, 12th
Grand Prix Sweden – IFBB, 11th

1991
Australian Championships – IFBB, Tall, 2nd

1992
Ironman Pro Invitational – IFBB, 16th

1993
Ironman Pro Invitational – IFBB, 18th
Professional Mr. Universe – NABBA, 2nd

1994
Professional Mr. Universe – NABBA, Winner