Who is Martin ‘The Martian’ Fitzwater and is he one of the youngest to compete in Mr Olympia?

MARTIN Fitzwater is one of the youngest stars in American bodybuilding.

He will be competing at Mr Olympia 2024, the bodybuilding contest that introduced Arnold Schwarzenegger to the world.

The star has come a long way from working in construction to the biggest stage in bodybuilding.

He will be one of the youngest ever competitors at Mr Olympia.

Martin the Martian

Martin has already proven himself to be a formidable opponent in the sport and eats nearly 9000 calories a day, in order to maintain his physique.

He is affectionately referred to as "the Martian", a nickname that originated from the Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian.

Martin said that people noticed the irony in the fact he wore a Marvin the Martian T-shirt.

The character Marvin is very small, which is a big contrast to Martin's huge muscles.

The nickname stuck and Martin embraced it, even having an alien tattooed on his arm.

Life in the mountains

Martin is from Wyoming, which is a mountainous state in the USA's western region.

He went on to attend the University of Wyoming, where he majored in kinesiology and health promotion.

However, he made the tough decision to move to Denver with his training partner Brett Wilkin.

that Denver wasn't quite the adjustment for him that is is for most people.

He said: “Denver is about 5,200 feet above sea level, but my area of Wyoming was 7,200, a half-mile higher.

"When other schools came to play football, they had to have oxygen tanks and masks on the sidelines for them.”

Going professional

Martin makes his living as a professional bodybuilder, having given up working in construction in 2020.

He still remembers the feeling of winning his first paycheck in his chosen sport.

He told Muscular Development: “I called my dad up excited to tell him I won my first paycheck as a pro bodybuilder.

"I still feel like that little kid who’s a fan of the sport and the stars, so getting that first callout with those guys didn’t even feel real to me.

"I love bodybuilding with everything I am, so it’s exciting that I get to live my dream every day.”

Mr Olympia hopeful

Martin will be competing at Mr Olympia 2024, which will be held in Las Vegas.

Mr Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the men's open division bodybuilding contest at the Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend.

There is a lot of excitement surrounding the young bodybuilder, who shared an update on Instagram ahead of the competition kicking off on October 10, 2024.

He posted: “I’m not counting the days, but I’m making the days count."

Young star

Martin will be 24 years old when he competes at Mr Olympia 2024.

This means that, if he wins the title, he will miss out on the added bonus of being the youngest winner by just a year.

The youngest ever winner of the bodybuilding competition is the world famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the competition in 1973.

At the time, Arnold was just 23 years old.

Most of Martin's competition at Mr Olympia are in their 30s, so getting to the competition is an achievement in-and-of-itself.