Art Atwood 1973-2011

Massive musclegod Arthur Dale Atwood died in a pool accident in Dallas, Texas on September 11. He was 38 years old.

Art was a damn fine looking man - stunning even - at all stages of his career: as a fresh faced newcomer, as a contest winning pro, and in numerous guest appearances.
 

Contest history

2000

• NPC Junior USA, Super-HeavyWeight, 1 and Overall
• NPC Nationals, Super-HeavyWeight, 14
• NPC USA Championships, Super-HeavyWeight, 7
• NPC Nationals, Super-HeavyWeight, 1

2001

• NPC USA Championships, Super-HeavyWeight, 3rd

2002

• Grand Prix England, 7th
• Mr. Olympia, 12
• Show of Strength Pro Championship, 12
• Toronto Pro Invitational, 1

2003

• Grand Prix England, 7
• Grand Prix Holland, 8
• Grand Prix Hungary, 3
• Grand Prix Russia, 6
• Night of Champions, 7
• Mr. Olympia, 13

2004

• Florida Pro Xtreme Challenge, 5
• Hungarian Pro Invitational, 8
• Night of Champions, 9
• Toronto Pro Invitational , 5

2005

• Arnold Classic, 14
• San Francisco Pro Invitational, 10

2006

• Europa Super Show, 5
• Montreal Pro, 7
• Atlantic City Pro, 10

He opened a nutrition store and tanning salon in Dallas called Results in July 2007 and coached IFBB competitors such as Steve Kuclo and Jason Huh. There's a couple of clips of him from this time in his career floating around the web:

Fuck - this is extremely depressing news. While he was virtually off everybody's radar in recent years, it was still exciting to know he was out there somewhere. And looking at these coaching clips, he was still looking pretty damn fine. EXTREMELY bummed out to lose him.

Art was always an pants-popping phenom - and losing him at 38 is a tragedy.

Fuck.