Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates was born on April 19, 1962 in England.
He grew up in Heli (Staffordshire village) near the city of Birmingham in England. His mother was an equestrian instructor. At 13, Dorian lost his father, who died of a heart attack at the age of 42. When Yates was 14 years old, he and his mother and sister moved to Birmingham. His mother met another man, but he died before they could get married. After the second tragedy, his mother decided to return to Heli, but Dorian stayed in the city (for 16 years). He was in a gang of skin-heads, a skinhead, in jeans and boots with suspenders. In the city he had to work a lot to pay his bills, moreover, in quite interesting places, for example, for some time he worked in a slaughterhouse.
Dorian was arrested at the age of 19 due to participation in mass riots. In England, persons under the age of 21 are considered “youth”, so he was sentenced to six months in prison at the Wotton Correctional Youth Center.
Like many prisoners, Dorian went in for sports, and instantly earned a reputation as a strong and fit guy among 300 prisoners. The future champion thought that if he didn’t do anything, then in the end he would spend his whole life roaming in prisons. When Dorian was released from custody, he decided that he would no longer return to bed.
He began to go to a small basement gym, and at the age of 21 he had already performed at the first competitions. In 1986, Dorian won the British Heavyweight Championship. A year later, he bought his gym in England. In 1987, Dorian broke his thigh muscle, and he had to undergo surgery. But this did not stopped him.
Yates went to New York to participate in the Night of Champions 1990. Then, after receiving the status of a professional, he took second place after Lee Haney at the Mr. Olympia competition in 1991. The following year he returned to win the competition.
Dorian Yates is the six-time winner of Olympia from 1991 to 1997.
In 1997, he won the most gallant victory when he broke off the triceps muscle three weeks before the contest, but he still fought for the victory. Due to injury, Yates was forced to resign, and his mind-blowing career of 15 wins and two second places ended.
He now lives in Womley, Sutton Coldfield in England with his wife Debbie and two children, Lewis and Tania. Debbie and Dorian got married on November 2, 1991. Dorian has a sister Liza (five years younger), she is engaged in equestrian sports and is buying and selling horses. Dorian also has two boxer dogs – Conan and Samson.
At one time, Dorian was the biggest of the professional bodybuilders. He has the nickname “Shadow”. This nickname was coined by Peter McGouch, now the editor of Flex magazine, but then (in 1988) he worked for the British edition. Together with Peter, Dorian wrote the book The Story of a Fighter. Perhaps the best name for describing the life of this great athlete is not found.
