Franco Columbu is the former Mr. Olympia who died on August 30 at the age of 78. Columbu, a native of the island of Sardinia in Italy, won Mr. Olympia the year after Arnold Schwarzenegger retired from bodybuilding.
Columbu was long considered one of Schwarzenegger’s closest friends and confidants. Columbu passed away just over three weeks after his 78th birthday. The bodybuilding legend is survived by his wife, Deborah and their daughter, Maria.
Columbu’s sad passing was first reported by multiple reports from his homeland. Columbu had lived for years in Los Angeles. In 1980s, Columbu made appearances in the Schwarzenegger movies, “The Terminator,” “Conan the Barbarian” and “The Running Man.”
La Nuova reports that Columbu drowned while swimming at the beach in the town of San Teodoro in Sardinia at around 2 p.m. local time. Emergency services air lifted Columbu to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
