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Silvio
Samuel Saviour was born in 1975 in Brazil, but soon
moved with his six sisters and one brother to Nigeria.
As is the custom in Nigeria, he answers to any one
of three given names. Ivan Ganev, the coach of the
Nigerian national weightlifting team, spotted him
playing soccer when he was 14. He recognized the youth's
potential for powerlifting and invited to join the
team. Two months later he entered his first meet as
a junior and won.
Over
the next few years he set powerlifting records for
Nigeria and Africa that still haven't been broken.
Traveling with the National Team, he developed a appetite
for new places and languages (he speaks eight fluently
today). At age 19 he made his first visit to Russia
with his coach to learn more advanced training methods.
He would later return to study Aeronautical Engineering.
Eventually he joined the Spanish national weightlifting
team. But appendix operations in 1998 ended his plans
to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and ultimately
his career in Olympic lifting. The demands of snatching
heavy weights were too great for his repaired abdominal
wall. He stopped training for two years while he worked
in Madrid as a bouncer at various bars and discos.
Silvio hadn't considered bodybuilding before, but
a he met a couple of top Spanish bodybuilders who
convinced him to get back in the gym and make the
most out of his genetics.
In
2001 he entered a novice show and won easily. For
the next three years he competed in the NABBA and
WABBA federations in Europe, winning several world
championship and Mr. Universe titles. In June 2006
he was granted an I.F.B.B. pro card.
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