Standing over six feet tall and weighing over 300 pounds of solid muscle, Gunter is definitely a champion, but not an imposing one. With his good looks and charming smile, he easily earns his nickname "the Gentle Giant." Born on February 2, 1970, in Olfen, Germany, to parents who were farmers, Gunter grew up with a strong work-ethic that he would never lose. He saw his first Arnold Schwarzenegger film at the age of 13 and decided that he "wanted to have muscles just like him." At 16, in 1986, he started work as a mechanic and began training in a gym for the first time. The owner of the gym told him he thought he had good genetics. He was right. At 16, not fully grown, he already weighed 170 pounds. After only two years of training, he began preparing for his first competition.
     His emergence into the world of bodybuilding at the age of 18 reads like a fairy-tale. Here's his story in his own words: "In the autumn of 1988 was my first competition. I was competing as a junior in the heavyweight division. This one and the following five competitions were all triumphs. I won every single competition except the international German Championship, where I placed second with the same score as the winner. In the spring of 1990 I won the junior German Championship. In the autumn of the same year I achieved the Junior World Champion Title. After two years without competing I won in 1992 at my first attempt for the European Championship in the men's heavyweight division. (Two months later,) in May of 1992, I won the German Championship. In November 1993, I won the heavyweight division (in Seoul, Korea) at the World Championships, which earned me the title "Mr. Universe."" (next...)