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The story
Dwayne Quamina, an American bodybuilder widely known as a top competitor in the sport, died suddenly on August 16 at age 40, Tokyo Sports has reported. He had placed at the “Mr. Olympia,” bodybuilding’s highest-level competition, and news of his death came just a week after his most recent contest appearance. The cause of death has not been disclosed as of this writing. On 5ch’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ thread, commenters repeatedly pointed to the toll that extreme dieting and drug use take on bodybuilders’ bodies, and the discussion also expanded into the circumstances surrounding the death of Japanese bodybuilder Muscle Kitamura, who died suddenly in the past.
Tokyo Sports, August 31, 2026, 18:45
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It has come to light that Dwayne Quamina, a top bodybuilder in the world who had also placed at the sport’s highest stage, the “Mr. Olympia,” died suddenly on the 16th at age 40. The cause of death is unknown. Grief is spreading throughout the bodybuilding world.
Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Nobody would be surprised no matter who this happens to next
Even dietary restriction alone stresses the body, and then you add drugs on top of that
Weird, considering everyone's training hard at the gym
It's less "training" and more piling up damage on the body
They get demonized, but
they're just so easy to eat
Serious lifters actually eat a ton of white rice
except during the brutal pre-contest cutting phase
Severe carb restriction — basically starved himself internally
I'm pretty sure it was starvation
The leading theory is cardiac arrest from hypoglycemia caused by an insulin overdose
That same mistake also ranks near the top of causes of death among pro bodybuilders overseas
Though he did have heart surgery
He hit on actress Reiko Takashima but got shot down
That physique isn't beautiful at all
It's basically the same as a plastic-surgery monster
Short guys ("super hobbits") get super into lifting
Couldn't grow taller, so all that's left is growing wider — that's their life
And then they go around bragging "I'm strong!" about it… kind of a pitiful existence, honestly
Honestly the ones who are really messed up aren't the competitors, it's the guys shouting from the audience
He's said in interviews that he consulted with a doctor about it
basically what you'd call a "steroid clinic" today
If humans run low on sugar, the body burns fat first
and if there's no fat left, it'd break down muscle to get by, right?
Would he really let muscle — more precious to him than life itself — waste away like that?
Just like inhaling a rush of CO2 can kill you instantly, maybe a sudden drop in blood sugar fries the brain the same way
That's totally normal during the muscle "finishing" phase
Starvation means dying from malnutrition, which requires a long-term food shortage as a precondition
A normal person (someone living the kind of lifestyle that lets them bodybuild in the first place) can survive a month, two, even three without eating, as long as they're drinking water, depending on conditions
Put another way, if you die before that point, the cause of death is something other than starvation — so it wasn't starvation
This is the era where even slim models get criticized for being too thin
It's outdated
Wasn't Muscle Kitamura's heart also wrecked from too many steroids?
And he was a highly educated bodybuilder from the University of Tokyo (or did he drop out?).
Yoshinori Yamamoto and Hidetada Yamagishi are both Waseda grads too, highly educated
Muscle Kitamura starved to death from lack of sugar
It's cutting fat to get shredded that's extremely bad for you
Right before a competition they push themselves to the limit while restricting carbs and fat as much as possible, so living a long life is probably tough
Apparently having single-digit body fat makes you feel pretty awful lol
If they built cyclist muscles like mine instead, they'd save on transportation costs
Skinny people want to bulk up and bulky people want to slim down, huh
I've got a body type that doesn't gain weight either, but after gaining weight once from medication, I stopped wanting to lol
Just do training that doesn't use heavy weights
I watched like a 5-minute ab workout video on YouTube every day and my abs just naturally started showing
To build muscle beyond your natural limit, right?
Also, in a documentary I saw a while back, overseas pro wrestlers were using it as a substitute for painkillers
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Sudden deaths among bodybuilders are not uncommon, and are often linked to factors like dehydration and electrolyte imbalances from pre-competition sodium restriction, along with misuse of drugs such as diuretics and insulin. In the thread, the theory that Muscle Kitamura died of “starvation” was widely repeated, but the leading theory is actually cardiac arrest from hypoglycemia caused by an insulin overdose, and similar causes of death have been reported for several professional bodybuilders overseas as well. Quamina’s actual cause of death had not been made public as of this report, and it’s worth noting that all the speculation discussed in the thread remains unconfirmed. Opinions for and against bodybuilding as a sport also surfaced, but that debate stems from differing personal views on physique and isn’t directly related to Quamina’s death.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[Bodybuilding] Top competitor Dwayne Quamina dies suddenly at 40 — “One week after competing” — cause of death unknown.”
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