The festival is sculpted in the image of Arnold Schwarzenegger and is highly regarded in the body building world. 

Condon, 52, was relegated to second by just 0.7 points.

The winner, who flew to the event from Spain, has been lifting weights since he was 15. Condon is a late bloomer.

“I lost my dad 14 years ago,” Condon said.

“I was working in high rise (construction) on the Gold Coast when the boys said ‘why don’t you come to the gym’.

“When I was there I heard my dad’s voice. I felt comfortable – I couldn’t stop.”

It’s become his world.

He met his wife Cathy Condon-M’Gee at a tournament where she – also an accomplished body builder – was on the judging panel.

“She wouldn’t have anything to do with me at first,” he said.

“I convinced her to come on a coffee date that lasted 12 hours. The cafe had to ask us to leave.”

Condon works as a landscaper by day, body sculpter by night.

“You see the people at the gym on their phones, or with a beer at the pub on weekends and they wonder why they don’t see the results,” he said.

“My phone goes in the bag when I get to the gym and I don’t spend longer than an hour there.

“I go home and prep the next day’s meal.”

Alcohol hasn’t touched his lips since he started at the gym.

“It’s a lifestyle for us, we go out and enjoy ourselves but we don’t party like other people,” he said.

“It’s a selfish sport. We give up things to excel, I don’t drink at all, if I do it’s a diet [cola], as an occasional treat.”

Condon had only earlier this month won an Australasian title.

The couple had only intended to go to Melbourne for the Arnold as spectators over the weekend, March 17-19.

“When I won the Australasian title Cathy said ‘you’ve got to do this’,” he said.

He’s glad he did.

“The last time I was in the Arnold I placed fifth,” he said.

“My feet still haven’t touched the ground, I can’t believe I got second.

“I’ll do it again in two years time and hopefully come back with first.”

Condon said people often asked his secret.

“I tell them, eat your greens, be nice and care for your mother,” he said.

It masks what has been quite a journey.

“I was born a cripple,” he said.

“There wasn’t enough room for me in my mother’s womb, my leg was disfigured and it took surgery to correct it.”

“I lied about the scars when I entered the army,” he said.

He served for eight years.

“I told them the scars were from a bike accident,” he said.

“You have to push through these things, I don’t like the phrase ‘can’t’ or ‘cannot’.

“If you want to achieve greatness in life you’ve got to accept who you are, for what you are, before you can achieve.”