Sandow’s First Triumph – Iron Game History – April, 1994

Appearing at the music hall attached to the Royal Aquarium in Westminster were two outrageous athletic charlatans: Sampson and Cyclops. They had put together a popular act involving feats of strength and trickery. To make their performance seem more credible, Sampson, the brains of the partnership, loudly announced each night that he would pay anyone foolish enough to try it one hundred pounds sterling if he could duplicate the feats of his “pupil” Cyclops, and £500 if anyone could duplicate his own feats. To Attila, who who had by this time started his own physical culture studio in Bloomsbury, Sampson’s offer was too good to pass up. He sent for Sandow who was then in Italy, encouraging him to come to London and take up the challenge.