Mr. Universe Lives in Jerusalem

Jerusalem is a special place. Its population diversity reflects the eternal Jewish yearning for this city – a yearning that brings people from the four corners of the world to Israel’s capital. Despite this, it is not a given that one of the world’s leading body-builders would make Jerusalem his home.

Enter Oleg Nikolaev, a new immigrant from Russia who proudly carries the title Mr. Universe, and has twice held the overall champion’s title for Israel as well. Oleg has been living and working in Jerusalem since February 2022.

When one sees him, the first impression is: he is big! Next, one is disarmed by his huge smile. Oleg radiates energy and goodwill. He easily jokes in Hebrew with the regulars at a Talpiot gym where he works out daily. People’s faces light up when they see Oleg’s disarming smile. Make no mistake: he works from daybreak till nightfall, yet finds ample time to volunteer. Since October 7th, 2023, he has driven across the entire country in order to deliver aid. It is hard to believe that he has been living in Israel for just over three years.

Oleg is a self-made man. He had a comfortable life in Moscow that he built entirely on his own, from scratch. He owned and ran a gym, and says that competition was tough. In the city that controlled most of Russia’s wealth, people were health-conscious, eager to invest in a healthy lifestyle. Gyms were abundant, many personal trainers boasted titles and degrees, and urban yuppies had their pick of sport-centered services. Yet Oleg’s gym was both professional and profitable, drawing a regular clientele of highly motivated Muscovites.

His success enabled him to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. Despite all that, he left Moscow for Jerusalem in an instant. When after Russia embarked on a full-scale war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he packed a bag, drove to the airport, and hopped on the next flight to Tel Aviv. Oleg resolutely opposed the war and felt that he could not stay in Russia on moral grounds. Family, friends, a successful business in Moscow that took years to build, a car, savings – all of it stayed behind. Oleg landed at Ben Gurion airport with a hundred US dollar bill in his wallet and a bunch of useless credit cards that no longer worked internationally. He had a clear-cut goal: make it work. There was no plan B. His new life in Israel had to be a success.

Fast forward to today. Oleg lives in Armon Hanatziv, runs a personal training business, and has driven across the country multiple times a week to volunteer with IDF soldiers, evacuees and the elderly. Recently, he joined the panel of judges at the Israeli national bodybuilding competition. His status of Israel’s twice overall bodybuilding champion, and his Mr. Universe title, are unprecedented in the local bodybuilding circles. They command respect from professionals and lay bodybuilders alike.

How does he fit all of this in the daily twenty-four hours while staying in top shape, physically and mentally?

I sat down with the champion body-builder to find out.

What were you first few days in Israel like?
I arrived to Israel with a single hundred-dollar bill in my pocket, and I did not know a single word in Hebrew. My credit cards did not work. VISA and MasterCard no longer supported cards issued by Russian banks, so they were just useless pieces of plastic. I crashed with my aunt in Jerusalem for the first couple of weeks and thought about what to do next.

One thing was clear: I needed to train. It was bitterly cold, and was raining cats and dogs. Working out, for me, is a must, whatever happens. Beyond enabling one to stay in shape, physical activity helps one focus. The fact is, anywhere in the world, a barbell weighs 20 kilograms, and it is true in Israel as well. I identified Profit in Talpiot as the most professional gym in the city. The day after I landed, I was on my way there. I took a bus, and it took me over an hour to get there. Yet after I trained, I felt a lot better, as usual. I could then begin to plan ahead.

What do you do professionally?
I wasn’t sure initially how I was going to support myself in Israel. Everything felt different from what I’ve known before: the alphabet, the calendar, social norms, even the holidays. My doubts were swept aside by a friend, who said: “Forget it! You are going to be my coach, and I am going to pay you per hour.” This pushed me to reconsider fitness coaching. OK, I was not going to own a gym here, at least not right away, but evidently there was a need for private coaching. This turned out to be true. I started gaining clients, and got pretty busy soon.

People kept telling me that I should continue to compete in bodybuilding. Again, I was skeptical at first but the Israel Physique Committee president, Stas Struzberg, encouraged me to try. He gave me all the necessary equipment to train for the Israeli championship. It took half a year of iron discipline and strenuous workouts, and then I became Israel’s Absolute Champion 2022. Right afterwards, as a part of the Israeli National Team, I took part in the World Bodybuilding Championship 2022. I became one of four official finalists. In 2023, I won the title of the Overall Champion of Israel. This enabled me to compete in the Mr. Universe competition in the UK in 2024, and I won that competition. It feels incredible to be Mr. Universe. I am deeply grateful to Stas who helped me get there.

How did October 7th affect you?
Since then, I’ve undergone a crash course in becoming Israeli. In the beginning I was shocked, like all of us, I think. I did not remain paralyzed for long. I knew the best way to deal with the situation was to help others. I tried calling the volunteer hotline in order to offer help but did not receive a response. I then found a way to contact Jerusalem’s deputy mayor Elena Zharovskaya who led a municipal team of volunteers. Elena and I had a short conversation and I got to work right away. I started volunteering on October 8th and still do. In the beginning I handled aid and equipment delivery, and then spearheaded a coaching workshop for Holocaust survivors. My students were all evacuees over ninety years old, the oldest participant was 101! These people, old enough to be my great-grandmothers and-fathers, were kind and resilient. They felt cared for when we trained together. Their eyes lit up, and it meant a great deal to me.

I was also part of the team that organized a cookout for 150 soldiers in Ofakim, a giant barbecue. It was incredible to see female and male soldiers, tired and hungry, smile again after eating the food we cooked. They thanked us for bringing them grilled meat and shawarma, but actually I feel incredibly grateful to them.

Finally, we built a resilience workshop that focused on ways to fight stress through a healthy lifestyle. Evacuees from the northern border who found themselves in Jerusalem at the time participated in over 40 meetings. I created the syllabus and a full-scale lecture series, and am now working on expanding the course to address broader audiences. Luckily, volunteers are not needed today as much as they were needed right after October 7th. Having said that, I feel that volunteering pretty much became part of my DNA. I remain on alert and help out whenever I can.

What are your plans for the future?
I have built a business as a personal trainer and am pretty busy with it. My clients are my team. I have been lucky to work with highly motivated, fitness-minded people who proactively want to change their lives for the better. I want to keep training them, and I am adding new remote clients overseas. I can train anyone who is driven to make change, no matter where they are located.

Beyond that, I see the need to scale up. I am working on a fully digital project dedicated to a healthy lifestyle: nutrition, physical training, and motivation. I am looking forward to more competitions, both as a contestant and a competition judge. Most importantly, after three years of trials and tribulations, I am optimistic.

I found my Israel: a country that accepted me, and that I could accept as well. For sure, I am grateful to this country and its people for challenging me in multiple ways. This has only made me stronger. I am grateful for the trust that my clients, friends and colleagues have put in me, and for the personal and professional opportunities for growth I uncovered here. Mostly, I am grateful to just be here, and I am eager to keep growing and developing in Israel.

What is your advice to our readers who want to stay fit?
First of all, it is never too late to make a change. The attitude is everything. You are in charge, and you can create a better reality for yourself. You deserve it. Eat a balanced diet. Be at least somewhat physically active. Persist in a healthier lifestyle, be disciplined and focused on results, and you will see positive changes take place.