Marcus Haley was born on October 5, 1972 in Las Vegas, USA. Has the nickname “Halley’s Comet”. He grew up in a dysfunctional family, his mother struggled with drug dependence for a long time and unsuccessfully, so Marcus’s shoulders were heavily burdened with the upbringing and maintenance of his four younger brothers. Haley did an excellent job of this task.
Since early childhood, Marcus was fond of sports, although mostly they were game species. Marcus studied very well at school, for which he was awarded a scholarship for studies at the University of Weslayan in Dakota. However, after studying there for 2 years and faced with a pronounced manifestation of racism, pressing on his young psyche, he decided to quit school and return home. Here he began to engage in bodybuilding. His first gym was the famous “Gold’s Gym” in Las Vegas, which he really liked and inspired, because there were many professional bodybuilders involved. Marcus‘ idols were Mike Ashley and Shawn Ray. As a novice, Haley met in the gym with a bodybuilder named Gabby, who made up his initial training program, showed the technique of doing the exercises and told him about the basic principles of bodybuilding. This knowledge for Marcus was very useful, and he soon grew to his first competition.
The first tournament was the championship gym “Gold’s Gym”. Marcus Haley took only 3rd place, because he did not yet master the subtleties of dietetics and could not show the proper form, eating in McDonald’s. However, this did not upset Haley , he already wanted to connect his future life with bodybuilding and decided to study all aspects of nutrition and training in more detail. Marcus continued to replenish his knowledge and trainined with perseverance, and in 1998 attended at the Nationals tournament (NPC). Here, he also took 3rd place, although he looked completely different. To the status of IFBB professional, Marcus Haley went for 7 long years, participating in various tournaments. Only in 2005 at the “US Championship” light heavyweight he won, giving him a professional card, although in absolute terms he lost to future champion Phil Heath.
Over the next 8 years, Marcus Haley took part in more than 20 professional tournaments. Three times the athlete participated in the tournament “Mr. Olympia”, but the best result was the 13th place in 2010. Three times Haley was very close to winning the secondary tournaments, winning second place, but he failed to win any professional show. Despite this, he gained popularity thanks to his outstanding posing. At the tournament “Arnold Classic” in 2007 he was awarded the award for best posing.
The last appearance of Marcus Haley took place in 2013 at the tournament “Toronto – Montreal Pro”, where he took 10th place. In January 2014, on his Facebook page, the athlete announced the completion of his professional career. This caused a storm of discussions in social networks and online communities. Haley said: “Bodybuilding has given me a lot, but at a very high price, I’ve missed too many opportunities in my life, which makes me very angry. I’m no longer ready to speak, but I loved this sport and it will remain forever in my soul. “
Now Marcus Haley and his wife Tiffany live and train in Tampa, Florida.
