A special treat: all former Mr. O winners share the stage

For the 45^th edition of the Mr. Olympia contest, all the previous champions were brought back together to share the stage: Larry Scott, Sergio Oliva, Arnold, Franco, Frank Zane, Chris Dickerson, Samir Bannout, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Dexter Jackson. I was there the last time they did this in 1995, and I think it’s safe to say this could very well be the last time we have this group of distinguished champions together with the man who created the contest in 1965, Joe Weider. Joe turns 90 soon, and everyone in the Orleans Arena tonight was witness to a piece of history they can remember for the rest of their lives.

Another notable occasion was the retirement of Dennis James after 11 years in the IFBB. After posing in his tenth and last Mr. Olympia contest, he went to the mike and tearfully thanked Joe Weider, the fans, and his family as the audience gave him a standing ovation,

202 Showdown

A little more respect next time, please!

Even if I didn’t have a good friend competing in this event, I would still be disgusted at the treatment the 202 men received. If it isn’t bad enough that every other event this weekend except them gets the Olympia title in its name, further indignities were heaped on tonight. Some of you will be outraged to hear the following, others will think I am making this up. All 22 Mr. Olympia competitors performed their posing routines at the start of the night show. How many 202 Showdown competitors posed tonight? None! Not the top five, the top three, or even the winner. But wait, it gets worse.

I had just watched all the top six women of the Figure Olympia receive checks. The winner, Erin Stern, pocketed 28 thousand dollars. Only the winner of the 202 Showdown got a check, and that was for ten grand. The others left the stage without a nickel. Really.

Thanks for letting me vent.

English makes it two in a row

Despite very tough competition from David Henry, Kevin English did manage to retain his title. The crowd was not pleased, as many seemed to feel David was the better man today. The rest of the results were pretty much in line with what I thought they would be, and few in the audience seemed to have a major problem with anything but the decision for first. All I can say is that if you don’t like the way the 202 men are being treated, we all need to let the IFBB know it and hopefully they will show these hard-working athletes more respect next year.

Final results:

1. Kevin English                                             $10,000

2. David Henry

3. Eduardo Correa

4. Jose Raymond

5. Jason Arntz

6. Jaroslav Horvath

Mr. Olympia: Jay makes it four, Heath is gaining ground

As I predicted last night, Jay Cutler did manage to hold on to his title against a rapidly improving Phil Heath, but it was far from a unanimously popular decision. The Gift had a lot of supporters in the crowd who were pretty upset about it, and many of them got up and left the arena in disgust the minute Jay was announced as winner. Of course, Jay has a lot of fans too, and they showed their love for the hometown hero. I also want to note that this should prove that the widely held conspiracy theories of an “MD Curse” and FLEX/AMI fixing the show are a bunch of bullshit. If there were even an ounce of credibility to those theories, Phil Heath would definitely be Mr. Olympia right now. He was good enough to win. Jay did look better tonight than he did last night, but it would have been an easy call for the judges to give Heath the nod. It’s not like there would have been a riot. But congratulations are definitely in order to Jay. Now, the only men who have won more Olympia titles than Cutler are Ronnie Coleman (8), Lee Haney (8), Arnold Schwarzenegger (7), and Dorian Yates (6).

Branch Warren had a lot of fans who thought he should have been second or possibly even first, and you can’t take anything away from the hardcore Texan. He brought the freak package like no one else this year.

Dexter seemed satisfied with fourth place. In a recent MD interview he made it known that although he would love to win another Sandow, as long as he’s in the top five he has nothing to complain about.

Dennis Wolf, also now a Las Vegas resident like Cutler, had a lot of support out in the crowd in his return to the top five. From where I was sitting, a good thirty rows back from the stage, Wolf appears to be on the thin side compared to the rest of the top six. Hard to believe when the man in question is 5-11 and 270, but it’s true.

Ronny Rockel was a fitting choice for sixth place, and this really showed how politics had jack shit to do with the judging. If it did, this guy without a magazine contract and who is not backed by a major supplement company could easily have been shuffled down a few spots and only a few people would have protested.

Probably the biggest shocks were Kai Greene in seventh and Victor Martinez in eighth. Kai had tightened up since last night, but the damage had been done. His routine was a little more subdued than usual, though he still did do his trademark headstand and bicycle thing with his legs. As for Victor, like I said last night, he looked much better than last year but placed worse. It was just a really tough show.

Mad props go out to all these men for their hard work, dedication, and discipline.

Final results:

1. Jay Cutler                                                    $200,000

2. Phil Heath                                                   $100,000

3. Branch Warren $75,000

4. Dexter Jackson                                            $50,000

5. Dennis Wolf                                                $ 40,000

6. Ronny Rockel                                             $ 30,000

7. Kai Greene                                                  $18,000

8. Victor Martinez                                           $ 17,000
9. Toney Freeman                                           $ 16,000

10. Hide Yamagishi                                        $14,000