How the 2014 Olympia was Won
The "275 Grand" Money Shot
How the 2014 Olympia was Won
It always ends like this – always. A whole year of conjecture, ballyhoo; a whole year of Phil’s overrated or Phil’s unbeatable; of Kai’s the champ in waiting; of the IFBB will never let Kai be Mr. Olympia; of Wolf has too many weaknesses; of Wolf is a Mr. O in the classic style. It always ends like this. A whole year of Shawn Rhoden has added 15 pounds; of we’ve seen the best of Rhoden; of Dexter has had his time; of Dexter is at his best ever; of Big Ramy will dominate; of Big Ramy’s star is burning out. Even after Kai turned into Mr.T mode at the press conference, and the previous evening’s prejudging, it always ends like.
At 8.58 pm on Saturday, September 20, the most dramatic Mr. Olympia ever, in its 50th rendition, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, was about to reach a shrieking crescendo and its conclusion. It always ends like this.
It was the confirmation round of the evening finals and the first four called forward were Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Dennis Wolf and Shawn Rhoden. In the last two years the contest had come down to a choice between the freaky aesthetics of Phil Heath and the freaky in-your-face, knock twice and ask for Nelly muscle of Kai Greene. Despite a quartet being compared all eyes were on Phil and Kai. As they hit the first of the mandatory poses (front double biceps, taken by Kai) the record Olympia audience of 10,000 roared in admiration of the physiques being flexed before them. They were also very much aware that malevolence between the two was in the air and that some physical altercation (like the face-to-face snafu that happened 24 hours earlier) may occur. It was the Olympia auditorium, it was the Roman Coliseum.
As the duo completed the abs and thighs comparison the climax was approaching. It always ends like this. The Mr. Olympia version of gunfight at the OK corral was coming down to one single shot; bodybuilding’s money shot -- the most muscular pose. Those two succinct words really encapsulate bodybuilding competition; who has the most muscle.
It always ends like this and at 9.01pm it did end. Phil Heath hit the shot, his green eyes blazing, his teeth grimacing. Kai hit the shot with equal determination and we witnessed the sight of the unique accumulation of each bodybuilder’s muscle tissue fighting to stay on their frames.
It always ends like this and so it did as, even not-at-his-best, Phil Heath’s most potent shot (apart from when he’s on, back double biceps) is the most muscular, while that same pose is possibly Kai’s least potent weapon. It seems Kai knows it because he chose (or maybe it was Phil who chose) to hit the crab version of the shot while Phil hit the hands on hips version, and then when Phil hit the crab, Kai went hands on hips. And just for the record, the spat that occurred at Friday’s prejudging was just before the duo hit the most muscular. Coincidence? Whatever, however closely the two had been up to this point the most muscular – the $275,000 money shot -- decided the issue in Phil’s favor. It always ends like this.
Prologue
As Phil Heath was announced the winner of the 2014 Mr. Olympia, Kai offered a handshake and Phil took it and the duo hugged. So all the bad blood had dissipated, the feud was over huh? Not so fast sparky.
Twelve hours after Phil Heath had picked up his fourth Sandow (this one a special 18 carat gold version to commemorate the 50th rendition of Joe Weider’s Mr. Olympia) he, Greene, and numerous other competitors assembled for the Olympia Superstar seminar. Questioned by emcee Bob Cicherillo about Greene, Heath was very complimentary toward his nemesis saying, “Kai gave me my hardest fight, he is a legend. Cheering for Kai is cheering for bodybuilding.”
Kai was asked for his assessment of Phil and furthermore what he had said to the champ in that face-off moment. He replied, “Nice posing suit Phil.” He then began an entertaining monologue that had nothing to do with Phil. Hmmm. What occurred between the two of them last weekend made for the most dramatic scenes ever witnessed at the Olympia and provided the biggest talking point in years. The Heath vs. Greene story must now go down as the fiercest ever rivalry in bodybuilding. May they long be the best of enemies.