Roelly Winklaar | The People’s Champion!
Roelly Winklaar: The People's Champion!
We’ve had our share of “People’s Champions” in the sport of bodybuilding, but the 2018 Mr. Olympia contest made it official by awarding that title to the man the fans in the audience voted as their favorite athlete. The first recipient of the award was The Dutch Beast, Roelly Winklaar, who went on that same night to take his highest placing ever at the biggest bodybuilding show in the world. I spoke with him about his fantastic 2018 season, which included winning the Arnold Classic Australia, and what he has planned for 2019. Roelly has already placed fifth at the Arnold Classic Ohio this year and third at the Arnold Classic Australia.
First off, you have been trying to break into the top five at the Mr. Olympia contest for years now. In 2018 you jumped to third place, from sixth place in 2017. How did that feel?
It was always hard not making the top five, because I worked so hard. It was disappointing all those years, but it made me stronger. Third place felt so good and winning the People’s Champion award made me very happy. Knowing I have the support of so many fans behind me, I was like, wow. This is something I will never forget.
A lot of people thought you were fighting for the win against Shawn Rhoden. They definitely thought you should have beaten Phil Heath. Do you feel like you could have or should have placed higher than third?
First of all, I was very happy with third place. After the show a lot of people told me I deserved to beat Phil Heath and get second place, and some people even said they thought I should have beaten Shawn Rhoden and won, in their opinion. I can’t say anything about that. I don’t decide who gets first, second and third. I was talking to Shawn backstage after the judging ended on Friday night, and he said, “Wow, Roelly, you might get this.” I said “No, you did it, you’re the man.” He said, “You think?” I said “Yes, you did it this time.” I was so happy for him. What he said at the press conference was true. He said nobody trains to be second place. All of us train to win, and he did it. I’m happy there’s a new champ, because now the change is coming. In 2018 we saw a lot of changes at the Mr. Olympia. Shawn won, I got third, and Brandon Curry also made the top five for the first time. Ramy was out of the top five, and so was Dexter. Last year, people complained that none of us were really in shape and dry. This time, everybody was dry! I think this year we will see even more changes.
Did you have Shawn winning over Phil?
Yes, because he was just so shredded. No one cold touch his condition. If you go by more mass, I was up there, but Shawn was in the best condition.
You won the first-ever People’s Champion award, which means you got more votes from the Olympia audience than any other man up there, including Shawn and Phil. How does it feel to know the fans are behind you and they feel you are the best in the world?
Winning was a complete surprise. I was relaxing backstage in my clothes when someone came over and told me to take my shirt off and come to the stage right away. I was like, what? Is it already time to go do the posedown and awards? If it is, why are they only telling me to get out there? I asked the guy, what is this for? He said, “You’ll see in a minute.” Then I heard the speech about the People’s Champion, and he said my name, and everybody was cheering. I never thought I would get that award, because usually something like that is only for the winner of the show, I thought. I had never even been in the top five, so I never expected to win.
Did you think the People’s Champion vote was going to somehow count toward your actual score in the show? I know you got a very nice championship belt like in boxing or pro wrestling.
I knew nothing about the award or what you would get if you won it. I heard some of the guys talking about how they weren’t sure if it counted toward our score or not, but I didn’t pay any attention. Like I said, I was sure I wasn’t going to win it anyway. Once I won, I wondered why I won. Maybe it’s because of how I treat my fans. With people I know, I laugh and make jokes, but with everyone else I’m quiet and shy. I just say “Hi, how are you?” and talk a little bit. My problem in the past was that my English was not very good. It’s gotten better. But I do make sure my fans know how much I appreciate them and their support.
Nathan and Ramy have left Oxygen Gym, but you are still training there and had your best year so far with a win at the Arnold Classic Australia and third at the Mr. Olympia. What is about the environment in Kuwait and Oxygen Gym that helps you be a better competitor?
I can’t speak for Nathan or Ramy, only for myself and Brandon. We don’t live in Kuwait. We have nobody there. All we have is our coach and the people around us at the gym. All we do is eat, train and sleep. We can’t even go out to eat at restaurants because we are preparing for contests and can’t enjoy the foods everyone else does. We rest a lot, and that helps us grow a lot better. Oxygen Gym is like Disney World for bodybuilders. Everyone who comes to visit wants to stay there and train.
Here's an odd question then. Do you think you could have gone all the way to third place at the Mr. Olympia if you trained all year back in Curaçao?
It’s hard to say. I had a pretty good year in 2013, and I spent that whole year in Curaçao. I didn’t even train over in the Netherlands for those shows at all like I had for the years before that. It’s not so much the location of Kuwait, it’s that my coaches there have been able to really learn my body over these past four years and make adjustments. My first year there, I looked pretty good. The second year, I was too big, and I couldn’t hold my stomach in. We fixed that for 2017, but I still wasn’t shredded enough. 2018 was my fourth year there, and I looked my best ever.
You showed two different looks this year. At the Arnold Classic Ohio, you were bigger and fuller, but not as detailed. Two weeks later in Australia, you showed up much tighter and with a smaller, flatter midsection than ever. That look beat Dexter and Bonac, who had beaten you in Ohio. You were able to beat them again at the Olympia with that look, along with everyone else except Shawn and Phil. Have you figured out that coming in lighter and with crisper condition is the best strategy for you?
I dropped 15 pounds in two weeks between the Arnold Classic Ohio and the one in Australia, and it was a really good look. The only thing we didn’t like was that I was a little too flat. For the Olympia, we were able to bring that condition again but with better fullness. It’s not so much about weight with me, but I do look better when I don’t try to be so full.
You don’t need to qualify for the 2019 Mr. Olympia, so will we see you on stage at any other shows before then, or are you going to focus 100 percent on the Mr. Olympia next year?
Bader would prefer I focus only on the Olympia for 2019, but I think I do much better when I have a show to focus on. Some guys get worse with every show as the year goes on, but I get better. Plus, if I take a year off, I would get too big and full. The judges don’t seem to like that look on me because my condition isn’t so good. I should say that another reason I decided to do the Arnold this year was because Jay Cutler gave me some good advice. Jay said I should go there and win, and that will give me more momentum for the Mr. Olympia later on in the season.
I think I’m stating the obvious, but you have all the muscle mass you will ever need. I don’t think you need to be any bigger, ever.
When you’re a bodybuilder, you’re never big enough. I still think I’m small. When I look in the mirror at the gym and pose, the guys are all like, wow! I’m just like yeah, yeah, whatever. One thing that bothers me is when people ask me how much I weigh near the end of contest prep. I hate losing weight. I won’t even go near a scale for the last two or three weeks before a show. In my mind, it just brings me down. I lose a kilo, then another kilo, and I start thinking, you’re gonna be skinny, you’re gonna be flat. I just look in the mirror and let my coach tell me what I have to do. Ahmad Askar is my coach in Kuwait, and Bader Boodai is the man. He likes to say I’m flat, because he like fullness. I like when those two fight over what I should do. Bader will say I need to eat some steak, and Askar will argue I need to keep eating what I have been. Bader knows I love steak! But I think it’s good to have two different sets of eyes and opinions.
I know from working with Askar on the Oxygen Gym column in MD that’s he’s very dedicated to his athletes.
Askar trains me, and he’s like my brother. I can call him any time of day or night, even midnight, and he always picks up the phone. He trains a lot of athletes. At times I think it’s more than 100, plus he’s a firefighter too. He has so much love for the sport. Ahmad Ashkanani and me are the top pros he trains, but he treats the amateur guys the same as us. If I lose, he gets more upset than I do!
I’m going to be honest with you and say that until this year, I never thought you could become Mr. Olympia. Now I can see it happening. Have you always had that belief in yourself that you were good enough to be Mr. Olympia?
I do believe in myself, but sometimes I need to hear it from someone else. I talk a lot to my younger brother, Quincy. He is always honest with me. I asked him, “Do you think I can be Mr. Olympia?” He said, “Yes Roelly, I know you can.” When he says that, I believe it. It’s my dream to be Mr. Olympia, and next year I will fight even harder for it.
Phil Heath was almost impossible to beat at his best. You have beaten Shawn Rhoden before; can you beat him next year at the Olympia?
That’s not correct. I have never beaten Shawn. I did beat Dexter and William Bonac at the Prague show after the Olympia, but Shawn didn’t go. Maybe next year I can beat him for the first time.
What areas of your physique are you focusing on right now? What improvements do you still want to make?
In the past, I think my legs were my best body part, even though everyone else says it’s my shoulders or arms. I stopped training my legs for a while on a couple of different occasions, and my upper body got ahead of them. Now I’m trying to bring them back up to balance it all out. What I am focusing the most on right now though is my lower lats. I killed myself this year to get them to grow. They were so sore most of the time from what Askar had me doing! I saw some improvements, but I still need more.
Roelly’s Pro Record
2010 Arnold Classic Seventh Place
2010 Grand Prix Australia Third Place
2010 New York Pro Winner
2010 Mr. Olympia 14th Place
2011 Arnold Classic Eighth Place
2011 FIBO Germany Third Place
2011 British Grand Prix Second Place
2011 European Pro, Spain Second Place
2011 New York Pro Ninth Place
2012 Tampa Pro Fourth Place
2012 Europa Supershow Fourth Place
2012 British Grand Prix Sixth Place
2012 Arnold Classic Europe Third Place
2012 Prague Pro Eighth Place
2012 Nordic Pro, Finland Winner
2012 Sheru Classic, India Fourth Place
2013 Chicago Wings of Strength Winner
2013 Mr. Olympia Seventh Place
2013 Arnold Classic Europe Sixth Place
2014 Chicago Pro Winner
2014 Nordic Pro, Finland Winner
2014 Mr. Olympia 12th Place
2014 Dubai Open Third Place
2014 Prague Pro Fourth Place
2014 Arnold Classic Europe Fifth Place
2014 San Marino Pro Fourth Place
2015 Arnold Classic Sixth Place
2015 Arnold Classic Australia Sixth Place
2015 Nordic Pro, Finland Second Place
2015 Mr. Olympia Seventh Place
2015 Arnold Classic Europe Fifth Place
2015 Prague Pro Sixth Place
2016 New York Pro Second Place
2016 Arnold Classic South Africa Second Place
2016 Arnold Classic Europe Fifth Place
2016 Kuwait Pro Fourth Place
2016 Mr. Olympia Sixth Place
2016 Mr. Olympia Europe Fifth Place
2016 Prague Pro Fifth Place
2016 Sheru Classic Winner
2017 Arnold Classic Europe Fourth Place
2017 Mr. Olympia Sixth Place
2017 Prague Pro Winner
2018 Arnold Classic Fourth Place
2018 Arnold Classic Australia Winner
2018 Mr. Olympia Third Place
2019 Arnold Classic Ohio Fifth Place
2019 Arnold Classic Australia Third Place
Other Mr. Olympia ‘People’s Champions’
There have been several outstanding pros throughout the years who never won a Mr. Olympia, but were often more popular than the men who held that title. Here are a few who captured the hearts of the fans.
Kai Greene
Right smack in the middle years of Phil Heath’s reign, Kai Greene was the man who pushed him harder than any other challenger. The Predator was runner-up at an excruciating three Mr. Olympia contests in a row from 2012 to 2014. The adjective “unique” doesn’t even begin to do justice to Kai, whose freakishly thick and dense physique resembled the comic-book action heroes he loves to draw. Greene’s posing performances were spectacles of pure invention, masterful muscle control, and powerful drama. Even now, three years since he’s competed and well over four years since he last graced the Mr. Olympia stage, Kai is as popular as ever, with 4.3 million Instagram followers and another 4.8 million of Facebook in addition to the throngs that flock to see his appearances around the world.
Tom Platz
Third place in 1981 was the closest The Golden Eagle ever came to winning the Mr. O in seven attempts, but that didn’t dampen his worldwide appeal. Platz was known for his outrageously developed legs, his 100-watt smile, and his flowing blond locks. No one was more in demand in the 1980s for guest appearances and seminars, and his posing routines to “Ride Like the Wind” by Christopher Cross never failed to bring the house down. His workouts were legendary odes to intensity, with feats such as squatting 500 for over 20 reps, or repping out nonstop for a full 10 minutes with 225 pounds. Platz laid the groundwork for pros that followed in showing them that a massive, loyal fan base was just as valuable as a Sandow trophy.
Flex Wheeler
Aside from Arnold, the man whose name comes up most often in debates about the greatest bodybuilder of all time as well as credit for inspiring people to start training is Flex Wheeler. Second place to Dorian Yates in 1993 at his first Mr. Olympia, then second again two years in a row to Ronnie, Flex was first in the hearts and minds of legions of devoted fans who admired his unlikely combination of round, full muscle bellies and flawless shape and proportions.
Kevin Levrone
Kevin would have been Mr. Olympia four times had it not been for Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman. He was another aesthetic beast, known for his tremendous shoulders and triceps as well as his prodigious strength in the gym. Over the years he competed, he built a fan base that stretched around the globe, setting the stage for global appearance tours that continue to be packed even today. More recently, 53-year-old Levrone has taken on the role of inspiration for the mature crowd, returning to the stage at both the 2016 Mr. Olympia and the 2018 Arnold Classic Australia, flexing proudly against men half his age.
Rich Gaspari
Perhaps no bodybuilder was ever more the consummate underdog than New Jersey’s Rich Gaspari. Rich competed in the era of the great Lee Haney and was not blessed with Lee’s height or width. Known as “The Dragonslayer” for consistently besting taller, heavier opponents, his intensity and work ethic in the gym were unrivaled. Rich also changed the sport by being the first pro to display striated glutes, setting an entirely new standard for condition that continues to this day. Like Kai, Rich was runner-up at the Olympia for three consecutive years, from 1986 to 1988. Gaspari built an enormous fan base touring the world, which he later parlayed into business success with Gaspari Nutrition.
Ron Harris got his start in the bodybuilding industry during the eight years he worked in Los Angeles as Associate Producer for ESPN’s “American Muscle Magazine” show in the 1990s. Since 1992 he has published nearly 5,000 articles in bodybuilding and fitness magazines, making him the most prolific bodybuilding writer ever. Ron has been training since the age of 14 and competing as a bodybuilder since 1989. He lives with his wife and two children in the Boston area. Facebook Instagram
DISCUSS THIS ARTICLE ON THE MD FORUM
FOLLOW MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT ON:
FACEBOOK: MuscularDevelopment Magazine
TWITTER: @MuscularDevelop
INSTAGRAM: @MuscularDevelopment
YOUTUBE: http://bit.ly/2fvHgnZ