Placing ninth in '97 and often finishing toward the end of the pack in previous outings was Ronnie Coleman, a competitor with good promise who, when he nailed his conditioning, would usually place respectfully in smaller contests. On the Olympia stage, however, he was no more than a top ten guy. In 1998 that all changed.Bringing a monstrous 270 plus pounds to the Olympia stage, Coleman, an Arlington, Texas cop, forced his opposition to serve hard time as they could only look on in wonder as to how one could appear so ripped and huge after having been relegated to ninth the year before.
Ronnie himself elaborates: "There was Flex and Nasser and Kevin. There were just so many people in front of me who had got first, second and third for seven or eight years. I was not even in the picture with a ninth place the year before." But now he was truly in the frame as number one in the world after having won the prestigious Olympia after almost ten years of trying.A far cry from where he first began: "I didn't even care about winning then (in 1992 when he finished dead last). I was just competing because it was a hobby and I was getting a free membership to the gym (laughs).
"I just did it because it was something I enjoyed doing and loved to do. As long as I went into the show and knew I had done my best that is all that really mattered."With usual suspects Flex Wheeler, Nasser El Sonbaty, Kevin Levrone and Shawn Ray - all extremely worthy challengers - rounding out the top five, Ronnie had done the unthinkable and left his competition shaking their heads at a missed opportunity. But would Coleman repeat this dominant performance in '99, or would he be a one hit wonder as was Chris Dickerson in'82 and Samir Bannout in '83?From '99 through to 2005, Ronnie, remarkably since he was in his 40s by early 2000, made significant improvements and won most of his Olympia title defenses in convincing fashion. In '99 he proved just too much for second placed Flex Wheeler who by now was becoming increasingly frustrated at not winning a Sandow of his own, and in 2000 brought over 280 pounds to the stage.Ronnie Coleman At The 1998 Olympia.
In 2001, Ronnie had an up-and-coming contender named Jay Cutler to deal with, and who gave the champ his biggest shock as Mr. Olympia yet. Winning the first two rounds at prejudging gave Cutler the edge, but Coleman was able to capitalize in the finals taking both rounds there to win by a narrow margin of just five points.
Though Ronnie was in his own class by virtue of his size and structure (with muscle cramming ever inch of his physique he still had one of the best V-tapers in the business and certainly the best back and legs), there was a worthy challenger in Jay Cutler, and so was sparked the biggest Mr. Olympia rivalry of the 21st century.With his non-inclusion in the 2002 line-up, Jay Cutler was not a factor, or threat for Coleman. But there were plenty of athletes who were. Kevin Levrone, by now tipped to someday win the title, Chris Cormier, one of the most complete and massive competitors around, and smiling giant Gunter Schlierkamp, made winning his fifth straight title an uphill grind, but Ronnie still proved he was king, though in a less convincing manner compared with previous years.In what could have been his best conditioning ever, Ronnie, despite predictions that he would face his biggest challenge with the return of Cutler, presented 287 pounds of shredded beef to win his sixth Olympia in 2003, virtually unopposed.Having tied Dorian's string of victories, Ronnie had two to equal Haney. With the addition of one more he would be regarded as bodybuilding's undisputed champ, a fact he had made known after winning his sixth that night. Alongside the champ in '03 was Dexter Jackson, an almost scaled down version of Ronnie at 5'6" and around 210 pounds, with amazing lines and near perfect symmetry: certainly a name to watch for in the future.And as for Jay Cutler, the 'cut above' was indeed muscling in on Ronnie's domain. The question everyone wanted to know was could Coleman continue his run or would the new breed of superstar catch him before he reached Haney's record of eight?A significant year for the Olympia competition was 2004 with the controversial addition of a new Challenge Round. This round would change the way the final six would be scored in the last round. After round three the top six competitors' scores would be discarded and the final round would be the clincher.Unfortunately for Dexter Jackson, who was third after the first three rounds, his final standing was fourth. Newcomer Gustavo Badell, however, did enough to place third in this round, thus giving him this final placing for the evening. Jay placed second and Ronnie again won the whole show, giving him his seventh Olympia title.
By 2005 total Mr. Olympia prize money, including a new Best Wheels award ($10,000), the Challenge Round ($50,000) and a Wildcard Showdown ($10,000), where the winner would also qualify for inclusion in the main Olympia show, peaked at $550,000. Winning the Best Wheels was second placed Jay Cutler, while Gustavo Badell walked away as the Challenge Round victor.The prize that really matted though was that of Mr. Olympia, which went to the now eight-time champ Ronnie Coleman. Also placing high in this show, held at Las Vegas, Nevada, was Victor Martinez (5th) and Branch Warren (8th), two men who would become fan favorites in future outings. Sadly for Ronnie, 2005 would prove his last year as the champ, though he would be back for further attempts in 2006 and '07.Showing the humility and class that has typified his career, Ronnie discusses what the Olympia means to him and what his greatest moment in the game was "My greatest moment in bodybuilding is, by far, winning my very first Mr. Olympia. The reason why is because I never really thought it was possible to win the Mr. Olympia. My biggest goal was to place in the top five and that's all I thought was possible for me, but for me to win was definitely overwhelming and very unexpected. It just goes to show that we are not in control of our own destiny like we would like to be. God is in control and decides what he wants us to do in life."When you reach the pinnacle of your sport there's really nothing that can top it. I never envisioned myself winning but when it happened it was like winning the lottery. It was one of those events where you are so overwhelmed that you can't find the words to put it into perspective to explain top people how you really feel about it."
0 comments:
Post a Comment