2005 Olympia Weekend Report

In this report I will start with general comments and observations from the Olympia Weekend and then my report will only cover the men. My next report will cover the women, and be ready in a week’s time.  This was the first year the Olympia has been held at the Orleans Resort & Casino and the change was only partly successful in my opinion. On the positive side the Arena worked out OK and the competitors I spoke to said it was fine and about the same as The Mandalay Bay Events Centre. However holding the Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Centre was a different matter.
Las Vegas was pumped for competition this year in this the 40th Anniversary of the Mr. Olympia competition. It was the Super Bowl of bodybuilding. To top it off, Ronnie Coleman was gunning for Lee Haney’s record of 8 consecutive Olympia titles.

THE CHALLENGE ROUND

This was held prior to the announcement of the overall results and fortunately it didn't count in the Mr. Olympia results.  I found it to be too drawn out, slightly boring, and only delayed the final placings which I and most of the audience were waiting for.  It was judged by a panel of 5 former Mr. Olympias, namely, Larry Scott, Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane, Samir Bannout and Dorian Yates.  It was good to see these champions once again, and I was sorry that 3 of the previous winners could not be present.  Arnold was present, but did not judge the challenge round.

NO-SHOWS

Lee Priest did not compete as I was told that he was not happy with certain aspects of the contract all competitors had to sign.

Dexter Jackson: Dexter told me at the Expo that he was giving his body a rest, having won the Arnold Classic earlier in the year. 

Troy Alves:  I was surprised to see Troy sitting in the press pit during the Mr. Olympia Prejudging, as he was certainly qualified. I am not sure why he did not compete.

ONLY ONE CLASS FOR MS. OLYMPIA

I was disappointed to see that the 2 weight classes had been dropped for the Ms. Olympia.  It will be exceedingly hard for a tiny bodybuilder such as Dayana Cadeau to beat a much taller champion such as Yaxeni Oriquen. I know the same argument could be said for the men.

MR. OLYMPIA SHOW

It’s no secret that the organizers had their fair share of glitches during the running of the show.  The most glaring problem was the cutting to backstage interviews on the big screen, but they were silent.  There was obviously a problem with the sound which they did not appear to be able to quickly solve.

The staging was minimalist but neat and tidy, and I had no objection to that.  However, it was necessary to hastily construct a riser (raised platform) half way through the Mr. Olympia prejudging. It was very difficult to see clearly from the Press Pit when the competitors were standing together on the stage. Based on the experience gained at previous Olympias, this riser should have been in place from the beginning of the judging.

After seeing 4 or 5 big cameras in action at the press conference, I was disappointed to note that the Mr. Olympia prejudging was not video recorded at all.  In several past years I have recorded the prejudging and it had grown to become an important part of the Mr. Olympia DVD set. 

I was disappointed at the Show that only the top 15 competitors were permitted to present their posing routines, with the remaining 6 (which some in the audience referred to as “the left-overs”) were permitted to pose together for about 1 minute.  What was particularly disappointing about this was the lost opportunity to see the posing routine of Alexander Fedorov from Russia. He had been touted as a possible rival for Ronnie’s crown.  He was definitely no threat to Ronnie this time, but it would still have been good to see him in action.

Although the show needed tightening when there were periods where nothing much happened, I feel sure the audience would have enjoyed seeing the complete posing routines of these bottom six competitors who had trained, dieted and prepared all year for this special day.  If time needed to be saved, then  let’s drop the challenge round.

A highlight of the Show was Arnold bringing a visibly ill Joe Weider onto the stage to the standing ovation of the audience.  Joe was obviously in pain from his back operation, and his speech was very short but heartfelt. It was good to see Joe made it and I take my hat off to him.

The final appearance on stage was the top 5 and not the traditional top 6.  This greatly upset Dennis James who finished in 6th place, and he pointed out at the post-Olympia seminar that he did not get to compete in the Challenge Round or appear in the traditional magazine photos which used to show the top 6.  His 6th would have been close to his highest ever placing and he did look in superb shape this year, so it’s easy to understand how disappointed he felt.

At the opening of the Mr. Olympia show a terrible thing happened.  The World Bench Press holder, Gene Rychiak attempted a new world record bench press of 1015 lbs.  Things went badly awry  as he started the lift.  He managed to get it up a few inches, and then lost control, and the bar slammed back down onto his torso, before the spotters could do anything.  They got the bar off his as quickly as they could, but as there was only one spotter at each end (there should have been more for such a massive weight) it took at least 20-30 seconds to get the bar back onto the supports. 
They quickly ripped his lifting shirt open to relieve the pressure on his chest. I
subsequently heard form other power lifters the next day that he had broken his sternum. 

Gene remained on the bench for at least 15 minutes after his attempt and so it was obvious he had been injured.  He was surrounded by officials, and I would hope medical personnel, trying to assess his situation before moving him.

PRESS CONFERENCE

This was something of a disappointment in my opinion.  Although it was well handled by Bob Cicherillo and Triple H, they asked virtually all of the questions in order to create a little bit of controversy, with the audience asking only a few questions right at the very end.  It was held in a Ballroom that was simply too small, and the competitors were not sufficiently raised up in tiers, as they have been at previous Olympias.

The viewing from the audience was extremely difficult and to top it off the Press
Photographers and some non-press photographers all stood up at the front, completely blocking the view of the athletes from most of the audience.  On the positive side I liked the idea of having the women’s press conference first, followed by the men. This was a great idea.

The whole press conference concept is really a public relations exercise to entertain the audience and not so much a true press conference. It is hard to say where it should go from here.

MEET THE OLYMPIANS

This traditional event was about the same as ever, but it seemed to lack its usual vibrancy and buzz.  With master interviewer and IFBB official, Kenny Kassel, we managed to interview a number of top competitors, to do our little bit to help promote the sport.  (Special note:  this was the first year since 1999 that GMV Productions was not allowed to video tape backstage at the Olympia, or prejudgings, and our activities were severely curtained at this event -  we were refused a video press pass.)

Ronnie and Gunter, once again, had the longest lines of fans waiting to buy photos and other merchandise. They were the last to leave.

I feel that the Olympia programs should have been on sale at this time at Meet the Olympians. They were extremely hard to find and were not on sale at the doors at Orleans Arena which would seem logical. I subsequently heard they were available at the Expo.

THE EXPO

It was disappointing for the fans to have to travel five and a half miles across town from the Orleans to the Convention Centre – a taxi ride of $18 including tip – each way!

Although there was a shuttle bus it was not adequate for the task when most people want to travel at the same time.  The Convention Centre was very nice and a wonderful venue, but too far from the event hotel. The number of booths also seemed to be down on previous years.

Taping at the Expo was – again – a real challenge.  I was officially warned not to take my video camera anywhere near the women’s prejudging, on threat of being kicked out of the hall, so sadly this year there will be no women’s prejudging DVD.  In fact when I was taping an interview in the aisle of the Expo I was told to only tape interviews on booths, as I did not have the rights to shoot interviews while standing in the aisles.  Accordingly this year there will not be a single Olympia DVD from GMV Productions. Which is obviously what the organizers wanted.

For years I have given maximum publicity and exposure to the Olympia and the athletes, and have done so since filming my first Olympia back in 1971. Last year when I was called on by Weider/AMI to provide archival Mr. Olympia footage to enable a special show opening video clip to be produced, covering the years from 1965 to the present, I was delighted to do so at no charge. It seems that memories are short.

All of the Women’s Prejudging – Fitness, Figure and Physique – were held at the Expo, and also the final of the Ms. Olympia.  The finals of the Figure and Fitness were held on the main stage of the Arena on the Friday night.  I can’t understand why the Ms. Olympia could not also have been on the main stage – it certainly deserves to be.  We have to ask the question – why is the Ms. Olympia being downgraded?  Is the gossip true that the authorities are trying to ‘get rid of’ the Ms. O?

WILDCARD SHOW DOWN

Replacing the Ms. Olympia finals on the Friday night program at the Arena stage was a brand new event for Professional Men.  Nine guys took to the stage with the winner receiving the total prize money of $10,000 and a place in the Mr. Olympia lineup the next day.  This showdown was won by David Henry.  We really like David Henry’s physique –it’s symmetrical, it’s ripped and they gave out that it was his 6th Pro show of the year.  Having said that, David placed 14th in the Mr. O, giving him a total prize pool of $12,000 for the weekend.  He did far better than  many of the athletes that previously qualified for the Olympia and placed above him.  So – what will happen next year? 

Another thing that maybe could have been handled better was the fact that we the audience were not told the 2nd to 5th placings in this wildcard event.  If the authorities want to give another chance to non-qualified athletes, it might be better to hold a wildcard event as a completely separate entity to get around the prize money issue – and they should certainly give out the minor placings on the night, and allotting some prize money to the top 5, as in all the other pro events.

CHAMPION’S POST OLYMPIA SEMINAR

Held on Sunday morning in the Ballroom, it was an extremely popular event with many people standing at the rear.  The four Olympia winners were of course all present, along with other top guys including Dennis James and Darrem Charles who both made their feelings about the Olympia very clear to all those who were present.

Dennis’s views have been mentioned above, while Darrem pointed out the difficulties of the smaller more symmetrical physique such as his, and how he was not directly compared with Victor Martinez at the prejudging.  He and Victor are great rivals.  At previous contests this year, Darrem said he placed above Victor, and in the Olympia Victor placed above Darrem, despite not being directly compared against him.

Gustavo Badell  and Jay Cutler also made some interesting comments.

Ronnie had a clear cut victory winning every round with a perfect score in rounds 2, 3, and 4.  At 5’11” and 295 lbs he was rock hard with a good tight mid section which I feel is the barometer of condition for most bodybuilders.  I felt that Ronnie was improved on last year’s condition, and better than ever. Later in our video shoot in Australia he explained how he had achieved a tighter mid-section this year.

As usual his best body part was his back and it was “lights out, game over” when he hit his rear poses.  He convincingly captured his 8th consecutive Mr. Olympia title equaling Lee Haney’s record.  Next year Ronnie will go for number 9, and as he stated a number of times, Ronnie wants to win 10 Olympias before he calls it a day.

I was sorry that Lee Haney could not be present at this historic Olympia. I do hope he will be there next year so he can be the first to shake Ronnie’s hand when his old record is broken. I say that in a positive sense for Ronnie as he shows no signs of slowing down!

(Ronnie’s tour of 5 Australian cities followed the Olympia, made possible due to there being no European post Olympia GP circuit this year.
GMV took the opportunity of Ronnie’s tour of Australia to shoot a new training and posing DVD with Ronnie 5 days after the Olympia in superb contest condition.  It will be  called “Ronnie Coleman: On the Road” – which we expect to release before Christmas.)

JAY CUTLER

Jay Cutler was second in every round and his position of runner-up was not seriously challenged.  Although he looked better than last year, this was still not enough to topple the champion.  I liked his innovative posing routine and he was positive and confident throughout the prejudging. 

Apart from achieving greater separation in most body parts it is hard to see how Jay can improve too much on this year’s excellent condition.  His symmetry is also very good , but I can’t see where he can seriously challenge Ronnie in the areas of size, condition or symmetry.

Jay was 2nd for the third year in a row and it must be incredibly hard to train all year to again take this position on the big day.

GUSTAVO BADELL

Gustavo showed good solid all round improvement this year, and in particular had a much tighter mid-section.  I was pleased to note that no competitor displayed bad belly bloat this time.  Gustavo won the challenge round and I feel that this was partly due to his arm poses which are his forte, and other factors.  He has great balance from lower to upper body with good size and symmetry.

I loved his posing routine where he performed the signature poses of all past Olympia winners form Larry Scott to Ronnie Coleman.  I have never seen this attempted before.

Gustavo was third for the second year in a row and said at the post-Olympia seminar that he felt like a winner having won the Challenge Round.  To check out his size, symmetry and condition, see our recently released DVD on Gustavo, GMV-605DVD.

GUNTER SCHLIERKAMP

After the first 2 rounds Günter was in third place on 36 points compared to Gustavo in 4th on 40 points.  At this point it seemed like Günter had a good chance to finish in third place.  However, in the next two rounds, Gustavo pulled ahead to clinch third with a slim four-point margin.  Günter was the best I have ever seen him - tight, hard and big, with an even greater shoulder to waist taper, which improved his V-shape.  His legs were huge and cut and he well deserved his highest ever placing of 4th.  You can see more of him in our DVD Rock Hard, see GMV- 392DVD.

VICTOR MARTINEZ

Victor rounded out the top 5 with a strong performance.  He has a complete overall package of height, size, shape, and muscularity.  No body part dominates and symmetry is his strong point.

Victor is Ronnie’s anointed one as the next Mr. Olympia winner when he retires.  If you look at Victor his overall shape and size is somewhat similar to Ronnie’s.  To move up in the placings Victor needs to be more shredded. He has plenty of time.

DENNIS JAMES

For as long as I can recall there has been a top 6 in the Olympia for the final posedown and awards.  It was Dennis’s bad luck that this year it was the top 5, as mentioned in my comments above.  Dennis was in much better condition this year being huge yet hard and ripped.  No much more muscle can be crammed onto the James frame and I’m not sure where he can go from here.  Like the 5 guys who placed above him, Dennis is a mass monster.  You can check out his latest DVD which was released just prior to the Olympia A-1105DVD.

MELVIN ANTHONY

I spoke to Melvin Anthony after the prejudging and asked him what he felt was the best result he may receive and he told me 5th.  This was not too far out as he was only 2 points behind
Dennis James in 6th.  Marvelous Melvin is definitely not a mass monster, but a master of symmetry and condition, and the most superlative posing presentation you could ever wish to see.  He is the only bodybuilder whose posing routine seems to be too short, leaving you feeling that you would like it to go on a little longer.   What he brings to the stage is physical perfection, grace, style and proportion – sliced and diced to perfection and presented with a unique flair.  His 7th placing was his best ever at the Olympia and I feel sure that he was pleased with this result, beating out many other huge guys, such as Branch Warren, Markus Ruhl, Quincy Taylor etc.  We released out new DVD on Melvin, called “Contest Ready” to coincide with the Olympia  and you can check it out at GMV-617DVD.

BRANCH WARREN

He was a surprise package for me in that he had only just qualified for the Olympia at a recent Grand Prix, only a couple of weeks ago, and to place 8th in a first Olympia outing is pretty damn good.  Branch is noted for his incredible leg development and he has been called a modern-day Tom Platz.  He is however much bigger than Tom and shows huge potential for the future.  I am sure he was no doubt nervous but I feel his posing routine and stage presence needs a dash of charisma and variety to help him move up the ranks.

DARREM CHARLES

Darrem has been the winner of a number of Grand Prix and was upset that he seemed to be a little overlooked this year in the comparisons with Martinez and others.  I personally would have had Darrem at least one place higher, but it was the case of a larger competitor often displacing a smaller tighter more symmetrical competitor.

Darrem has developed his light framed physique to the point where it will be hard to take it to another level.  His posing excellence is second only to Melvin Anthony.

MUSTAFA MOHAMMAD

For Mustafa Mohammad to finish in the top ten in only his second Olympia was a most pleasing result for him.  Last year he finished near the bottom of the pack as a complete unknown from Europe.  I have watched his career progress from his Overall Amateur Mr. Universe victory back in 1992 (see GMV-152) to his European top 3 placings in Grand Prix over the last 2 or 3 years.  Mustafa has freaky leg development which slightly unbalances his overall shape and symmetry. I like his physique as it is certainly different.

He posed well, showed incredible condition and I can see him placing higher next year with improved symmetry.

Now a few comments on guys who did not place in the top 10.

Johnnie Jackson – placed 11th, and lacked impact and seemed a bit flat when relaxed.  Not his usual rock hard self.

Chris Cormier – placed 13th.  This was a surprisingly low finish for Chris after winning the San Francisco Grand Prix earlier this year and taking 2nd placings at the Arnold Classic and the Aussie Grand Prix.  He seemed to be smaller and softer than usual and did not excite the judges at all in the comparisons.  I feel that his peaking for the March contests left too little fuel in the tank for the Olympia.

Markus Ruhl – 15th.  This was a shock result for a champion who usually places so highly at the Olympia.  I read from the report on his site that he didn’t feel well at the prejudging and that things went wrong during his carbing up process.  One of the judges told me that he looked too soft and was carrying a lot of water in his back.  Fortunately he placed in the top 15 or the audience would not have got to enjoy his posing routine.

Kris Dim – 16th:  Kris was not as hard as I have seen him in the past and was also possibly marked down for what looked like synthol use in his arms.  He did not display the superb condition he showed in 2004.

Tied for 17th place were Ronny Rockel and Craig Richardson.  When Ronny placed third in the Aussie Grand Prix in 2005, see GMV-603DVD, he was razor sharp and displayed wonderful symmetry and good size.  At the Olympia he seemed a little flat and lacking in separation.  Ronny is new to the USA scene and shows huge potential, but needs to gain more exposure in Pro events in USA.

In equal last placing along with several other competitors was the Russian star Alexander Fedorov.  I am not sure what went wrong as many felt that he would make a big impact and could push Ronnie for the title.  It did not happen this year and Alexander seemed to be short of his peak.  Apart from a slight chest weakness and a tan that was too pale, we saw little of him at the prejudging apart from his solo compulsory poses.  I was really disappointed to be denied the pleasure of at least seeing his posing routine at the evening finals.  I feel sure this was a great learning experience for him in his first appearance in USA. Next week my report on the women at the Olympia.