Olympia Blog

Sad news to report. Reigning champ, Adela Garcia has suffered an injury and will require knee surgery sometime next week. The 3x Champ is disappointed that she will not be back to defend her title but tells me she will be back and expects a full recovery. Read more about it on HARDBODY.com.

Phil is into his Olympia prep and is ready to show people that he means business. The local CBS station recently profiled Phil and his current FLEX cover. Check out how Phil can still play the piano and sink a few shots on the basketball court.

http://cbs4denver.com/video/?id=44135@kcnc.dayport.com

The 2008 Olympia Weekend is rapidly approaching and Bodybuilding.com will be covering the event like no other site.

Here are a few of the things that are planned.  Check out some of the things we have going on this year:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2008_road_to_olympia.htm

WW

In speaking with Jay Cutler last weekend at the 2008 NPC Junior California contest in Pasadena, where he was guest posing, Jay told me that he already started with contest diet, and he will not disappoint his fans. Wearing his Muscletech tank top, Jay said he will complete and win, becoming a three time Mr. Olympian!

Also in the audience and lobby was Silvio Samuel, another competitor who will compete in the Olympia. Silvio looked great, and in one week, at the 2008 Houston Pro on the 4th of July Weekend, it looks like he will win that show, gaining some serious momentum for the Mr. Olympia, which will be his next contest appearance.

As for myself, I will be there for the whole weekend, starting on Thursday with the annual Press Conference, for what is my 12th year going to the big show. I will be shooting pictures for bodybuilding.com, as well as videos, and stories, along with Isaac Hinds, and others.

I hear Bob Cicherillo is going to host the Mr. Olympia again, and there will also be a 202 and Under IFBB show too, as well as a Flex Bikini Model search, which will end up with the winner getting money and a sponsorship contract.

Oh, and soon, I will be giving you some Olympia trivia questions, to see if you really know you stuff.

Editor’s Note: Check out all the BB.com 2008 Olympia Coverage here:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2008_olympia_main.htm

It was a pleasure to meet so many of the people from bodyspace. It was a long weekend of taking photos, videos, interviews and trying to squeeze in some sleep. I’ve received a number of emails from people thanking us for the coverage. We’re glad you like it. We strive to bring the best content to everyone here on bodyspace.

I let myself get a little run down and sick while in Vegas. I will be blogging more in the next couple days once I finally get some sleep.

The funniest thing all weekend was the Mr. Puniverse Contest. If you haven’t watched the video or checked out the photos, you have to do so! It was classic.

Your week–or perhaps month– is now complete. "The Experts" Mr. Olympia predictions video is up on www.ironmanmagazine.com. And, just putting this project together was much more difficult than trying to figure out who the top six will be at this year’s version of the ‘0, now less than two weeks away.

The weekend of the Europa Supershow (August 10-12) would be the last time that the “The Experts”–yours truly, Ron (Yogi) Avidan and Isaac Hinds–would be together at the same place before the Olympia Weekend; thus, we had to get the taping done prior to heading back home.

At that time it was seven weeks out from the Big Dance and, although we saw defending champ Jay Cutler at the USA and knew he was in great shape, we didn’t have much else to go on regarding Mr. Olympia’s major contenders. Still, with our unmatched reputations on the line, we were not going to let that stand in our way.

It was a long, hard weekend in Texas for all of us involved in the project–the above mentioned “Experts” and our main man with the video camera, Strollin’ Roland Balik. I emceed five–count ‘em–five contests over the weekend (four pro shows on Friday night and the huge NPC Europa on Saturday night) and hosted all video wrap-ups on the contests. Additionally, I did several video interviews taped for Bodybuilding.com by both Yogi and Isaac.

Yogi and Isaac shot all weekend–both pictures and video’s–for Bodybuilding.com and the NPC News, and worked around the clock. Roland’s trip began on a sour note, with bad weather forcing him to drive from his Delaware abode to the airport in Philadelphia in order to make the weekend festivities. But, that didn’t deter him for shooting all four pro shows and manning the camera on all the videos.

Refugees on a Rooftop:

We ended up shooting the Olympia predictions video on Sunday morning on the rooftop of the host hotel, the Hyatt. It was well over 100 degrees, and the humidity had reached at least 90%. The three of us in front of the camera were dead tired, hungry and thirsty–on the brink of passing out, actually, actually– since we only had about 10 hours sleep total during our Texas frolly and didn’t have time to eat breakfast before shooting the final video. As you can see, the subtitle for this video is “Refugees on a Rooftop” and this isn’t a joke, for once.

Take that into consideration when you see where Lift Studios left Victor Martinez out of his top six, perhaps the worst prediction of all time. But, when Isaac was refreshed and fed (two weeks earlier, in his blog on BB.com), he did get the top five, in exact order, for the Men’s finals in Texas. And, I had to buy him dinner when Silvio Samuel made weight in the 210 and under class. Isaac cheated, of course, having inside info, but I paid up like the class act I am. Why I had to pay for Yogi’s meal, as well (along with the five other people who made their way to our table) is another matter.

Roland seemed fairly refreshed in the beginning, but was weakening by the minute after carting around all the camera equipment before we as we eventually made our way to the top of the mountain, er, the hotel. And, after putting up with our antics and warped humor the previous two nights during our round-up tapings, John Balik’s son deserves a Purple Heart for just showing up Sunday morning.

But, our job is to bring you the action, period, and to tell you how it’s gonna be before it even happens. As usual, my picks will probably be the most accurate. Yogi says the Swami’s hat should be sitting on his head after the strong ‘07 season he’s had with his prognostications; Hinds has been on a tear of late and probably did deserve the crown before he came up with his off kilter pics for this one.

View the video (our aim is to entertain), and tell us what you think. Amazing how amazing we still are even with such horrific distractions, eh gang?

LT

Word on the street is that this will be a HOT party. Team Muscular Development & MHP will be make sure of this.

Editor’s Note: a complete list of Olympia After Parties is listed here:

http://getbig.com/news/2007/09/20070924party.htm

You don’t want to miss it!

Editor’s Note: a complete list of Olympia After Parties is listed here:

http://getbig.com/news/2007/09/20070924party.htm

You won’t want to miss the official BSN Endorush & Bodybuilding.com Olympia After Party on Saturday night, Sept. 29th at Club Risqué inside Hotel Paris on the Vegas strip!

Click here for details:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/2007oafterparty_info.htm

Note: a complete list of Olympia After Parties is listed here:

http://getbig.com/news/2007/09/20070924party.htm

If you’ll be at this year’s Olympia, leave a comment here and let the world know you’ll be attending this historic event - the last Olympia at which Ronnie Coleman will compete!!  It’ll be nice to see a huge BodySpace turn out at the O this year - if I see you, I’ll get you on camera!! 

For those staying home, don’t feel left out - we need some help that can only be done from someone sitting at a desk watching our webcasts*.  And as always, we’re still looking for a little extra help with some Olympia blogging right here on this blog…  Leave a comment if you’d like to help.

*It’s some top-secret webcast help.  Details to be released in the very near future… 

Just listened to the 87th episode of Dan Solomon’s and Bob Cicherillo’s fantastic Pro Bodybuilding Weekly. Was disappointed to hear that Chris Cormier has not yet qualified for the Mr. Olympia. Never fear as he’ll apparently be competing in Atlantic City Pro this weekend for that coveted berth in the Olympia lineup.

Cormier is someone I’d love to see put things together for another run at the Olympia. He’s battled it out in ten Mr. Olympia competitions, placing as high as 3rd.

1994 Mr. Olympia, 6th
1995 Mr. Olympia, 6th
1996 Mr. Olympia, 7th
1997 Mr. Olympia, 8th
1998 Mr. Olympia, 6th
1999 Mr. Olympia, 3rd
2001 Mr. Olympia, 5th
2002 Mr. Olympia, 3rd
2004 Mr. Olympia, 7th
2005 Mr. Olympia, 13th

Here’s a competitor and legitimate contender for the Olympia crown who began training with weights as a 120-pounder at age 12 to catch up with his older football teammates so far as weight was concerned. Cormier now tips 300 lbs. in the off season at age 40. Whuzzat? From 120 lbs. to 300 lbs. in less than 30 years? I couldn’t do that in 300 years.

Cormier has an extensive background in wrestling (like former Olympia competitor Mike Mentzer’s younger brother, Ray Mentzer, who was a member of the 30 pin club on the Ephrata High School wrestling team) and is obviously a disciplined athlete as a result of his youthful sports experience. With 20 years of bodybuilding competition experience this could be Cormier’s time.

While Las Vegas is out of the question for me, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort is definitely within striking distance for this Pennsylvania native.

Will Chris qualify in Atlantic City? Will you be there to see him compete?

Stay tuned to Bodybuilding.com and PBW for the results of the last qualifier for this year’s Mr. Olympia competition!

Update :

Johnnie O. Jackson and Lisa Aukland took first place in the bodybuilding portion of the contest! Chris Cormier, unfortunately failed to qualify for the Olympia but he seemed to take the loss with a good attitude. Shawn Ray was the evening’s emcee. A great show well worth six hours on the road today.

Quote:
“This is it for me at the Olympia, and September 29th will be the last time I step on a Mr. Olympia stage. I want to thank God, my family, my friends, all the great fans who have supported me over the years, Weider and especially BSN. I don’t take anything for granted and appreciate all the support from the bottom of my heart. I’ll see you all at the Olympia!”

- Ronnie Coleman

http://bsnonline.net/misc/news_expanded.php?id=58