History of the Mr. Olympia
This would be the year that American Media Inc, Weider Publications and the IFBB teamed up to promote the Olympia Weekend, raising the total prize money to $540,000. This would also be the year of the controversial "Challenge Round", which many opined the most entertaining addition to the Mr. Olympia contest in years; albeit, not without some flaws that will need correcting if it resurfaces in 2005.
2005 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA : For the first time since Ronnie Coleman won the Sandow in 1998, a competitor caught him from behind. That man was Jay Cutler, and whenever the two went mano-a-mano in a back pose, it was evident how far Cutler had come in his development. In a feat many thought would never happen, Coleman, he of the freaky mass and stunning detail in his lats, mid-back and traps, was far from a shoo-in on this pose.
However, in the end, even that wasn’t enough to stop the reign of Coleman, who, on October 15, 2005, made it eight in a row, tying him with Lee Haney for the Olympia record. And, in a repeat of last year, second went to Jay Cutler and third went to Gustavo Badell. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped onstage with Joe and Ben Weider and received a standing ovation from the capacity crowd onhand to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Mr. Olympia.
2006 September 30, 2006 is a day that will live in bodybuilding lore forever. A capacity crowd at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas bore witness to history, but it was not the history many had expected. Ronnie Coleman, going for his record-breaking ninth Sandow trophy, instead lost to four-time runner-up Jay Cutler, and by a convincing margin by bodybuilding standards, 22 to 38 (lowest score wins). In fact, Cutler won all four rounds of the show.
Although Coleman was losing after the prejudging, the champ did not go down without a fight. In arguably the best posing routine ever seen on an Olympia stage, Coleman had world-famous boxing announcer Bruce Buffer step out on stage to announce him – Ronnie then came down through the crowd to a raucous ovation. After ducking backstage, a few moments later he reappeared in a Moses costume, long white beard and all.
But in the end, a slightly better physique beat the better showman on this night, as Cutler’s extra 10 pounds of size and sharp improvements finally put him over the top.
For the first time in nearly a decade, we head into the 2007 Mr. Olympia with a new defending champion. Jay Cutler overcame the odds in defeating the already legendary Ronnie Coleman, who returns for another attempt at record breaking number nine. “Jay didn’t beat me. He’s just holding the Sandow for me until I take it back, which I will come September,” promises Ronnie. But Jay’s not looking to relinquish his crown anytime soon. “I worked too long and too hard for this, it’s mine and I’m keeping it,” says a determined Cutler. This year, he’ll have to fight off not only a rejuvenated Ronnie Coleman, but a very hungry Victor Martinez, finally realizing his true potential as a premier bodybuilder. Ronnie, Victor, Gustavo Badell, and Melvin Anthony, all of whom know that the first title defense will surely be the hardest will bring their best game to overthrow Jay’s hopes of starting his own dynasty.
2007 The 2007 Mr. Olympia was viewed by many as a "less-than-stellar performance" by Jay Cutler who, after the prejudging, admitted he was "a little off". At the end of rounds 1 and 2 [symmetry and muscularity], the official scorecard had Jay ahead of Victor Martinez by only one point (although many had Jay as low as fourth or fifth, there being no doubt in their minds that Jay was as smooth as Victor was sharp). A day later at the finals, Martinez took round 3 [posing routines] by a point over Jay and the two were now tied going into round 4 [mandatory poses and posedown].
Jay won this final round [and the contest] by 3 points over Victor and became a multi-Olympia winner on the same night as 8-time Olympia champion, Ronnie Coleman, made his final bow on the Mr. O stage, finishing fourth and getting several standing ovations from the sold-out Orleans Arena crowd.
In third place was Dexter Jackson, a validation for "The Blade" that he is still a force to be reckoned with, as he beat out Coleman, a hard-charging Dennis Wolf in fifth, and Marvelous Melvin Anthony in sixth. Perhaps no one made a bigger stride in this contest than Wolf. The German was a huge crowd favorite, and showed every ounce of his future Mr. Olympia potential.
2008 Late on Saturday evening, September 27, at the Orlean Arena, Las Vegas, and with the placings of the 17 other competitors participating in the 2008 Mr. Olympia already decided, the two men still awaiting their fate walked to center stage. One who had been there many times before, and one who until this year never imagined he would. And in the end, after 10 years and 47 contests, Dexter Jackson finally rose to the top of the sport by toppling two-time and reigning champion Jay Cutler on the way to the biggest win of his career.
Although the 235-pound Jackson gave up roughly 30 pounds to Cutler at the Friday prejudging, Jackson’s superior conditioning and aesthetics were rewarded over Cutler’s sheer size. On the final scorecards, the two were separated by seven points.
Although the Jackson-Cutler matchup grabbed the headlines, it was not the only story line that developed over the two-day contest. Nearly each of the top eight hit the mark, making it one of the most competitive Olympias in recent memory. And, standing at the forefront of that pack was Olympia rookie Phil Heath. Heath established himself – for now – as the best of the new breed. The 28-year-old finished third – the highest finish for an Olympia rookie since Flex Wheeler placed second to Dorian Yates in 1993.
Dennis Wolf, who entered the contest being mentioned by some as the main threat to Cutler’s three-peat, did not make the impact he was expected to. Despite finishing fourth, the German lacked both the conditioning and – incredibly – the overwhelming size he displayed when bursting onto the scene with his fifth-place finish a year ago. Toney Freeman’s fifth-place finish was greeted with the loudest boos from the audience. Freeman managed to at least match his conditioning and size from the 2007 Ironman, widely regarded as his best-ever showing. Melvin Anthony made the final posedown for the third consecutive year, placing sixth for the second straight Olympia.
*This story excerpted from various sources
