Flex_USA_JulyAugust_2017_2

Coleman’s last hurrah; his 15th
and final O.
22
1980 AS CD FZ SB
Most-debated Olympia of all time.
Making a surprise comeback,
Arnold was at his smallest, but, in
keeping with the preceding Zane
trifecta, he brought the cuts to
Australia. Was he still good enough
to win? Should the Sandow have
gone to Dickerson (second) or
defending champ Zane (third)?
And what of enigmatic Mike
Mentzer, who, after falling to fifth,
never competed again? Sometimes
you’ve just got to be there.
20 & 19 & 18
1995 DY & 1996 DY RC
& 1997 DY RC
Yates, Coleman, Flex Wheeler,
Kevin Levrone, Shawn Ray,
Nasser El Sonbaty, Chris Cormier,
Vince Taylor—these three O’s in
three locales delivered a
cornucopia of bodybuilding
legends at or near their peak.
The last two even offered
a monstrous phenomenon in
Jean Pierre Fux. Yates peaked
in ’95, when Levrone was
second, and was not far off in
’96, when Ray was second,
but his body began breaking
down, fueling a debate that
16
2001 RC JC DJ
Cutler nearly came from nowhere
(he was eighth out of 13 the year
before) to win bodybuilding’s
Super Bowl. He led comfortably
after prejudging, but Ronnie
barely overtook him at the finish
line, fueling outrage and launching
a rivalry that raged for six years.
21
2008 DJ JC PH
Anything can happen in Vegas.
Having never finished higher than
third, 38-year-old journeyman
Jackson soared to a shocking
victory over two-time champ
Cutler. Just behind them, in his
Olympia debut, was Heath, as
Mr. O’s—present, past, and
future—filled out the top three.
runner-up El Sonbaty
deserved the Sandow in ’97,
Yates’ last hurrah.
17
2011 PH JC DJ
Three
Mr. O’s—Dexter
Jackson, Phil
Heath, and Jay
Cutler—in the top
three in ’08.
Heath finally beat his mentor,
Cutler, and he did it while in
stupendous condition. Kai
Greene was third, setting up
future battles.
15
1993 DY
A new size paradigm was initiated
when Yates showed up in Atlanta
at a grainy 257 pounds and blew
away a stacked lineup. In his
Olympia debut, a nearly flawless
Flex Wheeler soared to second.
14
1991 LH DY SB
The passing of the torch. Haney,
at his biggest, secured his record
eighth Sandow in Orlando by
fending off O rookie Yates, who
never lost again. In addition to
three Mr. O’s onstage, Coleman
was working backstage just to
be at this monumental event, and
the biggest-ever lineup included
five legends who finished second
in Olympias without winning: Lee
Labrada, Shawn Ray, Rich
Gaspari, Robby Robinson, and
Albert Beckles.
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