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