Flex_USA_JulyAugust_2017_2

BY PETER MCGOUGH
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
The above film title could apply
to Kevin Levrone’s 2016 comeback,
when the 52-year-old, after being
out of competition for 14 years,
made a comeback and finished
dead last at the Olympia. He cited
injuries hampering his training and
says he will compete again in
much better shape in 2017. This
year Flex Wheeler will compete
again, having been given a special
invitation to the classic physique
finals at the Olympia Weekend. It
will be interesting to see how the
Sultan of Symmetry, now 52,
fares after 13 years away from
the action.
The truth is, bodybuilding is
a sport in which physical decline
is clearly evident. Donned only
in trunks, you’re going to look
different at 50 than you did at
Kevin Levrone (left)
and Flex Wheeler at
the 2000 Mr. Olympia
30—unless your name is Dexter
Jackson or, conversely, Peter
McGough. Veterans in other
sports are not so exposed (no
pun intended). Tennis greats like
John McEnroe and Björn Borg
(both in their late ’50s) can still
play an entertaining few sets
without prompting cries of “They
should never have come back!”
Bodybuilding is different in that
skin tone starts to sag and legs are
the first major body part to fade
away. When the Masters Olympia
was launched in 1994, it seemed a
very good idea to have the legends
return. But it was sad to see the
likes of Casey Viator and Greg
DeFerro exhibiting physiques that
were a shadow of their heyday’s.
To comeback or not comeback
is a question for the ages.
In 2016 the IFBB Pro League
launched the classic physique
division, and to be honest the
news disappointed me. In this age
of mass overpowering aesthetics,
to me it was code for saying, “OK,
if your preference is shape and
lines, here’s the classic physique
division—the open class is now
for outright freaks.” But as the
classic division took hold it was
refreshing to see the kind of
entrant it was attracting. The
quality has been absolutely first
rate, with veteran Danny Hester
claiming the classic physique title
at the 2016 Olympia Weekend, and
guys like Darrem Charles and Stan
McQuay coming out of retirement
to compete. Other standouts
are Lee Banks, Chris Bumstead,
Derek Farnsworth, George
Peterson, and Terrence Ruffin.
A barometer of the growth of
this division is that at last May’s
New York Pro there were 14
entrants in the open division and
29 in the classic division. So it
seems my disappointment of early
2016 was as misplaced as Bill
O’Reilly opening a charm school
for genteel young ladies. Who
knows, maybe the classic division
will become the most popular
class? An old man can dream, can’t
he? Boy, can I dream…ask my
psychiatrist.
FROM LEFT: SAMANTHA LUND; PER BERNAL
MROLYMPIA.COM 217