Mr Olympia Weekend 2008

Hey guys

This year I attended the Mr Olympia in Las Vegas for the first time and it was quite an experience. Not only was there the main competition but the 4-day event gathered numerous sponsors and exhibitors into one location. The sheer size was quite spectacular. But here's a brief history about the Olympia itself (taken from ifbbpro.com).

Back in 1965, Joe Weider recognized the need to keep Larry Scott in bodybuilding and the necessity to force the sport to grow. So he created the Mr. Olympia contest to keep all the great Mr. Universe champions active in the sport and to give them the opportunity to earn money. Joe could see that for the sport to succeed in the future, the champions would have to be able to make a living from competing just like other professional athletes.

Larry Scott indeed won the first Mr. Olympia contest that hot September night in 1965 and repeated as Mr. Olympia again in 1966. He then announced his retirement and the 1967 crown was up for grabs.

In 1967, Sergio Oliva won the third Mr. Olympia contest in overpowering fashion. People wondered how much better Sergio could get. But better he was! In fact, he was so much better that he won the 1968 Mr. Olympia unopposed. You know true greatness when no one dares to challenge.

Nevertheless, the greatest challenge to Sergio was waiting in the wings and 1969 commenced the greatest rivalry in the history of bodybuilding. Oliva was challenged by a young Austrian named Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a close battle, Sergio came out on top in 1969. He was now Mr. Olympia three years in a row, but Arnold promised that Sergio would never defeat him again. The rest as they say is history.

While I was there, I had the pleasure of meeting Jay Cutler and some of the other competitors. I was, however, surprised by the results when Dexter Jackson won but his physique was phenomenal (as you can clearly see). Congratulations, Dexter!

It'll be interesting to see who wins next year!

Alejandro
New York Muscle™