Thoughts on The Olympia Finals

**IFBB Pro Gerald Williams** · 09-25-2015, 05:01 AM

The 2015 Olympia is in the books; I will give my humble opinion on the Men’s open. Before I dive in, I have to note that watching this years Olympia had a considerably more significant impact on me because now I am looking guys I could be competing against in the near future. There is nothing like watching your first Olympia as an new IFBB Pro; there is an youthful exuberance and zeal for bodybuilding that I felt which can only be liken to the excitement that comes with doing your first or second show.

Noticeably absent from the line up was Kai Green. The Olympia has historically been predicated on close competitive rivalries that; while rarely see a dethroning of the incumbent, provide a thrilling fan experience. The IFBB has done a good job of promoting the Phil verses Kai match-up for quite some time so to remove the Kai part of that equation seems … strange. I cannot comment on the reason why Kai was “ Banned” from the Orleans; however, there are always three sides to a story and I cant say I have enough information to piece together an acceptable truth. I will say that Kais absence ensured another Sandow for Phil and provided lots of latitude for what looked like experimentation between prejudging and the finals for many of the top contenders.

My initial top 5 placings from prejudging had Shawn Rhoden in first Phil Heath in second, Dennis Wolf in third, Dexter in fourth and Roelly Winklaar in fifth. The night show I saw Phil jump to first, Sean at second, Dexter in third, Denis in fourth, and Branch Warren in fifth. Had Kai been in the line up, at his best, he would have been able to dethrone the champ and the remaining top 5 would have seen Branch bumped with the remaining placings staying the same. Its so easy to present a hypothetical.

We all know there is a large political component to being Mr. Olympia and the brand or lifestyle a man leads is a direct factor in ones marketability in this industry. To be an ambassador of the sport one needs to be able to communicate well. Why is this important? Because I feel if one were to play back just the individual interviews after the posing routines at the night show you could have almost identified the top 5 on ability to verbally articulate their opinions of their own performance. This is particularly saddening because there were several competitors who did not make the top 15 that are excellent verbal communicators, showed up in shape and represent the sport well.

Congratulations to every competitor that got on that stage and laid it on the line. I would love to dive into all of the socio-political theories I have on Professional Bodybuilding and why certain placings are they way they are; but I will save that for a future post.

Until next time,

- Gerald

**Mac** · 09-25-2015, 05:54 AM

Welcome to RX Gerald.

Great post.

**Sandpig** · 09-25-2015, 07:13 AM

Well said. I'm surprised you mentioned the political aspect as a current pro. No fear of backlash?

And welcome.

**Sunnyday** · 09-25-2015, 07:32 AM

Welcome, Gerald!

**Young Gotti** · 09-25-2015, 09:40 AM

welcome, nice little article

**baby muscle** · 09-25-2015, 09:52 AM

Looking forward to reading more from you Gerald.

**IFBB Pro Gerald Williams** · 09-26-2015, 01:01 AM

Hey all,

Thanks for the warm welcome all. I hope to make some regular posts on some closet issues in the sport. If you have questions for me feel free to message or make a post.

In response to fear of backlash, I'm not making things up; just making a statement on what we all know to be an implicate preoccupation. I'm a big believer in standing in my truth.

**IFBB Pro Gerald Williams** · 09-26-2015, 01:10 AM

One more thing. As you all know the industry has changed so I will need to shamelessly plug my Instagram to grow my number of followers for the sake of marketability. To that end; If you want to see more motivation, training and response to questions follow me on Instagram @GXL_Will.