Predictions for the Mr. Olympia 2014!

[Praetorian]

Final Mr Olympia Results, Men's Open

IIFBB Pro Men
1. Phil Heath
2. Kai Greene
3. Shawn Rhoden
4. Dennis Wolf
5. Dexter Jackson
6. Branch Warren
7. Mamdouh Elssbiay
8. Victor Martinez
9. Steve Kuclo
10. Juan Morel
11. Johnnie Jackson
12. Roelly Winklaar
13. Fred Smalls
14. Jonathan Delarosa
15. William Bonac
16. Ibrahim Fahim
16. JoJo Ntforo


P

[steve_d]

It's easy to be a bully to someone who reacts to it the way Kai does. For the most part I don't see Phil as being a total jerk. Yeah, he was perhaps a bit close to kai compared to the others in the line up, but I've been on the ends of bodybuilding line ups and you tend to just wander closer to the center. So I wouldn't put the blame on Phil at all for that. In fact it was kai that was trying to push Phil, not the other way around. Plus the hair flipping thing was just weird. Whether or not it is all a show is debatable. It's hard not to compare the relationship to the poor kid envious of the rich kid. Phil talking about losing his father, and Kai quick to point out that he had no father. A little of it is jealousy, some of it is disrespect to each other, some of it is just tension flying during a time where none of their brains are thinking clearly, and perhaps a lot of it just a show. The thing during pre-judging, to me, was just Kai being Kai - he was trying to be funny. Giving the fans a little bit of show. If you notice that he did this during the comparison round - NOT during the call out. Yes, they are still judging, but he knew they would be making their last decisions in the next call out.

Most would have Phil winning except those who dislike him and want to see Kai beating him. Phil is just better overall. That said, I was not impressed with Phil compared to years prior. He's only 34 years old and already showing signs that he isn't improving. Even Kai is 39 I beleive - and so is shawn rhoden. On paper Phil should still have everything going for him to continue his streak. but, I've said this before, but I think Phil's days are numbered. I am not sure if it will be Kai to dethrown him though. Who knows - I think Rhoden could have a title next year, before someone else like Big ramy decides to get diced. I don't see dennis wolf ever winning. Dexter won't either, he's mr. consistent but will never get big enough this late in his career. Branch is done, victor too. So really it could be phil vs. kai vs. rhoden for a couple more years. You never know with this sport though. Just look at how ronnie emerged. Maybe someone like roelly winklar could even jump into the mix. Perhaps phil will go back to the drawing board and fix some of the flaws he had this year. who knows.

I see next year as a repeat of this year. with big ramy coming 4th-5th and dexter making his way out of the top 5.

[cog]

I thought Ramy had a new coach that was going to guide Ramy to sure victory.

[Primal]

I'm pretty happy that I guessed the first 4 correctly! I was leaving the 5th spot open for Ramy or Victor to be honest but we all saw how Ramy came in... Oh well, word has it that Ramy had a hamstring injury right before the Olympia and his hamstring was practically all blue before the tan (unsure if true, just what I heard) but it still doesn't help his overall conditioning any. Gotta agreee with you Steve, Heath looks to me like he is slowly declining. Somebody posted pictures of him side by side from 2011, 2013 and this year. He was doing a front lat spread in all 3 shots and in 2011 he was able to flex his abs with the pose. His legs looked a bit smaller but his delts were much more round in the previous years. It looked like he actually sacrificed some delt size but gained some in the arm department. What did you guys think about his gut? It seemed like it was a bit loose this year but nothing to Roelly Winklar wow...

-Primal

[steve_d]

I know people have been talking about his gut, and posting pics of unrelaxed shots, etc. And yes, the pics would illustrate some weaknesses there. However, I don't think it's as drastically different from last year. That pic you saw of front lat spread 4 years in a row to me just showed he might have had a harder time keeping it controlled. As if he simply had a full belly. He's not engaging his abs as much in the shot, and it may or may not be because he could or could not. I've noticed shots of myself from morning to night that in the worst pose I would look like I went from tight and tiny to having a gut. I do think that it has been a natural progression towards the gut he had this year though - which for many bodybuilders is just the facts of life as you age. It was not as if he had it out of nowhere... He may be declining, but the key is that it is slow. Even if he can maintain for years, he'll be the guy to beat. I just don't see him improving anymore and its just a matter of time before someone overtakes him. He would be smart to try to maintain, rather than improve his size.

One thing I hate is when they show a rear back shot from the side angle and cirlce the bodybuilders gut. If you are doing the pose the way you're supposed to, almost everyone would show this as you are breathing in and out. Yeah, some are worse than others, but its not a flattering picture for anyone!

Roelly, yeah - he's got some good genetics, and some really bad ones. Even if he gets crazy lean he would have a hard time battling for those top spots.