Complete 1998 Mr Olympia - Ronnies first win - Updated with entire Show

[Shockwave]

 
IMHO and many others, his best showing.

[NarcissisticDeity]

IMHO and many others, his best showing.

 

yeah Ronnie's said on multiple occasions it was his best as have others , he looked outstanding and deserved to win however it was a very VERY close contest 

[Shockwave]

This is Ronnies routine. Best showing of his.

[Wiggs]

That gesture at 6:26 on part 1, changed the course of bodybuilding history.  The first time the thong was pulled up the ass to show ripped glutes, from then on making glutes a judged bodypart.

[jr]

That gesture at 6:26 on part 1, changed the course of bodybuilding history.  The first time the thong was pulled up the ass to show ripped glutes, from then on making glutes a judged bodypart.

It looked like Flex Wheeler was taking a stand against this.

[Wiggs]

It looked like Flex Wheeler was taking a stand against this.

lol...indeed.

[kiwiol]

According to Bobs, Nasser deserved to win that Olympia, lol

[Sherief Shalaby]

According to Bobs, Nasser deserved to win that Olympia, lol

not a joke, nasser was clearly the best in the 3 front poses!!.. ronnie was better than his only in the 2 back poses and the side chest pose!!.. the triceps was close.. it was close between both of them but flex really didnt deserve to come in 2nd!!.. nasser owned him in nearly all poses except the RDB!!..

[epic_alien]

maybe if flex had stopped staring at ronnie during the transition to each pose, and concentrated on what he needed to do things might have gone differently for him?

[Fatpanda]

not a joke, nasser was clearly the best in the 3 front poses!!.. ronnie was better than his only in the 2 back poses and the side chest pose!!.. the triceps was close.. it was close between both of them but flex really didnt deserve to come in 2nd!!.. nasser owned him in nearly all poses except the RDB!!..

x2

[NarcissisticDeity]

According to Bobs, Nasser deserved to win that Olympia, lol

hahahahaha funny stuff  poor Nasser tried to pose to the same music that Yates used the previous year 

[Shockwave]

Thoughts on this Olympia.
Nasser El No-back-y looked like an 8 time Mr O from the front, and an amateur NPC competitor from the back.
Obvious why he placed why he did, missing an entire back is just too incomplete of a BB.

Tossup between Ronnie and Flex, as much as I hate to say it I think if Flex concentrated on the show rather than mugging Ronnie and showing poor sportsmanship he mighta won.
With all his hype coming into the show it really was his to lose.

Overall Ronnie looked his best ever, gut under control, legs still in proportion with his calves as best they could be, shredded, almost Dorian Yates dry.
One of my 2 top physiques of all time. I dont know who would win in a 98 Ronnie vs 93 Dorian. Its a tossup I think Dorian would pull just from being more complete.
My .02

[Flexb]

Flex wasn't as conditioned as he should be and threw it away -- it was his for the taking and he missed it.

[Mr.1derful]

yeah Ronnie's said on multiple occasions it was his best as have others , he looked outstanding and deserved to win however it was a very VERY close contest 

You know, I think he did mention that once, or twice, or perhaps even three times.   

[NarcissisticDeity]

You know, I think he did mention that once, or twice, or perhaps even three times.   

He has among others

[Mr.1derful]

He has among others

Cue Huckster meltdown. lol

[Hulkster]

cue guy conspiracy and denial:

 

99 was better as everyone can see.

[NarcissisticDeity]

cue guy conspiracy and denial:

 




99 was better as everyone can see.

http://clips.team-andro.com/watch/6ec386cb64df22dff37b/Superstar-Seminar-Ronnie-Coleman-Phil-Heath-Dexter-Jackson

Heath , Alves and Ronnie all say his best is 1998


where is 1999?

Joe Weider - IFBB Co-Founder

"Many experts, including reigning Mr.Olympia, Jay Cutler, believe that at his best Ronnie has the greatest physique of all-time. When looking at pictures of Ronnie from the 1998 Mr.Olympia, I find it hard to argue with that."

where is 1999?

Raymond Cassar - Muscletime Editor and Photographer

"There is no one alive that can beat Ronnie Coleman when he is at his best - No One! (and his best for me was when he won the 2001 Arnold Classic)"

where is 1999?


Team Flex - http://www.flexonline.com/training/49

"We've said before that the 245 pounds or so physique with which [Ronnie Coleman] won the 2001 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic is the best ever - unbeatable."

where is 1999?

Tales from Columbus

2001 (2): Is Chris Cormier unlucky? Are Bob Cicherillo's threads so loud that he's being sponsored by a megaphone company? At the 2001 Arnold Classic, for the only time in its history, the reigning Mr. Olympia entered the contest. Not only that, but said Mr. Olympia, Ronnie Coleman, was in the best shape of his career, before or since. Now that is bad luck.


where is 1999?

Flex Magazine March 2008

2001 Then-reigning Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, in the shape of his life at 245 pounds, took this one, with Cormier gaining the second of his six consecutive runner-up positions.


where is 1999?

Q ] There are those who feel you were at your best when you competed lighter, which for you was in the low 270's, and those who say you were best in the 290's. Was there a particular look you presented that you preferred over the others?
dot

  Ronnie Coleman :    Number one. That one was incredible to me. It (Ronnie's first Olympia win in 1998) always will be and nothing will ever take the place of that one. Everything was just spot on for that show. I had to overcome so much to win that one too.

      I had guys in front of me who had beaten me for the last ten years or so. Nobody picked me to go in and win that show because I had gotten ninth the year before. I had to come with an incredible package and blow all the judges away and that's what I pretty much did.


where is 1999?

Flex Magazine August 2003


Jim Schmatltz on Ronnie chances of winning six Olympias in a row

if he repeats his 2001 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic form, he'll experience the joy of six.



where is 1999?


Shawn Perine Ironage Dec 11, 2004

As much as I love Haney and my IA champs, I think Ronnie circa '98 or at the 2001 Arnold is pretty much untouchable. Except by Dorian Yates 6 weeks out from the '93 O as photographed by our own KMH. Both men, on those specific occasions carried so much dry muscle mass in good proportion and with good lines that it's almost unfair to compare them to others.

where is 1999?

While I’m on record as saying that the best physique I ever saw was Ronnie’s at the 2001 Arnold, he was never drier or harder than Dorian. In fact now that – 14 years after it happened – I recently for the first time saw the video of Dorian posing before the 1993 Olympia I have cause to rethink. I’m now not sure that Ronnie at 245 pounds would beat Dorian at 269 pounds. At a bigger bodyweight I think Ronnie would look soft next to an in-shape rock-hard Dorian.

On the subject of conditioning, no-one did it better than Dorian. He achieved a hardness and dryness (without losing fullness) that nobody has ever matched. In the flesh he looked even harder than he did in photos. It was like a statue made of granite was standing in front of you.

where is 1999?


review of mr. olympia 1999, january 2000, page  90:

257 pounds, a good seven pounds heavier than last year and the clear winner, ALTHOUGH NOT AS BONE DRY OR AS ROCK HARD IN 98.


where is 1999?

Quote Peter McGough Flex Magazine Jan 2001

RONNIE COLEMAN : ( 264lbs As big as a house , but holding water. In '98 , he was shredded and bone dry at 250 pounds. Last year ( 1999 ) he was 257 pounds but NOT as sharp as '98. This year ( 2000 ) at 264 pounds , he's not as sharp as 99 , which would seem to say that Ronnie is better at a lighter weight .


where is 1999?

Peter McGough Flex Magazine August 2005

Personally, the best physique I ever saw onstage (there was a contender for best-ever that I saw offstage: those crazy photos of sock-footed Dorian Yates taken seven weeks before the 1993 Mr. Olympia) was Ronnie's at the 2001 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic. He was cut, full, trim in the waist and a monster (proving that when you're supersharp, you look superbig) at 244 pounds. Ronnie sporting that look would, in my opinion, be unbeatable and would make any criticisms as redundant as a chocolate squat rack.

where is 1999? and your response is a few guys on message boards who never went to the 1999 Olympia or in fact ANY of Ronnie's Olympias are wrong and you are right.  Grin

everyone doesn't see what you see , just like NO see's Dorian lost in 1993 to Flex

[Hulkster]

LOL ND thinks pages of verbal bullshit will somehow erase the video showing ronnie 99 LOL

 

he always meltsdown when reality proves his posts wrong, and they always do..

[FREAKgeek]

According to Bobs, Nasser deserved to win that Olympia, lol

he said that? what a joke.

[Shockwave]

LOL ND thinks pages of verbal bullshit will somehow erase the video showing ronnie 99 LOL

 

he always meltsdown when reality proves his posts wrong, and they always do..

You didn't prove shit wrong. Ronnie is way drier and in much better proportion in 98. His legs hadn't ballooned into overgrown turnips on toothpicks yet.

[alnassak]

maybe if flex had stopped staring at ronnie during the transition to each pose, and concentrated on what he needed to do things might have gone differently for him?

I agree with most of what you have said, however, If I were to judge it, I would go that way:-

1-Kevin
2-Ronnie
3-Nassir
4-Shawn
5-Chris
6-Flex


Kevin at the final looked waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than he did at the pre, So I think he should have won 

[Smanjh]

Damn, that's close. Coleman was harder, yet Levrone looked larger but puffy in comparison. So, Coleman get's the conditioning factor, and the rest is close.

[Sherief Shalaby]

I agree with most of what you have said, however, If I were to judge it, I would go that way:-

1-Kevin
2-Ronnie
3-Nassir
4-Shawn
5-Chris
6-Flex


Kevin at the final looked waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than he did at the pre, So I think he should have won 

do you think flex was that off to be 6th??.. i know flex is one of your all times favorites!!..

[alnassak]

do you think flex was that off to be 6th??.. i know flex is one of your all times favorites!!..

Yes he was and let me explain why:-

1-Obvious up use of synthol on his whole arms, shoulders & calves
2-The back lower body looked so smooth no gluts, no hams and fake calves.
3-He lost his well proportioned physique due to his heavy use of synthol on his arms making him appear narrow.
4-He posed and acted like a kid watching a stronger kid coming towards him to beat him up. 


By the way, it is true that flex is among my favorite top 6 bodybuilders of all time, but that was the flex of 92 -93 up to the last minute before he injected himself with synthol.