2000 is when he started to decline....
he still was far ahead 03 04 05
but if i was a judge he would get penalised for that gut.... but then man others had it too....
bodybuilders just try to carry to much size.... at the cost of shape.... and lines
I guess 2000 was the start of his decline. His stomach was a bit bloated that year.
Nonetheless, I actually liked the way he looked in 2000. He was definitely not as cut as in 98/99, but he added some size that gave him even more "pop" than he had the previous year.
I would say the 2001 Olympia was actually the first sign Ronster was aging out. He was about the same size he was the previous year but holding more water and even smoother, which is why Jay was able to push him a little bit.
I thought he was done in 2002. I know you and I disagree about this, but I would've not only given the '02 Olympia to Gunter, I think Gunter definitely won that year's SOS. Ronnie had filled out a bunch for the SOS, but a fair amount of that gain went straight to his gut. That was the first time I remember seeing his posing trunks disappear between his obliques and hips. Meanwhile, Gunter was still in good shape. Prime Ronnie would've eaten Gunter for six meals a day, but 2002 was just not Ronnie's year. He/Chadwick did something at the last minute to seriously screw him up, because shots of Coleman leading up to that show were among the best he'd EVER looked. Huge all over, full, shredded ... I even remember Tom Prince sucking Ronnie's dick over those pics over at Mayhem Muscle, only to turn around and whine that "I couldn't believe it. Ronnie was busting my balls onstage" when supposedly "natural" Tom did the Ironman weighing over 270
God, Tom was such a prick then. I remember he said if anyone wanted to move into his apartment complex, he'd want them to visit him first and run through the compulsories (coughcoughcough SCHMOE coughcough). He also said he wanted to start a gym at which there'd literally be some stupid hole in the wall, and you could only train there if your arm didn't fit through it.
Stupid fucker. Danny Padilla would've never qualified, but he was ten times the bodybuilder Prince ever dreamed of.