The best-ever Mr. O?
Flex, Sept, 2005 by Peter McGough
"Instead of choosing a best-ever Mr. Olympia, maybe all one can do is reflect on 40 years of Olympia history and highlight those instances where the winner advanced the sport on that particular day. With that in mind, I would nominate the following.
Dorian Yates | 1993
When he first walked out onstage, someone cried, "You're a dinosaur, Yates" (it was a compliment). Given his stunning superiority, the judges saw no need to include him in a muscularity comparison, so Wayne DeMilia called out Yates, Flex Wheeler and Shawn Ray just for the audience. The Shadow was so far ahead of the field that Samir Bannout was prompted to say, "Yates was first, second and third."
Ronnie Coleman | 1999
In his first defense of the Mr. O title, Coleman exhibited size, condition and sinew-splitting fullness he lacked a year earlier. At 257 pounds, he was so separated that he looked like a walking anatomy chart. That being said, I still think he achieved his best-ever physique for the 2001 Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic."
I guess Peter knows when the sport has been advanced when he sees it.