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Dexter Wins the 2008 Mr. Olympia |
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Written by The Roving Reporter
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Sunday, 28 September 2008 |
Dexter Won ...
Going into the 2008 Olympia, that is not the word combination any of us thought would have been uttered last night. We were expecting things like, "Oh, Jay won again." Or, any combination thereof, but hey, "Dexter won!"
Coming into the Olympia, all we heard was how Jay was 100% on. Even Bob Chicerillo claimed this is the best he has ever seen Jay. (Maybe Bob doesn't know much about bodybuilding as he used to.) Jay had a lot to live up to especially with last years controversial win. Going into this Olympia the reverberations of what occurred last year could still be felt.
Aside from Jay everyone was anticipating Dennis Wolf. Dennis placed To 6 last year, but he was never compared to Jay leaving most everyone with that dissatisfied feeling that had Dennis only been compared to the champ that maybe, just maybe things could have been different. As it was, Victor Martinez looked to be the best on stage but the nod went to Jay. To quote Jay from several years past, "Seems like all the Mr. Olympia has to do is show up and win." Jay showed up in 2007 and won.
In short, Dennis' appearance this year fell flat. There was considerable improvement but once compared to the rest of the field, it became obvious there were still some to be improved.
This was Phil Heath's first Olympia even though he has qualified three times. It was wise to take some time before stepping on stage and a fantastic feat to place third in his first showing. (In my opinion, he should have placed second.) But, Phil is still not Mr. Olympia material. He is too narrow in the clavicles but that will come in time.
Dexter won because Jay lost it. That left the field open and even though the other athletes looked phenomenal, not any of them carried that "I am Mr. Olympia, so they gave the Olympia title to the man with the least amount of flaws and rightfully so, Dexter has the least amount of flaws.
The IFBB judging was great this year with the exception of two things. One, Dennis Wolf should have been in the first call-outs and two; many of us thought Sylvio should have been in the Top 6. They can't always get it right but moving and mixing and pairing the athletes with their competition left no doubt who was the clear winner.
This was a very good Mr. Olympia and we definitely look forward to 2009. Dexter is 39 and at that age, it's very hard to make any more improvements. The young bucks like Phil and Dennis Wolf will be coming back stronger than ever and Victor Martinez will be fresh off the injured list. Throw Kai Green in the mix and we are in for one hell of Mr. Olympia competition.
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