Mr. Olympia
September 24-27
The Men
10/9/09-- Never before has a male competitor been able to take back the title of Mr. Olympia after losing it to another athlete. That makes Jay Cutler’s win at this year’s Mr. Olympia truly historical, as he reclaimed the reigning title from Dexter Jackson. Jackson beat out Cutler last year, breaking his two year winning streak. But having a title to fight back for seemed to bring out the best in Cutler, and he walked out on this year’s stage in finest shape of his life.
Branch Warren took second place, sending 2008 Mr. Olympia Dexter Jackson into third. Warren’s placement was unexpected by some because he had not competed in the Olympia for the past two years, but was definitely not a surprise to those who witnessed his win in the 2007 New York Pro, his third-place slot earlier at this year’s Arnold Classic, and his incredible physical condition on the eve of 2009’s Olympia. Like Cutler, Warren was in top form, possibly the best in his career.
As for Dexter Jackson, industry consensus is that he was in great shape and looked good, but had not made any major changes since last year’s competition. He was simply bested by two contestants who seemed hungrier for the win.
Coming in after Dexter, in 4th place, was Kai Greene, whose creative posedown style made for an audience favorite. Rounding out the top ten was Phil Heath (the youngest competitor at twenty-nine), Victor Martinez, Ronny Rockel (up from 14th place last year), Toney Freeman, Hidetada Yamagishi and Moe Elmoussawi.
The Women
In the women’s competition, Iris Kyle won the title of 2009 Ms. Olympia, making this her fifth year as Ms. Olympia. Like Jay Cutler, she lost the title for one year (in 2005), and was able to win it back the next. Iris has been competing since she first appeared at the Long Beach Muscle Classic of 1994 and recently made an appearance as a guest on the popular summer television hit WipeOut.
Placing in second was Heather Armbrust, who took second place in 2008 as well. Debi Laszewski took third place, bumping Dr. Lisa Auckland (who holds a doctorate in pharmacy and can benchpress 275 pounds) from this position to fourth.
Also in the Ms. top ten were Yaxeni Origuen-Garcia, Betty Pariso, Kristy Hawkins, Davana Cadeau, Betty Viana-Adkins and Tina Chandler.
The Event
This is definitely the event for bodybuilding fans. Olympia 2009 included all the fan favorites along with new ones, like the American’s Strongest Man® competition, won by Andy Vincent.
The Expo was packed and featured venerated supplement companies like MuscleTech, Optimum Nutrition and MHP. There were special appearances by bodybuilding heroes and fans alike, including Hulk Hogan.
MuscleDog is proud to have been part of this year’s show, and a special thank you to all the MuscleDog fans that made it out. Don’t forget to tell us your Olympia stories here! For those of you who didn’t go, you can count on MuscleDog to keep you in the know.