Getbig2001 Olympia
Review & Reports

2001 Mr Olympia Review / Reactions
by Misc. Readers

  1. From Mr. Marquett.

    Just visited your site and read King Kamali's note regarding the Mr. Olympia -- given that I was the one Titus was yelling at I felt compelled to send you an email about my Mr. Olympia weekend experience.

    I flew out to the Mr. O a few days early so that I could take in the sites and be there for the press conference.  Once arriving at the press conference I was glad to see that the arena had changed -- the setup was done in a fashion that presented no bad seats for the fans/press.

    As Kamali stated, the shit hit the fan from the first question to the last.  Each of the competitors looked very confident and well dressed -- wearing suits that fit does away with the muscle head stereotype.  Long story short, the session was very entertaining and the fans were screaming for more.  Should be interesting to see if Wayne has the judges at next years press conference as promised.

    The meet VIP events were great!  Cocktail party, Meet the Olympians, VIP dinner...  The IFBB really out did themselves this year!

    Now to the prejudging...  While sitting in the front row I cheered on the East coast bodybuilders (Kevin, King, Dexter...) -- I am from the East coast and wanted to show some support.  Most of the competitors were in great shape and came to win.

    During one of the call outs with Kamali and Titus, I cheered on Kamali and Titus yelled back "...he has no arms..." I continued to cheer on the King -- Titus rolled his eyes at me and got back in line after posing.  Several callouts later, King and Titus were up compared again...  I cheered on Kamali and Titus shot me a dirty look.  I continued to cheer on Kamali and Titus made his kissing Kamali's ass comment.  Needless to say, the rest of the front row VIPer's were shocked and amused that I could stir up Titus just by cheering on Kamali.  I stuck to my guns and cheered on Kamali -- no need in pissing off Titus by yelling out ugly comments about his lack of a chest or overall conditioning.

    Then came the night show!  I thought that the new format of not having a MC was great!!!  Wayne provided us with a back stage shot of the competitors before they came on stage and then as the appeared from behind the curtains.  IT WAS AWESOME!  Having been to 10+ Mr. Olympia contests many of the routines were as expected with a few exceptions (i.e., Melvin, Chris, Dexter, Kevin...).  Kamali walked out and was hit with boo's -- as he hit center stage he seemed to know that he would turn the boo's to cheers.  Well, he rocked the house and walked off to cheers 7 plus minutes later -- he put on a posing clinic.

    As the top 10 finishers were called out you could cut the tension in the air with a knife.  After the usual suspects were called out it got interested -- Titus' face said it all when he was left in line and King was called out for the top 10.  Long story short, I thought that we had a new Mr. Olympia, Jay Cutler.  Guess that I was wrong. 

    The VIP banquet was great -- good food, great format for meeting and taking pictures with the competitors.  I strongly encourage all Mr. O weekend attendee's to buy the VIP package at least once -- it is a great experience!


  2. From Kevin Levrone's website...

    An incredibly conditioned Kevin Levrone left the crowd at the 2001 Mr. Olympia in tears following his heart-felt posing routine to the music of Enrique Iglesias's Hero, which he dedicated to the victims and heroes of the World Trade Center disaster. Kevin wound up in 3rd place and showed true grace in accepting his placing, acknowledging the superiority on this day shown by Jason Cutler, who placed ahead of Kevin in 2nd. But the real story is how close Cutler came to unseating Ronnie Coleman as Mr. Olympia. When the final tally was calculated, Cutler fell just 4 points short of unseating Ronnie Coleman, who like last year, was not at his best. The fans, though, were solidly behind Cutler, and relentlessly shouted his name throughout the show. When the final decision was announced, there was tremendous booing in the auditorium.


  3. From Dennis James' wesbite

    Well the Olympia's come and gone for another year, and my 7th place this time round was much better than last year, but I'm still not to happy about the placing since this time I went for condition instead of the fullness I'm known for but even coming in a bit flatter than usual, I've getting good feedback and alot of people out the industry saying I deserved no less than 4th, but that's life and I guess I will have to wait till next year. Well right now I got my mind set on the British Grand Prix in Manchester today (Sunday Nov. 4th).

    Hopefully I can repeat an upset like I did in Hungary earlier this year. I've also decided to do the Arnold Classic 2002 since I will be one of the favorites to win the show coming up in February. Also, my video is released and I must say that this must be without a doubt one of the best videos out there since it's very informative everything you ever want to know about Dennis James. At the expo the video sold like there was no tomorrow but don't worry you can order either through my site or go straight to Mitsuru Okabe's MOCVideo.Com. I would also take this opportunity to thank all my fans for the support you gave me with all the e-mails and signing my guestbook thank you, thank you, thank you without y'all I wouldn't be where I'm at right now you guys keep me going. Take care and God Bless. Dennis "The Menace" James


  4. From Melvin Anthony's wesbite

    Melvin showed off his future Mr. Olympia potential at the 2001 Mr. Olympia by giving guys like Shawn Ray a run for their money, before being dropping into the 11th place slot. Melvin, in his all-time best condition, earned call-outs with such top IFBB Pros as Shawn Ray (4th), Orville Burke (6th), and Dennis James (7th), and held his own against all of them. He also defeated several top bodybuilders including Craig Titus, Vince Taylor, Markus Ruhl, Darrem Charles, and Tom Prince. With the best shoulder-waist ratio in the show, Melvin wowed the crowd with a fantastic posing routine and a dazzling and symmetrical physique. In all fairness to his competitors, he could easily have placed as high as 8th place in this show. But Melvin won't be complaining -- he will be training hard for the 2002 Night of Champions. He thanks you for your support and looks forward to seeing you there.



    Misc. comments From various boards.

  5. As for the Olympia, Jay is a real bad ass! He doesn't need anybody. He doesn't talk crap that he can't back up like that King Kamali. It was a rigged contest or Ronnie would not have won!

  6. Rumor has it that Ronnie is going to retire now! Anyone think that's gonna happen? If so, Cutler takes it next year?

  7. Cutler is AWESOME! He is a definite candidate for the next Mr. Olympia throne, The guy isn't even 30 years old, but he is beating guys who have been in the game for 10 or more years than him! Real nice and down to earth guy too, I hope he goes all the way. I also admire Shawn Ray for his determination in not selling out to the bigger crowd.

  8. I was at the Mr. O and it was unbelievable! Ronnie came right out into the crowd in the posedown and I shook his hand. Cutler was looking awesome . He may have been looking better than Ronnie but to beat the champ, you got to knock him out . I didn't like Kamali because of all his trash talk but after seeing his routine I am now a fan. I can't believe Markus Ruhl didn't make the top ten! I don't know what his final placing was. He did everything that was asked of him. He looked the best he ever has. He came in at about nine pounds lighter than last year.

  9. I thought that Jay Cutler was bigger and more shredded than Coleman was. I'm glad that he did well and placed second, but I think that he was good enough for first place.

  10. I thought Cutler was fantastic. Personally I think it should have went to Cutler! Levrone should of been second, and Ronnie Coleman in third. He looked soft, but its hard to beat the reigning Mr. O.

  11. I dont know anything about judging but....he was the clear winner after the first 2 rounds..lost the last 2....but based on what? Joe Weider didn`t want him to win so he had a word with the judges? If that was the case and legal action were taken... maybe a judge could come out and say that he/she was "persuaded" that Ronnie wins... or am I letting my imagination get carried away?

  12. Regarding Kevin Levrone: He had to catch up on IFBB fee and fines, but was that fair to the other guys who signed contracts to be there well in advance? Heck no. You don't think Kevin was training for the show all along? He just wanted the last minute opportunity to change his mind. As an IFBB pro you find that if you sign a contract to compete and do not, you are fined and possibly suspended for a period of time. This is common knowledge. So what makes Levrone above everyone else and give him the opportunity to look in a mirror a week out and say "okay I look good I will go do the show now"?

    How would you like it if as a promoter you were putting on a pro show (say the Arnold for the hell of it) and you had no idea which athletes were going to show up to pay their fines and compete until the day before the show? How would you feel as a fan who traveled to see the show if no one showed? I think he should NOT have been allowed to compete. This has set others up to take the same approach to contest participation, and when other IFBB pros are not allowed that same option the unfairness will really be seen.

  13. Regarding Kevin Levrone: Kevin did have to pay a $25,000 fine for not paying his pro card dues and etc. I think that more then compensated for his lack of paying for them on time. If other pros choose to do the same thing Kevin did, then they will be paying fines also. It's as simple as that. Kevin was qualified for the show, trained hard for it, paid the huge fine and competed.

  14. Regarding Kevin Levrone: There was a power struggle between the IFBB, the promoter Wayne DeMilia, and the Weider Group over Kevin Levrone. This was an arguement that was fought for 2 weeks with first the IFBB saying no way, and later relenting. The IFBB felt Kevin was pulling a fast one, but of course Kevin is a Weider athlete and their argument was him being a fan favorite and the backlash it would cause in "Print" if Kevin were kept out. So the decision was made to lay the largest fine to date on him, which of course was paid by the Weider organization. Was it right letting him compete? I don't know. I just wish he would have done a little more leg work, they were the weakest I've ever seen his legs look.

  15. Regarding Kevin Levrone: It may not set a good precedent for all bodybuilders not to sign their contracts on time. But I doubt Kevin failed to sign them late on purpose! But my point was that, he paid a HUGE fine! $25,000. The IFBB said they would impose the largest fine ever in this sport of $25,000! With that all being said, he paid the price and was still allowed to compete. I think that was fair! You think if Coleman didnt sign the contract, they'd not allow him to compete either? How are they going to advertise for a Mr. O contest when the reigning Mr. O isnt allowed to compete cause he forgot to sign a form? Granted a lot of people might not want Coleman to compete, or be excited a new Mr. O would be crowed, but my point is, Kevin and all the top guys are the reason us fans go to see the show. Put youself in his shoes. Train so hard, diet, pay all the money it costs to get ready for a show, and not be allowed because of a technicality. My whole point was that Kevin "didnt follow the rules" and was fined big time! If you think he shouldn't have been allowed to compete, its your opinion but I think your wrong!