2002 Mr Olympia Review: Gunter Schleirkamp Comments and Opinions by Various People

To add your comments, please email Ron at Ron@Getbig.com. Gunter should of won the show, or at LEAST got second. I always liked the guy, but tonight he FLOORED me. But Joe Amato was right -- the only person to walk away happy tonight besides Ronnie was Gunter. What a professional. It is bodybuilding and muscle mass is a big part of the equation. I agree some guys go too far, but where do you draw the line. Haidar was awesome, no question he should have been top 10. However, while Priest looked great Gunter "won" the show and stole the hearts of the crowd as we all know. Chic, Titus, Hadir and even Gunter pose decently with classic style. King entertains, and some just mass out and flex like Nasser, Ronnie and Markus. In the end it was an awesome Olympia and got me pumped to train. I was sitting in the section to the left and when Gunter came out on stage - I mean it was absolutely electric. The guy is massive and his conditioning was a real surprise. The crowd went absolutely nuts. He was really the only one out of all the guys the crowd really gave it up for (except Kamali's routine). The only thing Gunter needs help with is his posing - he has always been a little hesitant - not quite sure what to do - Charles will help him with that for next year I'm sure. Gunter was robbed. So was Priest! Coleman's waist was down but he was much smaller and looked flat. As well, Levrone did not deserve 2nd! It's about time they place Gunter up where he belongs. Finally, the judges see what the people have seen! Gunter placed 5th because he couldn't overcome the appallingly low scores he got in round one from 5 judges who marked him down according to what they had seen from him in the past, not the remarkable overall improvements he was showing them on stage. Obviously the problems with IFBB judging haven't been fixed and remain a festering scandal. If he had been judged accurately in round one he would have wound up in third place at least. Gunter was phenomenal. His physique looked like a larger Schwarzenegger to me. What a terrific personality, too. He's the real people's champion. Gunter looked crazy, his legs were insane, his conditioning was awesome, had healthy muscles, and nothing looked gross. All I can say is wow! Gunter does have some very gross looking veins on the inside of his right leg. It looks much worse in other poses, but that's not really a fault, though. and yes, he should've beaten Ronnie, damn it. I'm going out on a limb here, but I predict Gunter to finish no lower than 2nd place next year at the Olympia. He may very well take first IF he takes the whole year off again and brings up his shoulders and back further. Sounds crazy, I know, but it will happen. Overheard from the people who were backstage that the Weiders told Gunter that he will be crowned the next Mr. Olympia in 2003. Finally, words of wisdom that make sense! Gunter looked amazing at the show - huge & ripped. Next year - mark my words, Chad will bring in his waist, he will be in same or better condition & Charles will have ironed out any body imbalances No matter how Gunter looked, no matter how much he deserved to be a reigning Mr. Olympia, no one new will win the Mr. O; not even if they deserve it. I was really hoping that Gunter will be chosen because not only is his physique awesome - his size & condition are put together. He would make an incredible spokesperson for the Mr. Olympia title. I think a lot more mainstream people might become interested in the sport and it would mean more $$$ for the industry. Oh & before anyone says this is a race issue, it's not. Gunter just happens to look like he walked off a Hollywood Billboard - and that complete package will generate a sh*tload of interest all by itself. As for Gunter, I'm surprised you think he needs to bring up his shoulders. In my opinion, his shoulders are among the best in the business. His back could improve, though it is still pretty decent as it is, and waist could be trimmer, but quite frankly he out muscled Coleman comprehensively and had emphatically better conditioning to top it up. I like Ronnie, he seems like a nice person and has been a worthy champion in some of his Olympia wins but the man has been lucky for two years running now (some might say, three years, i.e. favoring Levrone in 2000). Just my opinion. The easiest way to trim the waist is to get a bigger shoulder to waist ratio. Therefore, Gunter will probably focus a lot on his shoulder the coming year, and next year win it all. No more judging not giving him a fair shake in the first round. Gunter looks awesome!! What an improvement. I think he is unstoppable now that he is on the right track. This is just the beginning for him!! Next year they won't be able to give it to anyone else as long as he keeps his waist down and his conditioning right!! He may walk on stage at 310 next year!! He will deserve the title more than anyone. I'm sorry, I watched the whole awesome thing. Ronnie did not look better than previous years. Gunter smoked him and everyone else in size and condition. Gunter made my night. He will get so much more publicity than Ronnie. It wont be funny. Gunter, this year, took the high road, and got the best people to work with him. Both Charles Glass, the best training, and Chad Nicholls, the best nutritionist. Way to go! Gunter was most definitely the crowd favorite this year. I do not remember a time when the crowd went that crazy, and actually gave him a standing ovation, yelling 'Gunter, Gunter'. From someone who started out from nowhere, this had to be the best day of his life. Gunter should have won. Hands down. Gunter was in 10th place after round 1, and 2 judges actually had him in FOURTEENTH PLACE in round 1. But Gunter kicked ass in round 3 and got 3rd. Gunter is the people's Mr. Olympia champion. I still cant believe it. He looked amazing, and the judges rewarded him for it. I'm so happy for Gunter that I had tears in my eyes. He is such a good guy, and I was glad to see the fans chanting his name in a standing ovation. Awesome is all I can say. Gunter was close to 300 pounds, and in great shape. Working with Glass and Nichols seems to have helped. Going in right direction. But in the first round, Gunter was a little off, a little nervous. Judges must of seen that to score him lower. The crowd went berserk when Gunter got 5th. He looked phenomenal and should have won, easy! They gave him a standing ovation. Ronnie wasn't even close to beating Gunter. Ripped off. Gunter's never looked like that. When they were announcing 2nd, the crowd's was STILL cheering "Gunter!" Gunter 5th. The judges are dreaming, Gunter looked very disappointed. The crowd was booing loudly. Gunter said a few words to the audience, like: "You made my day. More important than placing. Thank you very much." Later on, we hear Gunter saying "I had a dream as a teenager. For me, the dream came true tonight. You want something so bad and it happened. What a standing ovation. I almost broke down out there. I worked with Chad Nichols. With Charles Glass. I thought, maybe they can push me even harder." He concluded with, "Can't overlook my size. Judges looked at me this time." Gunter Schlierkamp - Biggest guy in the show, but then he is 6'2". Conditioning was strong, but could use some mass in select areas to improve his proportion. As far as him beating Coleman, his back doesn't have the detail of anyone else in the top 6, and even though he may be bigger than Coleman overall, Coleman is proportionately bigger. Coleman even has bigger quads, and that's Gunter's strong point. Gunter's biggest weak point though is his structure, in particular his wide waist, but in my opinion, he should have placed 2nd. Gunter has bodily structural issues. He's just HUGE. That's it. If you watched the tapes, his body does nothing. Nothing pops. What he is - is a nice guy with a kilowatt smile. Everybody likes Gunter, his personality is way better than 95% of the guys on the stage. Yes. The audience went crazy for him. Besides Ronnie he was the only athlete to speak at the podium after his placing was announced. He told the crowd that their cheers meant more to him than his placing. He smiled the whole time. The booing over his fifth place finish was louder than when Arnold won the '80 Olympia. The crowd wouldn't sit down or be quiet till he went up to the podium and made a quick speech. As the crowd left the auditorium, in the hallways some people were still saying "Gunter, Gunter, Gunter" It was a trip - but he definitely deserved the accolades I was wondering how Gunter scored so low in the first round. He looked great standing around and posing. Just shows you that reputations do count. By time the night show arrived everyone realized that Gunter deserved to place high or even win the show. But because of the judging rounds was unable to do that. That really is a pity in bodybuilding contests when reigning champions have to be clearly inferior before losing their titles. Gunter deserving to place in the top 3 is bit surprising. Here is the guy who got screwed on more than his share of occasions, all of a sudden starts getting gifts. I mean, in top shape he could be top 10 material, but top 6 is pushing it. The guy is huge and comes in conditioned, but he has some serious flaws - no hamstrings, NO CALVES - at the same time his quads are enormous. He is very wide-waisted, looks blocky in some poses (ab-thigh). Has big biceps, but weak triceps, that makes his arms appear somewhat lagging behind his torso, like in front double bi. I am by no means putting him down, he is great bodybuilder, but NO way he should ever beat someone like Marcus Ruhl or Lee Priest - guys who are simply better structured than him. I always though that he was shafted in ALL his previous competitions, including last years, but overcompensating for that doesn't mean others should get shafted. Gunter was a highlight of the whole show! He was so impressive he could of won the whole thing! And what were his odds - about 100 to 1. I know Gunter for many years and I seen so many times that judges somehow overlook him every single time! He is quite tall and quite big, so how can they do it? Usually he is in excellent condition too. Just to give you example check him out in Olympia 2000, when he placed 12th out of 13 guys!? He was in excellent condition even there. Similar to Jay Cutler at 1999 Olympia where he placed 15th and looked great! Gunter placed 8th after prejudging, a single point ahead of ninth place Markus Ruhl. Under the circumstances he could of AGAIN place out of top 10 and receive NOTHING for his brilliant performance (to add on the subject I argued at the press conference). Gunter's example proves something that I was complaining for years! JUDGES DO NOT COMPARE ENOUGH! Usually top guys have luxury to be compared between each other and some outsider has NO CHANCE to stand next to them! Why was Gunter NEVER compared with other top six finishers during prejudging? He was not good enough? He got second and third place votes of numerous judges in forth round! So NOW when he could not be denied as he was standing there (he made the top six) judges realized that he is better than people they thought he is not worth being compared to! Trust me so many of us (pro bodybuilders) are so disgusted about that. We do not ask for much, just let us fight and if we loose it would be much easier to handle than if we do not even get a chance. What would a boxer think if he gets prepared for the big match and just before the fight judges told him that he would loose anyway, so they are not even giving him a chance to fight! Personally I was third place finisher in more than one show with perfect third place score (I received 3rd place in every single round from every single judge) and had NO CHANCE to be compared to first two during the prejudging during a contest once. Or better yet, I finished 14th at 1994 Mr. Olympia and than week later in 4 consecutive shows in Europe I manage to beat top 5 finisher at the O every single time, in front of 4 different judging panels. Needless to say I was never given the opportunity to even stand next to that guy during the Olympia. If I did maybe I could of convince some of the judges what I certainly did in four different countries in Europe! (Milos Sarcev). You hit the nail on the head Milos. Why the hell wasn't Gunter given a chance to stand next to Ronnie in the pre judging. Not taking anything away from Ronnie but at the end of the prejudging and at the night show when Gunter got next to Ronni it was clear that Gunter could have and probably should have taken the whole show. The audience reaction to Gunter's placing was evidence to the fact that he got screwed. By the way your boy DJ looked great and deserved better. How is it that Orville Burke who can not even hit one of the mandatory poses (ie ab & thigh) can beat DJ who was full and shredded and able to nail every pose? He looked amazing. Could have been second easy. The crowd was booing like crazy. Prejudging always makes a difference, but I tell you the guy ruled the stage tonight. Like you said - the crowd kept chanting "Gunter, Gunter, Gunter" even in the hallways of the event center - what a trip. I also thought the crowd might start throwing shit at the stage, so people were so pissed when he only got 5th. But let me say that Gunter is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet in the bodybuilding industry. He & his wife Carmen are so down to earth. I almost think he's too nice for this business. He has made so many improvements in his physique - mark my words, now that he is working with Charles (Glass) & Chad (Nicholls), he will continue to be a threat in the Olympia contest He brought his chest up and his waist and legs down. His proportions were excellent, not like in the past when he looked like an upside down tuning fork. Good for him. I think Gunter's biggest drawback is his posing / presentation. He doesn't seem to have great control of his pecs when hitting the double bi, making them look droopy. I've noticed this in several of his poses. But his smile and the joy he projects does pretty much make up for it. Otherwise he's close to being the new king of the hill. Gunter's triceps are still a little weak, but we hear Charles Glass has announced they are priority #1 for the next year. Judging on what Glass did for Gunter's chest, back, and delts (last year's priorities), watch out for the tri's! Maybe a triceps are a little weak, but I think the problem is that Gunter's biceps are so huge that it overpowers his triceps. He was head and shoulders above the field literally. Ronnie looked like he did in 1996, big but soft looking, with no abs or arms and his back has shrunk. Gunter destroyed him easily, just watch the video seriously. I will admit that Gunter looked incredible, but that was at the night show. I was at pre-judging as well and honestly I had him barely breaking the top 10. If he had looked the same at pre as he did at the finals, then I agree he should have been the champion. Of course you need to hit both times. It was pretty amazing looking around the audience and seeing the fans that were clearly not at the morning show, because all that were agreed with the placing that he received. Why wasn't Gunter compared to the other top ten guys in the prejudging. I've never seen someone in any contest place so high after being overlooked during the prejudging. The judges had to be influenced by the crowd's reaction. The posing round doesn't make that much of a difference. I am the only one that realizes this? I respect Gunter, but watching from the audience, Gunter just did not have it in Round 1. I had him in 8th place. Of course, round 2 came and he looked better. And in the night show, wham, what a difference. What the hell did he eat for his afternoon snack? Gunter was awesome, and should of placed higher, but, but the rounds system of scoring sucks big time and is the cause of so many misplacings. I have judged contests for over 30 years and I have never seen the IFBB system as suitable for contests. I have set up judging criteria for an organization in Australia and after a couple of years became dismayed at how difficult it was to find competent, unbiased judges. Our community is relatively small. Can anyone say that the best bodybuilding judges in the world were at the Olympia? I wonder. Unless you get independent thinkers there you are never going to get fair results. Yes, they had more judges this year but did silly things. Why subtract the top three and bottom three placings for each competitor? Why exclude one judge in each round? Well, you have to have an odd number of judges in case of a tie. If the judges are doing their job there is no reason whatsoever to not use any judge's score. If they do away with the nonsense of judging at the show then it is possible to publish the results when the placings are announced. All competitors and spectators can go home with the full results of individual judge's scoring. It should be a simple matter to detect errant judges. However, I can't see why varying from a consensus is a bad thing. It could be that another judging panel might agree with the *errant* judge. We must never expect the judges to all agree about placings. In a few words, the whole judging system has to be revamped. Nothing short of this is going to work. A better system of judging evolved in London with NABBA. Of course Ben, the IFBB life president, didn't want to copy anyone else. Ben is not a bodybuilder and he didn't adopt a system that is going to guarantee selecting the best bodybuilders. In the recent Olympia it was obvious to the audience that one man stood out and looked the best. He was huge and ripped. Qualities that impress audiences. So the audience favorite got a standing ovation. When is the last time we saw an audience that excited? And the thing is the audience isn't just a bunch of local Las Vegas schmucks but consists mostly of bodybuilding fans who are knowledgeable. I can't say who deserved to win because I wasn't at the judging. I can look at the photos and make a few comments, but sometimes photos make some look better or worse than they really are. However, when it is all said and done all we have is a video and photos from contests and the winner had better look the part. It is also obvious that *star* qualities have served winners well. How many of the last 3 Mr. Olympias has a poor back? In fact the back appears to make or break everyone. Kevin looks amazing just standing around. So did Paul Dillett. But the guys who looked fantastic from the rear got the nod. I tend to favor who looks best from the front. Lee Priest gets overlooked and he has a good all-round physique and was in great condition. The audience isn't judging the contest. Well, believe it or not, but Paul Graham in Australia ran Mr. Austalia contest and tried to fix the result and when he couldn't do it and it appeared the judges tied (They didn't but Paul wouldn't accept the result) he asked for audience applause. When that didn't favor the lad from Western Australia he decided to get all the bodybuilders to judge the contest. That truly was the most disgraceful bodybuilding experience I have ever seen. It just shows what can happen when promoters get involved with the judging process. No, Bill Robertson from WA didn't win. Ted Matush from Sydney won. I told Ted after that he actually won the contest 5 times!