THIS IS A MUSCLE SPORT MAG EXCLUSIVE – After a year of speculation, Ronnie Coleman has decided not to compete in the 2010 Mr. Olympia. In an e-mail sent to our publication, the 8-time Sandow winner plainly stated, “I’m definitely not doing the Olympia.”

It was last June that Coleman first announced live on MuscleSport Radio that he was making his comeback and training for the Olympia and the story was the talk of the bodybuilding industry. When the man who is tied for the most Sandows in the history of the sport speaks of donning the posing trunks again, that is to be expected.

Now after having some time to think it over, “The King” has decided that the time was not right for him to join the ranks in Las Vegas this September.

The obvious question now is – will Coleman retire from bodybuilding? That remains to be seen, but speculation would seem to lead us in that direction. He did seem to be coming along as far as preparation goes with a recent guest posing appearance in Israel on July 2, but what happened between then and now apparently was the deciding factor for Coleman.

It would take a psychology degree online to figure out what is going on in Coleman’s head. Maybe, after so many dedicated years, he has other interests. Training for the Olympia forces one to exclude all other pursuits.

At 46, this would seem to have been the one last gasp for the Arlington, Texas resident. The last time Coleman was on stage was back at the 2007 Olympia, where he finished fourth. To have been away that long from the pain and rigor of dieting and prepping for a contest is tough enough, but to add any more time to that may just spell the end of what was one of the greatest careers in bodybuilding history.

Coleman is known for playing it in his favor and has used all the comeback speculation to his advantage. He still will not officially announce his retirement. In a follow-up with MuscleSport Mag, Coleman wrote, “That’s not safe to say. I’m not retired yet,” in response to us asking him.

So it starts all over again. Because Coleman has been looking in better condition during guest posing appearances of late, he has kept that air of doubt hanging over the bodybuilding world. His latest came on August 29 in Poland where ‘The King’ appeared to be in his best shape in quite some time, thus giving the impression that he would be back on stage sooner than later.

Maybe next time.

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