“I’m actually happy right now,” Cutler said with a smile as he congratulated Heath on the win.

Overcome with emotion, Heath reveled in being congratulated by the other nine finalists and then brought up a story when he first met Cutler backstage at a local bodybuilding show. “I was playing college basketball back then…all scrawny and I saw (Cutler) walk by and I thought to myself, ‘That’s one big dude,’” recalled Heath.

Heath becomes the 13th man to win the Sandow and prevented Cutler from joining an elite group with five or more titles (Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ron Coleman).

Rounding out the top 10 were Kai Greene, Victor Martinez, Dennis Wolf, Dexter Jackson, Toney Freeman, Brandon Curry, Ronny Rockel and Hidetada Yamagishi.

Nicole Wilkins reclaimed the Figure Olympia title she lost to Erin Stern in 2010, with Stern taking the runner-up spot and Ava Cowan placing third.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – MEN’S OPEN

The announcement of his name at the end of the show was still nearly three hours away, but Cutler appeared cool and confident each time he came under the bright lights. He certainly had a few things to worry about, especially from someone so close to him.

“Phil Heath is my best friend in bodybuilding,” said Cutler, “and he’s starting to catch up to me.”

The man known as The Gift sure is and took the runner-up spot behind his confidant and mentor. Branch Warren, who finished second last year, placed third. Dexter Jackson may have seen his best days already, but The Blade proved that he has plenty left in the tank, placing fourth.

The next two were very interesting. Dennis Wolf completed a shocking comeback by finishing fifth after not even placing in 2009. A beaming Wolf said upon his exit from the arena, “It was good for me.” And Ronny Rockell, who has been coming closer and closer each time, joined the top six for the first time. Kai Greene was lucky to take seventh with his roundness and Victor Martinez – who was in danger of dropping out of the top 10 after pre-judging – came in harder at the Finals and placed eighth. Both were unpopular decisions with the crowd, but were the right ones, nonetheless. Rounding out the top 10 were Toney Freeman and Hidetada Yamagishi.

In the 202 Showdown, Kevin English and David Henry took their rivalry to a new level. Henry appeared to have better definition but English had him in size. These two men just do not like each another and displayed as much on the side of the stage by not even acknowledging the other as they stood side-by-side waiting for the official announcement. It was apparent by his reaction that Henry was greatly disappointed. Eduardo Correa finished in third, Jose Raymond fourth, Jason Arntz fifth and Jaroslav Horvath sixth.

In the Figure Olympia, Nicole Wilkins Lee was unable to repeat as champion and Erin Stern took home the crown.

***We hate to brag, but we nailed the top six dead on after prejudging. Too bad Vegas doesn’t have a sports book for the O.

Photo by Francesco Pillari.

A super version of the blood booster EPO has become the latest rage in the cycling world, with a third person that participated in July’s Tour de France testing positive for the banned substance CERA. The latest is Italy’s Leonardo Piepoli, who had two positive tests.

Stefan Schumacher (Germany) and Riccardo Ricco (Italy) were previously suspended for using the new and stronger version of EPO, which has a longer lasting effect without repeated dosing.

Having to only use the drug on a monthly basis, CERA has a much larger window than EPO, which needs to be injected days and sometimes hours before the activity that is to be enhanced.