“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 Texas native returned home and was scheduled for surgery at Baylor Hospital. He should recover and back on stage in 2012.

This comes as a shock as Warren was one of the few expected to give defending champion Jay Cutler a run for his money. Warren stood in the winner’s circle in March at the prestigious Arnold Classic and has placed third and second, respectively, at the last two Olympias.

Source: http://forums.musculardevelopment.com/showthread.php/115257-Branch-Warren-OUT-OF-OLYMPIA-with-torn-quad-tendon.-Will-recover-to-defend-Arnold-title-in-2012

“My appetite was nothing,” Kyle said backstage afterwards. “I was eating probably (only) like two or three times a day. My training, I had to scale back a lot. Normally I’m obsessed with training  and was doing only two or three hours in the gym as opposed to four or five hours. It really played tricks on me.”

It was apparent during the pre-judging that Kyle was having difficulty but that didn’t hurt her with the judges. She did not lose any muscularity even with the issues she had to endure, although she did admit that she dropped some weight by not being able to take in as many calories as she usually does.

“I was second guessing myself…I’m not as full, not as tight, but overall the package was winning.”

Once again, Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia finished as the runner-up and appeared drier in the evening compared to the afternoon pre-judging. But that wasn’t enough for her to make up the ground she had lost, finishing 10 points behind Kyle.

A mild surprise with Alina Popa finishing third. The native of Switzerland did very well for herself by squeaking by Debi Laszewski, 34 points to 36. She also brings a more streamlined and symmetrical look that the sport needs to get back to and Kyle surprisingly agrees that this may be a sign of things to come.

“It has a lot to do with your shape and physique,” she said. “The X-factor is most important, not just muscle but condition. Some of the other ladies had better shapes. I think that’s the way it should always go. I was never into big size. I was more into condition and the X-factor.”

Betty Viana-Adkins and Cathy LeFrancois rounded out the top six. The rest of the line-up finished as follows: Jeannie Paparone (7), Tina Chandler (8), Dayana Cadeau (9), Maria Rita Bello (10), Maria Segura (11), Antoinette Thompson (12) and Sarah Hayes (13).

FITNESS INTERNATIONAL

“Chica’ does it again in the fitness category and more familiar names followed. Adela Garcia has become the standard in this division and Tanji Johnson (second) has made some great strides in closing the gap. Trish Warren was beaming backstage with her third place finish and heard her husband Branch cheering her on from the audience.

“I did,” she said with a smile. “I’m really happy with third place. I didn’t want to fall down from the Olympia. I knew that Tanji and Adela were going to come in strong. You have to knock out the champion to win and I’m happy and honored to be here.”

FIGURE INTERNATIONAL

Nicole Wilkins won another here in Columbus and was looking much better than her runner-up, Erin Stern. This sets up an interesting Olympia, where Stern bested Wilkins in 2010.

Ava Cowan took third and looked outstanding, as did Felicia Romero (fourth). Cheryl Brown and Courtney West placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

If the call-outs are any indication, it will be English and Henry standing together again waiting for the official announcement tonight at The Orleans Arena to see who will take the 202. Jose Raymond and Eduardo Correa also came to play and that should be your top four. Jason Arntz showed some true emotion when he was named in the initial call-out and came here dry as the Sahara desert. Tricky Jacskon and Roc Shabazz will also be in the mix for the top six.

OLYMPIA 202 SHOWDOWN COMPETITORS

1 – Ahmad Ahmad

2 – Jason Arntz

3 – Eduardo Correa

4 – Kevin English

5 – Daryl Gee

6 – David Henry

7 – Jaroslav Horvath

8 – Ricky “Tricky” Jckson

9 – Stan McQuay

10- Luc Molines

11 – Steve Namat

12 – Bola Ojex

13 – Jose Raymond

14 – Roc Shabazz

15 – Mike Valentino

Speaking of the defending champion, Cutler looks amazing. He should be able to retain the Sandow. Kai Greene was all covered up in his infamous hoodie, so we will have to wait and see until tomorrow. The majority of the pros were wearing a tight t-shirt or sleeveless shirt, so you can get a glimpse of what’s to come.

Phil Heath, Branch Warren and Victor Martinez looked good, but Dennis Wolf appears off again. Anything can change between now and then, but he still has that bloated look that has been his downfall of late.

In the 202, Kevin English looks amazing and will once again take that award back to Long Island. With the women, don’t take your eyes off Debi Lazewski. She sounded totally confident and looked sharp.

Here’s a few video clips and interviews to kick things off. It’s getting late and I’ve been up for over 22 hours between traveling and working. I’ve been in Las Vegas since the afternoon and I haven’t lost a dollar yet. I haven’t won anything, either. Time to go downstairs to the roulette wheel and change that…

;

We all know what happened, with Cutler besting Branch Warren to reclaim what was once his. Jackson fell to third, with Greene and Heath following. Wolf did not even place and has been quiet of late. With such unexpected results then, who knows what is going to occur this time?

The men who have qualified so far are Cutler, Jackson, Warren, Greene, Heath, Wolf, Melvin Anthony, Erik Frankhouser, Toney Freeman, Marcus Haley, Victor Martinez, Evengy Mishin, Robert Piotrkowicz, Craig Richardson, Ronny Rockel, Roelly Winklaar and Hidetada Yamagishi.

People are very curious about Winklaar, who has been very impressive so far in his rookie professional campaign. He has not officially announced if he will in fact compete a the Olympia. Greene, who took his second consecutive Arnold in March (albeit a controversial decision as far as this writer is concerned), is looking to add his names to the list of bodybuilding greatness by capturing a Sandow.

Cutler is still the favorite going in until proven otherwise and he can assure himself of another victory even by coming in the same as he did last year. It will be hard to beat him if he does but because it is so wide open after that, anyone can jump into the top six and possibly do some damage. But if Cutler comes in a bit off – which is possible for anyone – then a guy like Heath (who deserved this year’s Arnold) can jump up.

There is always a wildcard once we reach Olympia weekend. Looking for one this year? Keep your eye on Rockel, who looked to be in superb condition at the Arnold Classic. If he an add some size and not lose any of his symmetry, he may just be the one we are talking about.

At 5’6″ and 226 pounds, Rockel came into the Arnold looking to be in excellent condition and stood well against some steep competition. When you have a line-up that included the defending champion Kai Greene, Phil Heath, Branch Warren, Dexter Jackson and Toney Freeman, breaking into that circle of consistent top six men was an accomplishment in itself.

The last time that Rockel stood in the winner’s circle came at the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. For him to do that again, he may have to compete in some of the smaller shows such as the Europa, New York Pro and Atlantic City Pro. But there will come a time when Rockel’s proportioned physique will be recognized in the more prestigious shows and not just in the top 10 or six.

Kai Greene came into the show as the defending champion and favorite, but was actually trailing Phil Heath, 10-7. Both men looked good enough to win, but Heath’s conditioning appeared to be a little sharper than Greene’s.

As the day turned into night, the winner hung in the balance. There were four men who had a legitimate shot, including Dexter Jackson (16) and Branch Warren (19) also close enough to have something to say. When the six names were announced after the posing routines for all 13 participants concluded, Toney Freeman and Ronny Rockel were also added to the mix.

Since the IFBB no longer counts the posing round towards the final scores, the judges may have made up their minds following the pose down. Rockel and Freeman finished sixth and fifth, respectively, and a case could be made that they could have been flip-flopped. The first surprise of the night came when Jackson – in a very important show for him – dropped out of the top three.

No argument here, but the fans in attendance let out a collective “oh” when The Blade’s name was called. Then they booed when Warren was next, but this was the proper placing for him. A huge fan favorite, the Texas resident came in looking awesome (particularly his legs) but not better than the two who remained on stage.

As Heath’s name was announced by emcee Lonnie Tepper, the audience (or at least a good portion of it) made their feelings known that they disagreed with the decision. That lasted for a short period of time and they gave Greene his due. The Brooklyn native became the fourth to win consecutive Arnold Classics, adding his name to a prestigious list that includes Flex Wheeler (1997, 1998), Jay Cutler (2002-2004) and Jackson (2005, 2006).

Surely many people read into that statement and were under the impression that Warren’s name was about to be read. With Cutler having two Sandows to his name, many may have overlooked that defending champion Dexter Jackson was already on the side holding the third place check. So regardless of who won, technically he would have been the ‘new’ Mr. O.

Even though Cutler earned the win, Warren took a major step in his career towards adding his name to the list of Olympia champions. Coupled with his third place finish in March at the Arnold Classic, the Texan has become a major player in the open division and cannot be taken lightly or overlooked.

Since earning his pro card at the 2001 Nationals, Warren has had some success but never the kind where you would pick him as a possible winner of the two major shows, the Olympia and Arnold. That is until this year.

In  his previous Olympia tries, Warren finished eighth (2005) and 12th (2006). As for the Arnold, Warren appeared to be on his way by being named the runner-up in 2006 but took a few steps back with a seventh place finish the following year.

His shelf is not totally void of hardware, though. Warren won the 2005 Charlotte Pro and Europa Supershow, as well as the 2007 New York Pro. While those are proud accomplishments, being remembered as one of the greats of your sport requires at least one O or Arnold.

It was the opinion of many that Warren, 33, was in the best condition at this past Olympia and his size only was accentuated by it. No one came close to matching his legs and his upper body was in proportion with his wheels. His placing may have been considered a surprise by some but for those who have been watching Warren for a while knew that it was only a matter of time before he caught up with the competition.

One more step to go.

“Everyone wrote me off,” he said on stage right after the announcement. “It’s a huge achievement for me. At 36 there’s a lot of gas left in the tank for me.” Cutler speculated about winning a fourth Sandow, but followed that up by saying he wanted to enjoy this one first.

The defending champion, Dexter Jackson, fell to third place while Branch Warren, who appeared to be in fantastic condition at the pre-judging, finished as the runner-up, a huge accomplishment for him. 2009 Arnold Classic champion Kai Greene placed fourth, a bit of a surprise as he was said to be a sure-bet top three candidate. Phil Heath did not have nearly the same physique that he brought to the desert a year ago and fell from third to fifth. The 29-year-old nearly had to drop out of the contest due to a stomach illness that he suffered on Friday and lost a lot of traction during the pre-judging that he could not make up.

Although he had hoped for a better placing, Victor Martinez taking sixth should be viewed as a plus. The Dominican Dominator has had to come back from not only a serious knee injury but a family tragedy and it was quite an accomplishment for him just to be here, let alone make the top six.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

7th – Ronny Rockel – came in to the show better than he ever looked and could have easily slipped into the top six

8th – Toney Freeman – The X-Man went from fifth to eighth and at 43 does not have many more chances

9th – Hidetada Tamagashi – A great placing for the youngster from Japan. A rising star in this sport.

10th – Moe El Mouussawi – Another undeserved top 10 finish for him