THE TOP THREE
The contest’s crucial battle,
between Elssbiay and Bonac, was
a contrast in physique types, as
the ultrawide Kuwaiti outweighed
the ultraripped Dutchman by
roughly 70 pounds. The latter held
a one-point lead after Friday, but
gave it up on Saturday. “Phil and
Ramy both improved from last
night. William looked better
yesterday,” head judge Weinberger
explained not long after Bonac told
me he’d filled out a few pounds for
Saturday. Still, Bonac’s gold teeth
glimmered as he effused about his
finish, “Great feeling, of course,
from fifth place [at last year’s O]
to third place. I think I could’ve
done better. I’m happy with
my placement, though. I keep
moving up.”
6
ROELLY
WINKLAAR
7
NATHAN DE
ASHA
PHIL HEATH WON
HIS SEVENTH
SANDOW, FAIR
AND SQUARE.
AND LAS VEGAS
ODDS MAKERS
WOULD FAVOUR
HIM TO WIN NO. 8
NEXT YEAR.
8
And then there were two. And
when Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
announced, “The seven-time...,” the
man who will remain atop the
bodybuilding world for at least
another year collapsed to the stage
in tears. Backstage, an emotionally
exhausted Elssbiay expressed
happiness with his placing and the
conviction that he will be the 14th
Mr. Olympia. Weinberger said of
Ramy: “He looked great, the best
he’s ever looked, but he still could
be about 5% harder.” The head
judge said what separated the top
three: “It always comes down to
size and conditioning. If you’re in
really good conditioning and you
have enough muscle, you’ll bump
up. You can’t just have great size
and not have conditioning. And you
can’t just have conditioning without
good size and shape.” That’s
bodybuilding.
50
FLEX | JANUARY 2018
9
BRANDON
CURRY JOSH
LENARTOWICZ
10 11
CEDRIC
M c MILLAN
LIONEL
BEYEKE