The Fitness show was won by Ms. Fitness Olympia Jen Hendershot. Jen announced her retirement last year, then changed her mind and decided to do the Fitness Olympia anyway. She won and then headed straight for the Ms Fitness International where her incredible conditioning and absolutely stunning routine pushed her into the winner's circle yet again. Jen's routines are always at the top of the list, but this year she raised the bar, yet again, and wowed the crowed with a truly entertaining routine. She's definitely a competitor who audiences love to see win and the noise they make for her when she does is extremely uplifting. Julie Palmer finised in second place, and Tracey Greenwood who was the 1st runner-up at the 2008 Ms Fitness Olympia(this past September) took third.
The Figure Olympia was won by our good friend Ziville Raudoniene. Ziville beat last year's Ms Figure International winner Gina Alioti, who most recently defeated Ziville (3rd) at the Olympia. But Ziville turned the tables on Gina tonight with perhaps her most polished presentation to date. Ziville is not only a clear cut specimen of human perfection, but the girl is also drop-dead gorgeous. She's the perfect representative for the sport of Figure and she's just as sweet as they come to boot. All in all, the winners of this year's women's contests have really brought their respective sports to new highs. Congratulations ladies!
The story of Iris Kyle is evolving into an epic as shocking and amazing as the physique that's writing it. The woman that amassed five Ms. Olympia titles came back tonight to redeem her dismal seventh place finish at last year's Ms International to round off her competitive career thus far with her fourth Ms. I win.
The golden age of bodybuilding had its home in Venice Beach, California. If you were a serious bodybuilder back in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, you packed up your shit and moved to Venice to train at Gold's Gym with the rest of us. It was the place to be. You almost had to be there. It was necessary. If you wanted to be where the action was, there was just no choice but to make the pilgrimage to the Mecca.
But just as all things in life do, the Golden Age came to an end and the faithful dissipated. Gold's Gym is a mere gutted cavern of its former self; the pictures of the champions who trained there are still on the walls like spirits of an era passed. The building stands, but its spirit is gone.
Big media day today for me and a great opportunity to plug RX Muscle! The morning started off with a nice piece in the New York Daily News where I was quoted regarding A-rod's admitted use of steroids at his press conference yesterday.
With nine seasons left on his 10 year $275 million deal with the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez is inches away from stepping into the new $1.5 billion dollar Yankees Stadium where he is expected to break Barry Bonds' home run record. That would surely be an awe-inspiring feeling, except for the fact that Rodriguez is under intense scrutiny right now.
