OLYMPIA WIN,
7
TAKE
FOLLOWING A SEVENTH
MR. OLYMPIA VICTORY—
TYING HIM WITH THE “GOAT,”
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER—
PHIL HEATH PUT HIS WIN
IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
AS ONLY HE CAN.
INTERVIEW BY JOE WUEBBEN PHOTOGRAPHS BY PER BERNAL
THE CHAMPION SPEAKS YET AGAIN. We’re very familiar
with him: the now seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath. Only this time
he doesn’t have quite as much to say. With a reputation over the
years as one of the great trash-talking bodybuilders of all time, Heath
was relatively quiet heading into the 2017 Olympia. Then, of course, his
physique spoke loud and clear on Sept. 16 with another commanding
victory, his seventh in a row. Four days later, he gave the following
exclusive interview to FLEX, and he had a fair amount to say—reminiscent
of the man he’d just tied for Mr. Olympia titles, Arnold Schwarzenegger. If
Heath is true to his word, which he always is, we’ll be back here one year
from now with even more to talk about.
FLEX: I’m sounding like a
broken record because I ask
you the same question every
year, but…how did the 2017
Olympia differ from 2016?
Your placing was the same,
of course.
PHIL HEATH: The callouts were
different, obviously. There’s really no
dominant second-place person;
that’s something I noticed this year.
Like when you had Ronnie [Coleman]
and Jay [Cutler], it was always those
two guys, and then everybody else.
With me, it’s essentially been a
different guy every year. With that,
the fans are able to get different
looks, same with the judges. There’s
always someone new in second
place, and there’s always someone
disappointed. I’m sure Shawn
Rhoden was disappointed about
dropping from second to fifth.
Speaking of that, we had
a Phil Heath–Kai Greene
rivalry, and then we had
a Heath–Rhoden rivalry,
and even before that we
had a Heath–Cutler rivalry.
So what do we have now?
A Heath–Big Ramy rivalry?
Honestly, I don’t think so. Because
here’s the deal: Bonac was beating
[Ramy] on Friday. I think what we’re
going to see is a five-headed
monster. As of right now, I don’t
know who the challenger will be
next year. What would solidify
someone being a contender would
JANUARY 2018 | FLEX
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