The top six crunch most-
musculars. Left to right:
Shawn Rhoden, Dexter
Jackson, Phil Heath,
Mamdouh Elssbiay, William
Bonac, Roelly Winklaar.
with internet trolls, who tired of his
reign several Sandows ago. That
said, the Mr. Olympia isn’t a sexiest
waist contest. There are two
divisions—men’s physique and
classic physique—that put a
premium on midsection svelteness
and detailing.
Now the good. Based on size,
shape, and striations and seen
from every angle, no one had
better wheels than the reigning
champ. “I wanted to neutralize the
strengths of others, and a lot of
other guys have great legs,” Heath
says of a plan that paid off. “And
as you can see over the past
couple of years, I took my leg
game to a whole other level. And I
just wanted to be grainy. I wanted
to show I was maturing.” That,
too, he accomplished. As he ran
through his poses, it was clear
the 245-pound Gift had been
better before, but it was also
pretty clear that none of the 17
men who preceded him were
better than him.
FIRST CALLOUT
Left to right: Rhoden, Bonac,
Heath, Elssbiay, Jackson,
Brandon Curry. In his eighth pro
year, Curry was in the shape of
his life, and, with Bonac, one of
the two best conditioned
bodybuilders in the lineup. What’s
more, at 252, he had added
fullness. He benefited from
striking shots elbow to elbow with
Jackson, whose legs also lag,
because, sharper and wider, he
beat him in pose after pose. I had
him fourth, but he eventually
JANUARY 2018 | FLEX
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