Movies, Sports and Stuff: Las Vegas Olympia Weekend Part II

Lou Ferrigno - still The Incredible Hulk

* My camera suffered a meltdown after the Thursday night meet-and-greet, so I have very few usable pictures of the women's prejudging and finals as well as the men's prejudging.*

Things started happening for real at the Las Vegas Convention Center (South Hall) Friday morning, Sept. 24. The hall was converted into a fitness and nutrition expo with hundreds of booths set up. This was not a place or an event for a person with body issues to attend. While I am in decent shape, I would say close to 80 percent of the people there could be categorized as being in exceptional shape-and these are just the people walking around, not the men and women in the booths promoting their products-or the competitors.

The stage for the women's prejudging was set up at the back of hall so I had a decent stash of free samples by the time I reached the area. People who paid for seats were in a roped off area and had a closer look at the competitors than the rest of us who chose standing room only. I got a spot along the rope and got ready to watch the Ms. Olympia prejudging.
When Melanie and I saw we were going to be in Las Vegas during Joe Weider's Olympia Weekend 2010, we were excited to see Zoa Linsey compete in her first Olympia. We knew Zoa from Okinawa where she was a bodybuilder and trainer and who had helped me out a great deal as I tried to transition to becoming a personal trainer myself. I should also recognize the exploits of my mentor and friend Shelly Howard who let me trail her around like a puppy dog for months learning the ropes of personal training. At the 2010 North American Championships-Fitness Class B, Shelly placed fourth. Check her out on links to the left.

So while I was there to cheer on Zoa, I had to wait for prejudging of the women's fitness, (14), bikini (24) and figure (24) competitors. It was a hardship, but one I was ready to handle. Basically, all the competitors walked onto the stage in two-piece bathing suits, faced the audience, both front and back, then went went off to the side to wait while the rest of the group got their chance to strut their stuff. After all the individuals were on the stage, they were called out in groups to again pose front and back. This might sound easy, but it's a lot of work. These women have to smile longer than any cheerleading squad while maintaining their pose and poise.

With the prejudging done, the groups (not including figure) moved to the Orleans Arena Friday night for the finals as well as the men's prejudging. We had nosebleed seats, but there were huge video screens that let us see the action up close.
With the posing done for the fitness women, it was action time and we saw some pretty athletic routines. Myriam Cates started the action with a handstand on a folding chair that went to splits. One-armed pushups, many with claps in between, were the norm. It was nice to see it wasn't all just just 20-somethings, 43-year-old Mia Finnegan made her return to the stage after a 15-year absence.
The bikini women made their appearance and then the women's bobybuilders showed off for the crowd, flexing during their music-driven routines. Zoa finished out of the money (top 6) but she was awesome, especially since she was performing with a slipped disc in her back.
Now, as the women bodybuilders were impressive, the men almost made them look tiny. Melanie's favorite part of the prejudging was the back and double biceps flex position. I think my favorite came at the end of the prejudging when they get to show their most muscular pose, which is where all the good crazy faces come out as they strain to bulge. We didn't see the finals as we headed to the Grand Canyon the next day, but I think we saw more than enough.

More Expo Photos