Coleman Destroys Mr. O Field

Reported October 27, 2003

Coleman Destroys Mr. O Field

Ronnie Coleman, coming in at an unheard of 286 pounds on his 5’11” frame, easily out muscled the rest of the field to unanimously win his sixth consecutive Mr. Olympia title on Saturday, October 25, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

The 39-year-old from Arlington, Texas was 40 pounds heavier than he was last season when he scored a controversial victory over runner-up Kevin Levrone, who bested Coleman in the final two rounds of the show. In 2001, Jay Cutler held the lead over Coleman after the first two rounds before dropping a heavily disputed two-point decision to Coleman when all the final votes were tallied.

Billed as a battle between Coleman, Cutler and Gunter Schlierkamp, last year’s fifth place finisher and victor over Coleman at the GNC Show of Strength a few weeks later, this was pretty much over as soon as the massive, yet impressively conditioned, Coleman hit the stage at the pre-judging.

Cutler, who had won his last four shows, including the Ironman Pro, the Arnold Classic and the San Francisco Grand Prix in 2003, was the solid pick for second, with Dexter Jackson, Dennis James and Schlierkamp finishing in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The biggest surprise of the evening came with an appearance by California’s new Governor-elect, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The seven-time Mr. O champion smiled as he told the crowd, “I feel like I’m home again,” then praised Joe Weider for bringing him to America.

Then, Schwarzenegger individually handed out the ‘Olympia competition medals to all 16 men on stage. Later, he and long-time buddy Franco Columbu clowned on stage to the delight of the sold out crowd. Schwarzenegger mimicked Columbu as he was speaking to the fans after being honored with two awards. Franco got the last laugh when he said, “I got two awards, and Arnold got nothing.”

For complete contest coverage, be sure to read the January, 2003 issue of IRONMAN. Go to IRONMAN’s contest database. to see photos from the contests.

2003 Mr. Olympia results
1) Ronnie Coleman
2) Jay Cutler
3) Dexter Jackson
4) Dennis James
5) Gunter Schlierkamp
6) Kevin Levrone
7) Darrem Charles
8) Troy Alves
9) Melvin Anthony
10) Ernie Taylor
11) Johnnie Jackson
12) Rodney St. Cloud
13) Art Atwood
14) Claude Groulx
15) Lee Priest
16) Jonathan Davie