Changing of the guard: it's time for the next generation to take charge - Articula Shawn

It's been a long time coming. The same guys have been at the top of the IFBB for almost a decade, and I've had fans and fellow competitors alike remark to me over the years that there's no new crop of bodybuilders emerging to take over for guys like Kevin Levrone, Chris Cormier, Flex Wheeler, Nasser El Sonbaty and me. Well, I think that it's finally about to change.

New pros coming into the IFBB over the years have done disappearing acts, quickly burning out or just getting buried by the established competitors. (Remember Willie Stalling, Sylvester Solomon or Tevita Aholelei?) Now a group has shown that they have the hunger and staying power to take over for us veterans. I'm talking about Jay Cutler, Dexter Jackson, Dennis James and others who have finally come of age, and it's about time.

Notice was served at the Olympia with Cutler. His flame is burning the brightest out of this group, and he has time on his side, because he's only 28. More important, he has the desire to take it to the next level. I really don't know if Ronnie Coleman has the enthusiasm to keep fighting Cutler off. Most Mr. Olympias haven't improved as their reigns continued, and Ronnie is vulnerable.

Jay's just the front-runner in an interesting wave of competitors who include not only Dexter and Dennis, but also King Kamali, Melvin Anthony, Markus Ruhl, Craig Titus and Orville Burke, who, at 39, is actually older than all of us. Although I think these guys all have some flaws to contend with, they've proved they belong, and they represent a new order that will expand the fan base of the sport and increase opportunities for the athletes. There's quite a bit of diversity in the looks of these bodybuilders, compared to guys like Levrone, Cormier and myself. It's more than apples and oranges--it's a whole produce section of different shapes and sizes.

This year, there are nine pro contests before the Mr. Olympia. More than ever before, fans have a great opportunity to cheer for different types of physiques. It's quite possible that you could have five or six different 2002 pro champions competing in the Mr. Olympia this year. That makes the Olympia much more wide open and interesting to the fans.

I'm not speaking for all of us longtime competitors, but I think that when you've done several Olympias and reach your mid to late 30s, you start thinking about different priorities. I feel Levrone has reached the point where other interests are more important than winning the Mr. Olympia. Wheeler is already retired, and the writing's on the wall for many veterans. Whether we like it or not, it's changing.

I plan to attend every stateside pro show this year, not only to take in the competition, but also to support the new guard as it attempts to assert itself. Yes, I'll be in the 2002 Olympia, but I sense that we're finally seeing the dawn of a new and exciting period of change for pro bodybuilding.

To order Shawn Ray's new book, The Shawn Ray Way, or to contact him, visit www.shawnray.net.

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