The Item: Career Updates, Andrew Oye's IFBB Pro Athletes Roundup
The Scoop: Recently Reported: Retired IFBB Pro Gunter Schlierkamp held a fitness
event at his newly opened fitness studio in Hermosa Beach, CA, covered
by OK Magazine. The functional training facility is co-owned with his
wife IFBB Fitness Pro Kim Lyons, a former trainer on NBC TV's "Biggest
Loser" weight-loss challenge program and a contestant on "American Ninja
Warrior" physical challenge. During a fun moment at the gym event, a
group of fitness trainers attempted to hold back Schlierkamp with
resistance bands -- sort of a reverse WSM World's Strongest Man "Truck
Pull" -- only Schlierkamp was the truck in the tug-of-war.
The "So What?":
In a recent podcast interview, Schlierkamp talked about his commercial and movie
acting career, competitive bodybuilding days and fatherhood. The 6'2,"
nearly 300-pound 'German Giant' describes getting called in for a
parent-teacher conference because his young son tells others his dad is a
"superhero." About the awestruck reaction of Hulk-idolizing kids to his
old bodybuilding pictures, Schlierkamp says, "I was huge. When I look
at the images today, I can't believe how big I was, but...I had my time
[in the bodybuilding spotlight], and it was time to move on."
As
reported in "Andrew Oye's Pro-Muscle Report," Gunter Schlierkamp
retired at 36 years old, after filming his first comedic movie role
(with retired IFBB Pro Ralf Moeller) and competing at the 2006 Joe
Weider's Olympia Weekend. He spoke on his notoriety as the first
bodybuilder to defeat legendary 8-time Mr. Olympia IFBB Pro Ronnie
Coleman in a post-Olympia contest at the 2002 Show of Strength
Championships, following a 5th place finish at the 2002 Olympia, where
he had to return to the stage to "calm the crowd down."
"The genetics he has, [Coleman] was
dominating the sport for a long, long time, so that's why he was 8-time
Mr. Olympia," Schlierkamp admits. "But if you run the 100-meter hurdles [race], if you run the
fastest, you win. In bodybuilding -- it's almost like in boxing -- you
have to knock [the champion] dead to win...Sometimes you feel the 'best'
should win. If you can clearly see that somebody is not in his best
condition and somebody else is, how can you deny that 7000 people are on
their feet, screaming, yelling and booing so loud that you have to calm
them down?...I was kind of tearing up a little. It was very emotional."
He recalls being a fan favorite who always smiled even on the
competitive stage, visualizing the final winning moment and feeling the
overwhelming crowd reaction affirm that vision, concluding, "It's
incredible. That's the moment you live for, and nobody can take that
away."
Andrew Oye's Verdict: In 2010, I reported that Gunter Schlierkamp considered a pro
bodybuilding comeback. In the recent interview, the 1993 Mr. Universe,
who placed 4th at the Arnold Sports Festival's 2004 Arnold Classic
Bodybuilding Championships, remembered how 7-time Mr. Olympia IFBB Pro
Arnold Schwarzenegger came back stage to give him some encouragement
after his 4th place finish at the 2005 Olympia, where Schlierkamp says
he never got a chance to be compared with all of top-placing contenders
(Coleman, IFBB Pro Jay Cutler, IFBB Pro Gustavo Badell). Among the IFBB
Pro League athletes of his era, I would have guessed Schlierkamp had the
best chance of following in the Hollywood footsteps of Schwarzenegger,
who he praises as extremely smart. But that level of fame is a long
shot. Schlierkamp has acquired a few roles, including one as an MMA
fighter in a 2009 action film that starred UFC fighters Georges
St-Pierre, B.J. Penn, Anderson Silva, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, and
Heath Herring. Athletes in the current IFBB Pro Olympia Qualification
Series circuit with acting ambitions could learn about charisma from
both Schlierkamp and Schwarzenegger.
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