Regardless of public opinion, Phil Heath earned his victory.
There are a lot of mumblings and grumblings right after the Mr. Olympia 2014. Opinions never stay quiet after such a big competition. The fans become very vocal even seconds after the lights come up and the competition ends. Fans of a particular athlete will always try to shout out of the injustice of so-and-so’s ranking (unless you’re a Phil Heath fan). But there’s one opinion that is louder than the rest – regardless of what kind of fan you are. It goes a little something like this:
“Kai Greene should have won.”
Or here’s another version – “Phil Heath didn’t deserve to win.” Some people blame politics and others blame Kai’s aggressive attitude, but one thing is certain – many people think Phil was given the top prize but didn’t earn it.
Now we here at Generation Iron won’t say who should or shouldn’t have placed first. That’s ultimately for the judges to decide. But there is one thing that is very certain. Whether or not you wanted Phil to win; whether or not you believe Phil should have placed better than Kai – Phil Heath did in fact deserve the Sandow trophy.
Perhaps he didn’t seem at the top of his game on the stage but he is still is one of the top contenders in bodybuilding. Period. He puts day after day of hard work into his routine; challenges himself at every turn; and dedicates his entire life to getting up on stage and trying to be the best in the business.
So try to imagine how disheartening it must be to hear the grumbles, the complaints, and the outright verbal abuse he receives immediately after the competition. To be told that his hard work meant nothing. That he didn’t deserve everything that he pushed himself to achieve.
It might sound a little silly to say, but being on top isn’t easy. Sure you get a trophy as recognition, but you also earn the reputation as the “big bad guy” that needs to be toppled. You become the evil top titan that everyone wants taken down by the underdog. Perhaps Phil Heath’s confident and cocky attitude is partly to blame for this. But if we put ourselves in Phil’s shoes for a moment – it must be frustrating to take in all of the negative comments.
Blind hate is easy to ignore. It comes from ignorance and uneducated places. But to be told you don’t deserve it? To be scoffed at after a full year of hard work and dedication? That must be hard to ignore. Like a kid with daddy issues – nothing is every good enough for a lot of these fans. In a strange way the more Phil wins, the more people think he doesn’t deserve it.
Maybe we’re being too soft on Phil. Let’s face it, he’s probably on top of the world right now with his fourth Sandow trophy in hand. Maybe he’s perfectly fine and capable of ignoring all of the comments. But the fact is those comments are out there – so we decided to give some defense to the current reigning champ.
He’s earned his place up there. And even though the phrase, “Kai Greene was cheated” sounds much more exciting – the truth is when you get all the way to the top, it’s so close that any of the top five competitors deserve what they get. Was Phil Heath simply given the Sandow trophy? No, of course not. It was close; the points came down to the wire; and both Phil and Kai deserved to be up there. Maybe many people wanted Kai to win. Heck maybe even the politics behind the judges table is to blame. But that has nothing to do with Phil Heath and shouldn’t take away from his victory. He worked hard so let’s let him enjoy it.
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