Ben Tatar's 2007 Olympia Photos & Coverage - Page 4
After meeting Vanessa, I told her to follow me so we could meet and interview the FREAKIEST looking bodybuilder in person from the 06 Arnold, KENNY GIPSON! Vanessa filmed the interview, as I performed a LIVE interview with the 6'3 300lbs monster Kenny! I asked Kenny questions about his new video that is coming out called "Get big or die hard trying." The LIVE interview that I did was phenomenal! The questions, the INTENSITY, the flow of Kenny's interview couldn't have been any better and I hope to see Kenny's LIVE video interview on Critical Bench really soon! I think Muscle Dog also video taped our interview.
Here's a picture of Vanessa, me and Kenny after performing our first and incredible interview together LIVE!
After interviewing Kenny, I took off to watch the BENCH PRESS CONTEST!
I really couldn't take any pictures that came out well because I was blinded by the spotters and there wasn't an overhead to see the lifts clearly. Plus, the bench pressers benched facing away from the spectators.
However, the bench press meet was quite amazing. The contest was RAW (meaning no bench press shirts,) and all the benchers had to hold the weight at lockout for a few seconds before they brought the weight down and they had to pause the weights on their chest before pressing the weight back up.
In the end, the results were:
LIGHT WEIGHT
4th place- Jayce Martin 400lbs bench press
3rd place- Joe Luther- 430lbs bench press
2nd place- Ray Hitman 435lbs bench press
WINNER- Joe Mazza 445lbs bench press and $1,000 winner.
It was pretty amazing watching Joe Mazza bench press 445lbs weighing less than 170. I talked to Mazza and he said he can bench press well over 500lbs raw and that he can do 520. In these competitions the lifters are forced to hold the weight at lockout for a long time and then pause the weight for awhile before pressing the weight back up which makes the movement that much harder. Joe also told me that he has bench pressed 225 for 38 reps and 315 for 16 reps. That is amazing for a man who doesn't even weigh 170lbs as most lineman in the NFL can't even perform feats of strength like that.
In the MIDDLE WEIGHT DIVISION-
2nd place- Chip Adago 500lbs
WINNER- Brock Lewis 580lbs.
HEAVY WEIGHT-
2nd place- Holdger Hostrov 550lbs
WINNER- Al Davis -605lbs!
The bench press contest was a lot of fun to watch. I was especially excited to watch the light weights go at it. I loved watching the light weights because we really did see the best of the best. The thing with the heavy weights was we didn't see Jeremy Hoornstra bench because he was on the side lines with an injury or Nick Winters or Scott Mendelson. However, the bench meet was fun and added a hardcore feel to the Olympia Expo.
After the bench meet, I got a picture taken with JOE LUTHER... He was fun to talk to and look for an interview with him in the near future!
After the bench meet, I sat and talked to Noah Sheer! There was a little down time and we talked for a good hour. Everyone who goes to these shows will know Noah, you just can't miss him. He recognized me and we discussed everything from comparing Olympia to the Arnold, to making fun of things, to laughing about everything, to training, to fishing. He was cool to talk to, smart, funny and laid back. Here's a picture of me standing next to him. I'm on a chair because he's so huge!
After talking to Noah, I made a stop to talk to Pasi who I met at the 2006 Arnold! It was great talking to Pasi and catching up!
Then I talked to the biggest and strongest women in the world, Becca Swanson. She put on my critical bench shirt and picked me up for a picture!
After the bench meet, I sat and talked to Noah Sheer! There was a little down time and we talked for a good hour. Everyone who goes to these shows will know Noah, you just can't miss him. He recognized me and we discussed everything from comparing Olympia to the Arnold, to making fun of things, to laughing about everything, to training, to fishing. He was cool to talk to, smart, funny and laid back. Here's a picture of me standing next to him. I'm on a chair because he's so huge!
