My, how time flies. It seemed like yesterday that we were talking about Kai Greene’s amazing victory at the Arnold Classic. The spring and summer have flown by and we are less than a month away from the grandaddy of them all – with all due respect to the Rose Bowl – the Mr. Olympia.

With such a close call in a deep line-up, this may be one of the most memorable battles for the Sandow in decades. Everyone is asking the same question: can Dexter Jackson repeat? Of course he can, but the odds are against ‘The Blade’ as he now must face a field that includes some names that missed the show last year due to injury.

So far 25 men have qualified for the Mr. Olympia, and they are (in alphabetical order): Fouad Abiad, Troy Alves, Melvin Anthony, Evan Centopani, Darrem Charles, Jay Cutler, Moe Elmoussawi, Toney Freeman, Kai Greene, Ahmad Haidar, Phil Heath, Dexter Jackson, Dennis James, Michael Kefalianos, Martin Kjellstrom, Victor Martinez, Ben Pakulski, Ronny Rockel, Markus Ruhl, Silvio Samuel, Joel Stubbs, Branch Warren, Bill Wilmore, Dennis Wolf and Hidetada Yamagishi.

The women who have qualified for the Ms. Olympia are: Heather Armbrust, Lisa Aukland, Dayana Cadeau, Tina Chandler, Gale Frankie, Rosemary Jennings, Iris Kyle, Debi Laszewski, Cathy LeFrancois, Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia, Betty Pariso, Isabelle Turell and Betty Viana Adkins.

All will be gunning for Iris Kyle, who also won this year’s Ms. International at the Arnold Classic.

Qualified for the Fitness Olympia are: Myriam Capes, Regiane Da Silva, Nicole Duncan, Tracey Greenwood, Jen Hendershott, Tanji Johnson, Shannon Meteraud, Mindi O’Brien, Julie Palmer, Kim Scheideler and Trish Warren.

The Figure Olympia qualifiers are: Gina Aliotti, Teresa Anthony, Huong Arcinas, Monica Brant, Krissy Chin, Meriza De Guzman, Jamie Ford, April Fortier, Heather Mae French, Amy Fry, Jannifer Gates, Sonia Gonzales, Mary Elizabeth Lado, Jenny Lynn, Patricia Mello, Jessicq Putnam, Zivile Raudoniene, Kristal Richardson, Felicia Romero, Brenda Smith, Erin Stern, Kristi Tauti and Nicole Wilkins-Lee.

In the second annual 202 Showdown, the following have qualified: Jason Arntz, Eduardo Correa Da Silva, Kris Dim, Charles Dixon, Mark Dugdale, Kevin English, Daryl Gee, David Henry, John Hodgson, Tricky Jackson, Stan McQuay and Lee Powell.

The Mr.Olympia weekend will be held at The Orleans Arena in Las vegas, Nevada on September 24 and 25, 2009.

Source: musclesportmag.com