VIDEO 4 PRESENTS

THE BATLLE FOR GOLD

The Registry Hotel
Entrance

Hi, I'm Tom Platz.

Welcome to Hollywood, California.
Universal Studios.

Site of the 1998 Mr. Olympia contest.

Bodybuilders from all over the world
are here to compete tonight

for the Mr. Olimpia contest.
Bodybuilding's most prestigious event.

The favorite tonight, of course,
is Mr. Olympia Lee Haney.

Lee Hayney has won it four times in a row.
Can he win it five times?

And can he ever dream of coming close to
matching Arnold Schwarzenegger's record,

of wining it seven times?

Over the years we have heard a lot about
the weights of the bodybuilders,
in the magazines.

And, there's a lot of speculatiion.
This year, it's gonna be official.

You'll see them, and then
you'll know what they weigh.

Take your seats gentlemen.
First bodybuilder, Rich Gaspary.

Rich has focused this year was,

reducing his body weight over last year.

He was too heavy last year
and appeared to blocky on stage.

And making his waist look small,
he feels he'll be able to be more of a threat,

more of a viable threat to Lee.

Two hundred nine and a half pounds.

I'm going into this show,

going in the best that I can be.

And that's what I wanna do. I wanna go in,
to this show, with people saying,

"Man, does Barry look phenomenal."

"Does Barry look the best shape
I've ever seen him?"

You know, and to me,

that's more satisfaction
than winning this contest.

But, you know, I was saying this
the whole way training for this contest

and out comes down to the wire
and I wanna win.

I wanna win this thing bad.

You know that I feel that I've improved
my symetry.

I kept that mass in my upper body,
but I lost it all in the waist

so I have more of a streamline physique.

Having a small waist but a
thicker upper body.

A thicker back.

Everyone says my back's improved and
my arms have improved.

Plus I think that with time and maturity,

competing in the Mr. Olimpia.

I started competing in the Mr. Olimpia
at 22 years old.

I was relatively young.

And being that young,
I feel like my muscles haven't matured yet.

Now being 25, they,
they seem to look a lot more mature.

They have more of that density.