The weekend, which includes the three-day FitExpo, begins with the Ironman press conference at 4 p.m. on Friday. The prejudging for the Ironman starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, with the finals slated to start at 7 p.m.
Six of the top-10 finishers from the 2006 Ironman lineup return with an eye on taking home this yearÂs top prize, including 2006 runner-up Dave Henry. Henry enters as one of this yearÂs favorites along with Toney Freeman, who has built up considerable momentum since last yearÂs contest with impressive showings in his last two competitions. Freeman is coming off a win at the Â06 Europa SuperShow and a seventh-place finish at last yearÂs Mr. Olympia.
Five Olympia berths will go out to the top five finishers the first time in the history of the Ironman. In the past, the top three qualified for the Olympia. Kris Dim (4th), Mark Dugdale (5th), Eryk Bui (8th) and Ahmad Haidar (9th) are the other returning top-10 finishers from last yearÂs Ironman Pro who will be vying for a spot in the top five. Russian Sergey Shelestov, who finished third behind Jay Cutler and Ronnie Coleman at the 2006 Grand Prix Romania, will make his first appearance on American soil and enters as the contestÂs X-factor.
For tickets to the contest, check out www.ironmanprotickets.com or call (800) 447-0008. For updates and photo galleries of the show as it happens, be sure to check out our galleries at www.flexonline.com, and the FLEX contest blog at http://updates.mrolympia.com/.
