THE DREAM DUEL THAT NEVER WAS PITS DORIAN YATES OF 1993 AGAINST Ronnie Coleman OF 2003
Theirs is a tale with two distinct halves. From 1992–97, Dorian Yates and Ronnie Coleman were in the same lineups eight times. The former won all eight contests, while the latter never came closer than fifth. But that tells only half the story—the one about Yates and his six indomitable years as Mr. Olympia.
Here’s the other half. Coleman reinvented himself in 1998—the year after Yates retired—and began his own eight-year reign of Olympia supremacy. In one of the frustrating quirks of history, they were never even in the same callout. In fact, their peaks were separated by a whole decade. Even though Yates is only two years older than Coleman, the former reached his shocking best in 1993 while the latter supersized in 2003. We never got to see them face of when at their most colossal. That’s why we’re approximating that dream duel here.
