Confirmed Gary Strydom Comeback a Smart Business Decision
by Joe Pietaro
After much speculation, it finally appears that Gary Strydom will in fact be coming back to competitive bodybuilding at the IFBB Pro World Masters Championship on December 10, 2011 at the Fillmore in Miami Beach. The legendary South African confirmed this during a video interview with Shawn Ray of Musclular Development on April 15 at the FIBO show in Germany.
“Confirmation one hundred percent,” Strydom told Ray. “It is confirmed already. Signed, sealed and delivered (that) I’ll be there. So hopefully all of the other guys will be there and the show materializes.”
Some of those ‘other guys’ Strydom referred to just happen to include three former Mr. Olympia winners in Ronnie Coleman, Samir Bannout and Dexter Jackson. Also on the list are Vince Taylor (2001 Masters Olympia winner), Andreas Cahling, Chris Cormier, Pavol Jablonicky, Milos Sarcev, Toney Freeman, Troy Alves, Dennis Newman and Darrem Charles. Guest posers like Tom Platz, Robby Robinson, Tony Pearson and Juliette Bergman also jump off the page. This will be a very memorable evening, for sure.
The news of Strydom’s comeback is not much of a surprise, as the soon-to-be 51-year-old had announced that he was going to compete again back in 2009, as reported right here:
Gary Strydom, 49, May Be Planning Olympia Comeback
That did not materialize but this time it does seem genuine, as Strydom has a few business projects that will obviously benefit from his comeback. He has a supplement line called Strydom Professional Series and an upcoming launch of his own clothing line. Strydom has previous experience in the latter with Crazzee Wear, one of the most popular brands in and out of the gyms worldwide in the 1980s and 90s.
Two years ago, Strydom had visions of qualifying for the Mr. Olympia, but this appears to be a much better strategy. By going up against similar competitors, he has a good chance to place well and come full circle.
GARY STRYDOM’S COMPETETIVE CAREER
1983 NPC Florida Championships, Junior – Heavyweight, 1st and Overall
1984 NPC USA Championships, HeavyWeight, 1st
1986 NPC Nationals, HeavyWeight, 1st and Overall
1987 Night of Champions, Winner
1988 Chicago Pro Invitational, 2nd
1988 Mr. Olympia, 5th
1989 Arnold Classic, 3rd
1989 Grand Prix France, 1st
1989 Grand Prix Germany, 2nd
1989 Grand Prix Melbourne, 1st
1989 Grand Prix Spain (2), 2nd
1989 Grand Prix Spain, 2nd
1989 Grand Prix Sweden, 1st
1989 World Pro Championships, 2nd
1990 Grand Prix England, 2nd
1990 Grand Prix Finland, 3rd
1990 Grand Prix France, 2nd
1990 Grand Prix Germany, 4th
1990 Grand Prix Italy, 3rd
1990 Houston Pro Invitational, 2nd
1990 Ironman Pro Invitational, 4th
1991 Night of the Champions
1991 WBF Grand Prix, 1st
1992 WBF Grand Prix, 1st
1996 Night of Champions, 12th
2006 Colorado Pro Championships, 7th
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