Ronnie Coleman reflected on his speech after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Arnold Classic.
Ronnie Coleman is no stranger to the bodybuilding stage. Coleman won eight consecutive Olympia titles from 1998-2005 and is one of the best competitors in the history of the sport. During the 2021 Arnold Classic, Coleman took the stage for a different reason and was given an incredible award.
Coleman received the Arnold Classic Lifetime Achievement Award during the event in September. This is when he was able to get in front of a microphone and delivered an incredible speech that will be remembered forever. On a recent episode of Nothing But A Podcast, Coleman explained the difficulties of giving this emotional speech.
“It was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my whole life.”
“When I was practicing in my head, it went through smoothly. And then I got up there in front of all those people, then I started thinking about it I think that’s what really got to me, I really started thinking about it. It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m like, man! I’m not gonna be able to say this.”
Ronnie Coleman has won plenty of competitions in his career and is tied with Lee Haney for the most Olympia victories in history. Coleman added a victory at the Arnold Classic back in 2001. He discussed his emotions receiving this award from Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is known as the greatest bodybuilder of all-time.
“I haven’t won a lot of wars, you know. I have had a few here and there but lifetime achievement and then being presented by Arnold also, somebody you look up to, idolize in a was, it was a quite blood reaching experience.”
Coleman stepped on stage and let his emotions and feelings takeover. This is one aspect that makes the speech memorable. During this recent episode, Coleman joked about how he wished he have read off a card.
It is difficult to plan a speech ahead of time. Rehearsing a speech is a preparation tool but it never seems to workout how you expect it too once you get up there to speak. Also, Coleman explained how he felt knowing his mother was unable to be there to see him accept this award.
“When you rehearse something, you rehearse it so it’s easy. You’re just by yourself and you’re not thinking about it because you’re rehearsing it, you know. But once you get up there and all those people in front of you and then you get caught up in the moment.”
“The fact that my mom wasn’t there to see it and she always made the big events that I was involved in… that made it even more gut-wrenching. So it was quite an experience… I’ll say it was a very overwhelming experience.”
Ronnie Coleman is a name that remains influential in the sport of bodybuilding. He is an inspiration and has been since he began his career. This was the reason he was given the award. It was a very deserving honor and one that Coleman and those watching will never forget.
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