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Muscling in
By Brad Forrest
LOOKING at him, you wouldn't believe Mr Olympia placegetter Chris Cormier was so thin that anyone could kick sand in his face ...
That was last year; this is now.
The American, out here as a special guest for this weekend's Mr Australasia competition at Revesby Workers Club, is rebuilding his career after it came crashing down, in a hospital bed.
Try several hospital beds.
''I contracted a bacterial staph infection while training for Mr Olympia on the east coast,'' the 39-year-old said.
''It paralysed my nerves, I went into convulsions and began hallucinating.
''They took me from one hospital and on to another ... I nearly died several times.
''I fell into a coma and that's how I stayed while they tried to work out what was wrong.''
Cormier stayed in hospital for a month, felt claustrophobic and checked himself out, turning to liquid antibiotics and other costly medicine, before returning to hospital for another two months.
''I was about 290 pounds before I got sick and less than 200 when I was in hospital,'' he said.
''I was forced to re-train each and every muscle in my body - even to sit up in a back brace and walk with the help of a walker.''
Cormier, who gained the nickname ''Real Deal'', was an American state wrestling champion and All State American football champ who excelled on the track and with boxing.
He earned some fame when he turfed former boxing champion Mike Tyson out of a club in his days as a nightclub bouncer.
But his real fame has come as a runner-up in the world's most prestigious bodybuilding competition, Mr Olympia, where he has finished runner-up six times and third on two other occasions.
''I'm out to again prove that being over 35 doesn't count against you,'' he said. ''I want to win Mr Olympia and I know I can.''
