Nasser El Sonbaty

Nassertions III

Nasser: No Regrets

From the October 1997 issue of Flex.

The Nasser El Sonbaty feature in Flex’s August 1997 issue generated a fusillade of comments from his “fellow” pros. Aware of the outcry, Nasser remains unrepentant and offered the following thoughts on the debate he’d stirred up and his countdown for Olympia glory.

“I do not regret one word of the Flex feature. OK, there is pressure on me to back those words up, but I look upon it as positive pressure – pressure I anticipated when I made my statements. I did not say the things I said in a fit of pique: It was a measured response to what has been said about me over the past three years. I knew the reaction my words would now generate, so I am not surprised that those whose physiques I criticized now dislike me.

“Ten weeks out from the Olympia, I am 301 pounds — lighter than I was at the same stage in my previous three Olympia preperations. Last year, at 10 weeks out, I was 330 pounds, and came in at 280 pounds. This year, I will come in around the same bodyweight but be harder than ever. I will present a vastly improved physique. That’s a promise!  I will be in Long Beach to win.”