Thursday, April 21, 2011

Emeric Jenei, antrenor câștigător al Cupei Campionilor Europeni cu echipa Steaua

Emeric-Alexandru Jenei (numele de botez scris uneori Emerich, în maghiară Jenei Imre) (n. 22 martie 1937, Agrișu Mic) este un fost jucător și antrenor de fotbal de naționalitate maghiară din România.

Devine celebru în România din 1986 când câștigă Cupa Campionilor Europeni cu echipa FC Steaua București, al cărui lot era format la acea vreme din Helmuth Duckadam, Ștefan Iovan, Miodrag Belodedici, Anton Weissenbacher, Dumitru Stângaciu, Ilie Bărbulescu, Adrian Bumbescu, Tudorel Stoica, Ladislau Bölöni, Mihail Majearu, Marius Lăcătuș, Constantin Pistol, Gavrilă Balint, Victor Pițurcă, Marin Radu II și Lucian Bălan.

La data de 8 mai 1998, colonelul în retragere Emeric Jenei din Ministerul Apărării Naționale a fost înaintat la gradul de general de brigadă (cu o stea).

Emerich Jenei or Imre Jenei (also known as Emeric Jenei or Ienei; 22 March 1937) is a former Romanian football player and coach of Hungarian ethnicity. In May 1986 he won the European Cup as coach of Steaua Bucureşti. He is considered one of Romania's best coaches, alongside István Kovács, Mircea Lucescu, and Anghel Iordănescu.

On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of Romania, Traian Băsescu with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II with one barret for his part in winning the of 1986 European Cup Final.


Jenei was born in Agriş, Arad County, and made his debut playing for Flamura Roşie Arad — now UT Arad, in the Romanian Liga I. In 1957, at age 20, he signed with Steaua club in Bucharest (1957). He played for Steaua until 1969, when he left Romania to play in Turkey for Kayserispor. In 1971, Jenei retired as player and became a coach. During his career as a footballer, he won 12 caps for Romania's national team (between 1959 and 1964).

The highlights of his career as a player were the Romanian football championship titles he won with Steaua in 1959-1960, 1960–1961 and 1967–1968, as well as his participation with Romania's Olympic team at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan, where the Romanians came on 5-th place.

As a coach, Jenei continued to enjoy success. Having returned from Turkey, he was named assistant coach at Steaua at the beginning of the 1972-1973 season. One year later, he was promoted to a head coaching position and finished 5th in Liga I, winning his first championship title as coach in 1976, then finishing as a runner-up in 1977. He won another championship title in 1978, but at the end of the season he was replaced by Gheorghe Constantin.

In 1978-1979, Jenei coached FC Bihor of Oradea, but the team finished the season in last place and he was sacked as a result. In 1981, he took over at CS Târgovişte, and the beginning of the 1982-1983 season found him as coach of Steaua for a second stint. After two years, in which failed to win the championship, he was again sacked, only to be brought back after four months.

In 1985 he won a new championship and in the following season led Steaua Bucureşti to victory in the European Cup final against FC Barcelona in May 1986. In the summer of 1986, Jenei was named co-head coach of the Romanian national football team, together with Mircea Lucescu, making his debut against Norway. Lucescu was sacked after a short while and Jenei became the only national team coach. He failed to qualify the team for Euro 88, but took the team to World Cup 1990. It was the first qualification of Romania at a World Cup in twenty years. Between August 1986 and June 1990, Jenei coached the team in 40 games, including two wins against Spain in 1987 and Italy in 1988.


After the World Cup, He returned back to Steaua Bucureşti in April 1991, for the fourth time, only to be sacked again in December of same year. he was named head coach of Hungary in 1992-93, but failed to produce notable results, instead he won a trophy with Hungary the Kirin Cup in 1993, a friendly tournament organized in Japan, and later being sacked after a short period of time, and replaced by Ferenc Puskás.

Jenei did not return to the pitch for a while, but, in August 1993, Emerich Jenei began his fifth stint as coach of Steaua, and won the championship one year later. In 1996, he was named head coach of Universitatea Craiova but was sacked after only ten games. Two years later he returned to Steaua for his sixth and final stint there.

In 2000, Jenei he was again called to coach Romania. The squad qualified for Euro 2000 but the previous coach - Victor Piţurcă - was sacked after a scandal which involved the team's best players, including Gheorghe Popescu and Gheorghe Hagi. At Euro 2000, Jenei took the team to the last eight, one of the team's best performances. During his second stint, the national team played 11 games.

In June 2000, he decided to retire from coaching. After that date, Jenei was president of FC Bihor and also worked for the Romanian Football Federation. He is regularly consulted by the Romanian media for his opinion ahead of important football games for Romanian clubs, especially Steaua, or the Romanian national team.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Succes 2011: David Sanborn, an American alto saxophonist with 3 Grammy Awards. Well known for sax solo in the theme song for the NBC hit drama L.A. Law, Lethal Weapon and Scrooged

David Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school.

One of the most commercially successful American saxophonists to earn prominence since the 1980s, Sanborn is often identified with radio-friendly smooth jazz. However, Sanborn has expressed a disinclination for both the genre itself and his association with it.
Sanborn was born in Tampa, Florida, and grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri. He suffered from polio in his youth, and began playing the saxophone on a physician's advice to strengthen his weakened chest muscles and improve his breathing. Alto saxophonist Hank Crawford, at the time a member of Ray Charles' band, was an early and lasting influence on Sanborn. Sanborn performed with blues musicians Albert King and Little Milton at the age of 14, and continued playing blues when he joined Paul Butterfield's band in 1967, after attending the University of Iowa.

Although Sanborn is most associated with smooth jazz, he explored the edges of free jazz in his youth, studying with saxophonists Roscoe Mitchell and Julius Hemphill. In 1993, he revisited this genre when he appeared on Tim Berne's Diminutive Mysteries, dedicated to Hemphill.

RecordingsHe has been a highly regarded session player since the late 1960s, playing with an array of well-known artists, such as James Brown, Bryan Ferry, Michael Stanley, Eric Clapton, Cat Stevens, Roger Daltrey, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Jaco Pastorius, the Brecker Brothers, Casiopea, Players Association, David Bowie, Todd Rundgren, Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, Tommy Bolin, Bob James, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, Pure Prairie League, Kenny G, George Benson, Joe Beck, Donny Hathaway, Elton John, Gil Evans, Carly Simon, Guru, Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, Kenny Garrett, Roger Waters, Steely Dan, Ween, the Eagles, The Grateful Dead, the German group Nena, and Japanese pop star Utada Hikaru.
Sanborn has won numerous awards including Grammy Awards for Voyeur (1981), Double Vision (1986) and the instrumental album Close Up (1988). In television, Sanborn is well-known for his sax solo in the theme song for the NBC hit drama L.A. Law. He has also done some film scoring for films such as Lethal Weapon and Scrooged. In 1991 Sanborn recorded Another Hand, which the All Music Guide to Jazz described as a "return by Sanborn to his real, true love: unadorned (or only partly adorned) jazz" that "balanced the scales" against his smooth jazz material. The album, produced by Hal Willner, featured musicians from outside the smooth jazz scene, such as Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, and Marc Ribot. His more recent albums include Closer.

In 1994 Sanborn appeared in A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, also known as Daltrey Sings Townshend. This was a two-night concert at Carnegie Hall produced by Roger Daltrey of English rock band The Who in celebration of his fiftieth birthday. In 1994 a CD and a VHS video were issued, and in 1998 a DVD was released.
In 1995 he performed in The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True a musical performance of the popular story at Lincoln Center to benefit the Children's Defense Fund. The performance was originally broadcast on Turner Network Television (TNT), and issued on CD and video in 1996.

Broadcasting activitiesSanborn has performed on both radio and television broadcasts; he has also acted as a host. Since the late 1980s he has been a regular guest member of Paul Shaffer's band on Late Night with David Letterman. From 1988-89, he co-hosted Night Music, a late-night music show on NBC television with Jools Holland. Following producer Hal Willner's eclectic approach, the show positioned Sanborn with many famed musicians, such as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Lou Reed, Jean-Luc Ponty, Santana, Todd Rundgren, Youssou N'dour, Pere Ubu, Loudon Wainwright III, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Curtis Mayfield. During the 1980s and 1990s, Sanborn hosted a syndicated radio program, The Jazz Show with David Sanborn. Sanborn has recorded many shows' theme songs as well as several other songs for The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder.


More recent activitiesIn 2004, Sanborn was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. In 2006, he was featured in Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band's album The Phat Pack on the track "Play That Funky Music", a remake of the Wild Cherry' hit in a big band style. Sanborn often performs at Japan's Blue Note venues in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo. He plays on the song "Your Party" on Ween's 2007 release La Cucaracha. On April 8, 2007, Sanborn sat in with the Allman Brothers Band during their annual run at the Beacon Theatre in New York City.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Succes 2011: Jimmy Somerville, Bronski Beat and The Communards

James William "Jimmy" Somerville (born 22 June 1961, Glasgow) is a Scottish pop singer and songwriter.

He had considerable success in the 1980s with the pop groups Bronski Beat and The Communards, and has also had a successful solo career. He is known in particular for his falsetto singing voice.

Somerville's latest album, Suddenly Last Summer was released in May 2009 as a digital download only.

In 1983, Somerville co-founded the synth pop group Bronski Beat, which proceeded to have a number of hits in the British charts. Their biggest hit was "Smalltown Boy" which reached #3 in the charts. Somerville played the song's titular character in the music video who leaves his hostile 'straight' hometown for the friendlier city.

Somerville left Bronski Beat in 1985, and formed The Communards with classically trained pianist Richard Coles (now a Church of England vicar). They had a number of hits, including a cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes's "Don't Leave Me This Way", which spent four weeks at #1 in the UK charts, and became the biggest-selling single of 1986 in the UK. He also sang backing vocals on Fine Young Cannibals' version of "Suspicious Minds", which was a UK Top 10 hit.

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The Communards split in 1988, and Somerville launched his solo career. He had several solo hits between 1989 and 1991, also singing on the second Band Aid project at the end of 1989.

After releasing his 1989 album Read My Lips, which included a hit cover of Sylvester's disco classic "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" as well as a cover of The Bee Gees' hit song "To Love Somebody" a year later, Somerville left the limelight and was absent from recording for a number of years. In 1990, Somerville contributed the song "From This Moment On" to the Cole Porter tribute album "Red Hot + Blue" produced by the Red Hot Organization, the proceeds from which benefited AIDS research.
Somerville returned in 1995 with the album Dare to Love, which included "Heartbeat", a #1 hit on the U.S. dance chart. Another album, entitled Manage The Damage, was released in 1999, and its companion remix album Root Beer came out a year later. His dance-oriented fourth solo album, Home Again, was released in 2005.

May 2009 saw the release of Somerville's Suddenly Last Summer album, which contained acoustic interpretations of songs Somerville chose to record that he found on his iPod. The album is only available via digital download.

Somerville has also led an acting career, appearing in Sally Potter's 1992 film of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, in Isaac Julien's 1998 Looking for Langston, and in an episode of the cult science fiction television series Lexx ("Girltown").

Monday, April 18, 2011

Succes 2011: Thomas Reiter, astronaut & Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe. One of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space

Thomas Arthur Reiter (born May 23, 1958 in Frankfurt, Germany) is a retired European astronaut and is a Brigadier General in the Luftwaffe currently working as Director of Human Spaceflight at the European Space Agency (ESA).

As of 2008[update], he was one of the top 25 astronauts in terms of total time in space. With his wife and two sons he lives in Wahnbek (near Oldenburg) in Lower Saxony.



In 1982, Reiter received his diploma in aerospace engineering from the Bundeswehr University of Munich. In 2010 the university awarded him a honorary doctoral degree. He completed his training as a pilot in Germany and Texas.


He served as an onboard engineer for the Euromir 95/Soyuz TM-22 mission to the Mir space station. During his 179 days aboard Mir, he carried out two EVAs and became the first German astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

Between 1996 and 1997, he underwent additional training on the Soyuz spacecraft and was awarded a "Soyuz Return Commander" certificate, qualifying him to command a three-person Soyuz crew during its return from space.


He trained for a six-month mission to the International Space Station and was launched on the Discovery STS-121 mission to join Expedition 13. The launch date was set for 1 July 2006, but was moved to 2 July, and finally launched on 4 July 2006 due to weather delays. Discovery departed 15 July, leaving Reiter behind with Expedition 13. He later became part of Expedition 14 before returning to Earth aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission.

His ISS mission was designated Astrolab by the European Space Agency.


Reiter has logged just over 350 days in space, the most by any non-American or non-Russian.

On August 8, 2007 Thomas Reiter was named a member of DLR's executive board. On March 17, 2011 he was appointed Director, now being responsible for training of astronauts, microgravity research, operations of space-based infrastructure and ESA satellite missions.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Internaționali români de fotbal: Rodion Cămătaru

Rodion Gorun Cămătaru (n. 22 iunie 1958, Strehaia) este un fost fotbalist român, care a jucat în echipa națională de fotbal a României.
Rodion Gorun Cămătaru s-a născut la data de 22 iunie 1958 în orașul Strehaia și a debutat ca jucător de fotbal în Divizia A la echipa Universitatea Craiova la 10 noiembrie 1974 în meciul Universitatea Craiova - CFR Cluj-Napoca 1-1.

A evoluat ca fotbalist timp de 12 sezoane la Universitatea, câștigând două titluri de campion al României (cu echipa) în sezoanele 1979-1980 și 1980-1981 și patru Cupe ale României (1977, 1978, 1981, 1983). În anul 1986 s-a transferat la Dinamo București, devenind golgheter al Diviziei A.
În anul 1987, Rodion Cămătaru a câștigat trofeul Gheata de Aur a Europei, marcând în acel sezon 44 de goluri pentru Dinamo, într-un număr de 33 de meciuri jucate. Această reușită de excepție a provocat multe comentarii și controverse, deoarece Cămătaru marcase 20 goluri în ultimele șase etape de campionat.


Rodion Cămătaru a disputat 422 de meciuri pentru echipele de club, din care 377 în Divizia A, 29 la Charleroi și 16 la Heerenveen, marcând 198 goluri în Divizia A, în 15 sezoane. A jucat 47 de meciuri în cupele europene cu Universitatea Craiova și Dinamo București, marcând de șapte ori. Ultimul meci în Divizia A a avut loc la 14 iunie 1989 Dinamo București - FC Bihor Oradea 5-1.
S-a retras din activitatea de jucător de fotbal în anul 1993, după ce, din 1989, se transferase la echipe din Belgia și Olanda. Cămătaru a înscris la 20 mai 1993 ultimul gol ca fotbalist profesionist în finala Cupei Olandei la fotbal, jucând pentru echipa SC Heerenveen. Acel meci a fost câștigat însă de echipa adversă, Ajax Amsterdam.

Cămătaru a jucat în de 75 meciuri în echipa națională a României, pentru care a înscris 22 de goluri. El a făcut parte din lotul echipei de fotbal a României la turneele finale de la Campionatul European de Fotbal din 1984 și apoi de la Campionatul Mondial de Fotbal din 1990.
Rodion Gorun Cămătaru (born 22 June 1958) is a retired Romanian footballer, who played as a striker.

He was born in Strehaia and debuted in Divizia A with Universitatea Craiova in 1974. He spent twelve seasons with Universitatea, winning the league titles in 1980 and 1981. In 1986, he was transferred to Dinamo Bucureşti, where he became the Divizia A top goalscorer the first season with 44 goals in 33 games. He retired in 1993, having played in Belgium and the Netherlands since 1989. Cămătaru scored his last ever goal as a professional in the Dutch cup final, playing for Heerenveen, on 20 May 1993. The match was won by Ajax.
He controversially won the European Golden Boot as Europe's best goal scorer in 1987, after scoring 20 of his 44 goals in the last 6 games of the season. It is widely believed that this was due to manipulation, and so 20 years later, the second placed Toni Polster was also granted a Golden Boot.

Cămătaru got 75 caps and scored 22 goals for the Romanian national team, and represented his country at Euro 1984 and the 1990 World Cup.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Internaționali români de fotbal: Miodrag Belodedici

Miodrag Belodedici este un fost fotbalist român, actualmente director al centrelor de juniori ale Federației Române de Fotbal. Mai este poreclit și "Belo". S-a remarcat ca fotbalist la Steaua București, între 1983 și 1989, și la Steaua Roșie Belgrad, între 1989-1992. A câștigat 2 Cupe ale Campionilor cu Steaua Roșie Belgrad și Steaua București.
Miodrag Belodedici și-a început cariera de fotbalist la echipa Minerul Moldova Nouă, din liga județeană Caraș-Severin. Format de antrenorul Olimp Mateescu, Belodedici a fost transferat în anul 1982 la Luceafărul București. De aici, a fost recrutat la Steaua de către Ion Alecsandrescu, președintele clubului la acea dată. Miodrag Belodedici a evoluat la Steaua până în 1988, cucerind cu acest club patru ediții consecutive ale Campionatului României, Cupa României în 1985, 1987 și 1988, și Cupa Campionilor Europeni, în 1986, după ce a evoluat ca fundaș toate cele 120 de minute ale finalei decise în urma penalty-urilor de departajare. În vara următoare, Belodedici a câștigat cu Steaua și Supercupa Europei, în 1987.
În 1988, Miodrag Belodedici a fugit în Iugoslavia, acest fapt atrăgându-i o condamnare de 10 ani de închisoare în absență pentru trădare din partea regimului comunist. În Iugoslavia, Belodedici a jucat la Steaua Roșie Belgrad. Odată cu căderea regimului comunist din țara sa natală, Belodedici a fost grațiat. În scurt timp, a devenit unul din oamenii de bază ai echipei iugoslave, iar în anul 1991 a câștigat din nou Cupa Campionilor Europeni, după o finală cu Olympique de Marseille. Și această finală de Cupa Campionilor a fost decisă tot la penalty-uri. La Steaua Roșie Belgrad a evoluat până în 1992. Din 1992 și până în 1994 Belodedici evoluează sub culorile clubului Valencia CF, evoluând în Primera División. În 1994, imediat după Campionatul Mondial din Statele Unite, Belodedici a plecat la Valladolid, club de la care a trecut la Villareal CF, după care a plecat în Mexic, pentru a evolua pentru Atlante. S-a întors în România în anul 1998, și până în 2001 a evoluat din nou la Steaua, echipa la care s-a consacrat. Belodedici a cucerit cu Steaua al cincilea titilu de campion al României, în 2001, și o Cupă a României în 1999. Și-a încheiat cariera de fotbalist la vârsta de 37 de ani.
Miodrag Belodedici a debutat în echipa națională în 1984, de-a lungul carierei sale adunând 53 de selecții. A jucat pentru naționala României la Campionatul Mondial din 1994, precum și la Campionatul European din 1996. În 2009, cu ocazia Centenarului Federației Române de Fotbal, a primit distincția „Diamant” pentru întreaga sa activitate alături de alți importanți fotbaliști români.

Miodrag Belodedici (the usual Romanian spelling of Serbian Миодраг Белодедић, Miodrag Belodedić; (born 20 May 1964 in Socol) is a former Romanian football central defender.
Nicknamed The deer due to his elegant tackles, he won the European Cup twice, in 1986 with Steaua Bucureşti and 1991 with Red Star Belgrade, thus becoming the first player to win the trophy with two different clubs. Both of those clubs are from Eastern Europe, and the only Eastern European clubs that ever managed to capture the European Champions Cup.
Belodedici was born in a family of Serbian ethnicity in the village of Socol, near the border with Serbia. He joined the youth squad of Minerul Moldova Nouă in 1978, where his first coach was Olimp Mateescu. Three years later, he was selected to play for Luceafărul Bucureşti, a team formed by the Romanian Football Federation for the purpose of gathering all talented young players in the country in one squad.

From Luceafărul, Belodedici was signed by Steaua Bucureşti, being selected by the club's chairman Ion Alecsandrescu, after a search for an adequate sweeper. Between 1982 and 1988, Belodedici had a rewarding career with Steaua, winning the Romanian championship in 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1988, the Romanian Cup in 1985, 1987 and 1988, as well as the European Cup in 1986, the European Supercup in 1987, also reaching the Champions' Cup last four in 1987-88.

During this period, Belodedici made his debut for the Romanian national team on July 31, 1984, a friendly 1-0 win over China, playing in 19 games with four goals until 1992. Additionally, he became frustrated in his ambitions to play for Red Star Belgrade, the team he supported in childhood, as the communist regime did not allow players to transfer abroad.
In 1988, when the Nicolae Ceauşescu regime was still in power, Belodedici defected from his home country to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He later gave an account of his escape to Belgrade: once he had seen himself in the city, Belodedici contacted the president of Red Star, but could not get through due to widespread commotion in the team over the team's defeat in the derby with Partizan Belgrade. A Serbian friend attempted to have Belodedici agree to sign for Partizan instead, but Belodedici insisted that he would only play for Red Star. The president interrupted their conversation, and, when he realized that he was in fact the 1986 European Cup winner, he immediately signed him on the team as they were in need of a sweeper.

However, during his first year he had to play without a legal contract, and only in friendly matches, as the Romanian authorities forged his professional player contract, and UEFA suspended him for one year on the basis of data furnished. The Ceauşescu regime found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to ten years of prison in absentia. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, all charges were dropped, and Belodedici returned to Bucharest.

In 1989, Belodedici was given the green light to play for Red Star and, soon after, became a permanent fixture on the squad. In 1991, he won the European Cup for the second time, scoring in the final against Olympique de Marseille, during the penalty shoot-out. He became only the second player to win the European Cup with two different clubs, but the first to do so by playing in both finals; as the first player to do so, Jimmy Rimmer, never played in the 1968 European Cup Final.
After a second European conquest, important European football clubs showed a keen interest to sign Belodedici, and he was sought after by U.C. Sampdoria, but signed with Valencia CF instead, in July 1992. During the period, Belodedici was called to play for the national football team for the first time in four years.

After only two years at Valencia, Belodedici spent one season each with Real Valladolid and Villarreal CF (the latter then in the second division), leaving for Mexico in 1996 to play for Atlante FC. In 1998, he returned to Steaua, and won another Romanian championship in 2001, adding a domestic cup in 1999.

Retiring in 2001, Belodedici worked with the Romanian Football Federation, coordinating national youth teams. As a player, he totalled 53 appearances for the country, and appeared in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, helping the nation reach the quarterfinals, also being selected for two UEFA European Championships: 1996 and 2000.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ronnie Coleman, de opt ori Mr. Olympia. Sportivul cu cele mai multe victorii în culturismul profesionist

Ronald Dean Coleman este un culturist profesionist american, căștigător al titlului Mr. Olympia de opt ori consecutiv, între anii 1998 - 2005. Este cunoscut sub diminutivul "Ronnie Coleman". La înălțimea de 1,80m el cântărește în jur de 135 kg în formă de concurs, iar în extrasezon urcă până la aproximativ 150 kg.
Pe lângă cele opt titluri de Mr. Olympia, prin care l-a egalat pe alt american de culoare, Lee Haney (campion între anii 1984 - 1991), Coleman deține recordul pentru cele mai multe victorii în culturismul profesionist, câștigând 26 de concursuri. Coleman a absolvit Grambling State University în 1989 cu specialitatea contabilitate. În acea perioadă el a jucat fotbal american în echipa universității. După absolvire, Coleman a lucrat ca ofițer de poliție în paralel cu activitatea de culturist profesionist.
Coleman a participat la Mr. Olympia 2006, desfășurat la 30 septembrie în Las Vegas, Nevada, cu dorința de a doborî recordul de opt victorii deținut de el și Haney, dar a terminat pe locul doi în urma lui Jay Cutler. În 2007 a încercat din nou să mai obțină un titlu, dar s-a clasat doar pe locul patru. După premiere, Ronnie a anunțat că aceasta a fost ultima lui participare la concursul Mr. Olympia.
Ronnie Dean "Big Ron" Coleman (born May 13, 1964 in Bastrop, Louisiana) is an American professional bodybuilder who holds the record of eight straight wins as Mr. Olympia, a record career total that he shares with Lee Haney.Alongside his eight Mr. Olympia wins as a professional bodybuilder, Coleman holds the record for most wins as an IFBB professional with 26. He broke the previous record (held by Vince Taylor at 22 wins) in Moscow on November 5, 2004.
Coleman graduated cum laude from Grambling State University (GSU) in 1986 with a B.S degree in accounting. While attending Grambling State University Coleman also played football as a middle linebacker with the GSU Tigers under famous coach Eddie Robinson. After graduation, Coleman became a police officer.
Being a police officer allowed Coleman the free time he needed to work out. Coleman's fellow officer suggested he attend a gym known as Metroflex. The owner of the gym was Brian Dobson, who happen to also be an amateur bodybuilder, offered Coleman a free lifetime membership to Metroflex if he would allow him to train Coleman for the upcoming Mr. Texas bodybuilding competition that year.
After the training for the upcoming event of Mr. Texas, Coleman won first place in both the heavy weight and overall categories. He also defeated the man that trained him, Dobson. Also in 1990 not only did Coleman take the title of Mr. Texas but he also took titles in that years National Physique Committee (NPC) Texas Championships. In 1991 Coleman also won what is probably considered one of the most prestigious competitions in amateur bodybuilding, Mr. Universe. This victory qualified him to enter the professional contest sponsored by the IFBB, the sport's largest sanctioning body.
Coleman won his first competition as a professional—the Canada Pro Cup in 1995. The following year he won the contest again. Followed by a first place win in 1997, The Russian Grand Prix.

Coleman's success as a professional bodybuilder has led to many product endorsements and other opportunities in his career. Due to his bodybuilding profession Coleman undergoes a lot of travel to places such as China, Brazil, and Australia. Coleman also makes many guest appearances at gym openings all around the U.S.
Coleman has also made some training videos. His first Training Video; The Unbelievable; The cost of Redemption; and On the Road. In these videos Coleman gives tips for more experienced weightlifters, while warning against over exertion and improper form.
When working out, Coleman prefers to use free weights rather than machines in order to maximize his flexibility and range of motion. He lifts weights six days per week.
Coleman supports the Inner City Games, an organization that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger co-founded in 1991. He was the recipient of the 2001 Admiral in the Texas Navy Certificate Award from Texas Governor Rick Perry for outstanding achievements in bodybuilding and for the promotion of physical fitness.
On June 30, 2009 on MuscleSport Radio, Coleman stated that he would compete in the 2010 Mr. Olympia competition.[citation needed] Coleman also indicated that he would not participate in the 2009 Mr. Olympia competition for lack of preparation time. On October 10, 2009 at the Northern Territory Fitness & Bodybuilding Titles in Darwin, Australia, Coleman confirmed that he would compete in the 2010 Mr. Olympia competition, however, he did not appear at the 2010 Mr. Olympia competition.