Two weeks ago in Mumbai, India my girlfriend, Darielle, and I were eating dinner at the airport with Kai Greene and George Farah. We had gotten to the airport several hours early and found a restaurant with a decent menu. We hadn’t planned to eat dinner with Kai and George but, not surprisingly, Kai was hungry and this was the only restaurant in our wing of the airport.
As soon as we sat down to order I mentioned a small brass statue of the Goddess of Death, Kali, we bought while shopping in Mumbai, and Kai asked to see it. When I showed it to him, he asked if he could borrow it. After I said “sure”, he broke out his sketch pad and pencil and began drawing his version of Kali. As he was drawing, I enlightened Kai and George about shopping in Mumbai and about our time touring the city. When I asked Kai if he has a chance to see the city, Kai informed me that he doesn’t like leaving his hotel room during a show, so he hadn’t really had a chance to see anything. Knowing how inquisitive I am, you know I had to ask WHY.
He explained that in 1999 he won the NPC Team Universe Heavyweight and Overall, thus qualifying him to compete at the IFBB Amateur World Championships in Bratislava, Slovakia. He traveled half way across the world in hopes of winning that title.
When he arrived in Slovakia, he was brought to the host hotel and checked in with the rest of the American contingency. The power outlet in his hotel room didn’t work so he went down to the front desk and asked to have his room switched to one with a working outlet. Later that night someone came to his room, and told him the weigh-in had been moved to earlier that night, and Kai had missed his chance to weigh-in. He was told that they called his room (the original one), and they even went looking for him, but he couldn’t be located. He begged them to weigh him in in the morning, but to no avail. Kai would have been disqualified, but he was saved at the last minute by a phone call from IFBB Pro League President, Jim Manion. If not for that phone call Kai would have never gotten onstage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxlgNMxHLio
After telling the story in a rather matter-of-fact fashion, Kai looked off into the distance and told us that at that time in his life that show was all he had to look forward to. It was the highlight of his life at that point in time. It’s hard to imagine the disappointment Kai must have felt when he was told he was disqualified, but hearing him recall the story I could almost hear the sadness in his voice. As soon as the story was over, Kai went right back to sketching my Kali statue.
This event traumatized Kai to the point that he no longer leaves his hotel room during contests. He only leaves to go to pre-judging or the finals.
The dinner with Kai left me thinking about overcoming adversity, and how anything is possible. When it was time to leave, I got up to pay my bill only to discover that Kai had already paid for Darielle and me. Kai has always impressed me for what he’s accomplished in bodybuilding. In India, he impressed me on a whole new level. He may not like to leave his hotel room, but he certainly went out of his way to show my girlfriend and me that he’s a class act onto himself.
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