Milos Sarcev and Ronnie Coleman were bodybuilding rivals throughout the 1990s, well before Coleman became “The King” of bodybuilding.

While Sarcev never managed to win a Mr. Olympia title, he did forge a friendship with the 8-time champion, which has now endured for over three decades. And Sarcev never fails to praise Coleman for his legacy and their friendship.

Recently, Sarcev posted a picture of himself with “The King,” captioned, “Beautiful friendship for 35 years 🙏❤️. One and only, THE GREATEST BODYBUILDER in history. @ronniecoleman8”.

The post is Ronnie Coleman-approved, as he liked the post back.

This is not the first time Sarcev has shown his admiration for Coleman. In 2024, he posted a picture of the duo wearing dresses as Roman legionaries. He also captioned that post with, “These pics always put me in a great mood. Standing next to the GOAT @ronniecoleman8 – in Rome, 1999."

And it is a two-way street.

In early 2023, Sarcev posted an old photo of himself, looking extremely shredded and dry, captioned, “How dry do we need to be?” Coleman was among some other bodybuilders who replied instantly.

He said, “Off the chain, dry and shredded here, bro”.

Ronnie Coleman is praised not only by Milos Sarcev but also by multiple other bodybuilders, and even one of his big rivals praised him.

Ronnie Coleman, the greatest ever

There is no doubt that Ronnie Coleman is the GOAT of bodybuilding. Even on episode 65 of The Schmo, Jay Cutler admitted,

“He’s the greatest ever, I’ll go on record. We all sit here and look at bodybuilders, and who we admire; this guy was my idol. So for me to come up and have him as my idol and then become a rival, and then of course have to beat him”.

Phil Heath, at the 2019 Dubai Muscle Show, coined Coleman as “the Greatest Bodybuilder of All Time”.

Heath became a fan of Coleman after watching The King in October 2004, guest posing in Denver, Colorado. Coleman’s conditioned muscle and massive size impressed Heath, and he “couldn’t help but stand up out of his “seat in pure excitement”.

Heath waited 4 hours and purchased 4 pictures of Coleman. He even attended the event where Coleman earned his 8th Mr. Olympia title. Heath also admitted, “shortly after I had turned pro, winning the Mr USA competition, I was able to meet Ronnie later that night with @hanyrambod as they let me party the night away with them”.

Ronnie Coleman's legacy remains unmatched! But are you a fan?

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Joyita Das