One of the biggest gatherings of its kind, the Olympia Expo and accompanying competitions took over the Mandalay Bay Hotel (and Casino, of course) October 18-20th. And although I can't say the same for the roulette tables, attending the expo is always a rewarding experience.

As always, a throng of humanity showed up to check out all the expo festivities, which included everything from the "Battle of the Biceps", to martial arts competitions, to a scantily clad man doing the robot (don't ask). But for the most part, people were there for the booths.. and all the free junk forced upon all the visitors.

There's also the free t-shirts, which drew huge crowds whenever they were handed out (or shot out of a cannon). Trust me, I'm a big fan of t-shirts and all, but I'm not about to go crazy for one like a hyperactive kid trying to snatch up all the candy from a busted pinata. But more power to you, ya bunch of 100% cotton fiends.

Another insane aspect of the Olympia was the journey from the parking lot to the actual hotel (and casino). For some reason, the stairwell in the parking structure was "out of order" (wha..?), so that meant every human that wanted to get to the expo needed to take the elevator. And trust me, although the elevators were spacious, when you pack a couple of hefty bodybuilder dudes in there, shoulder room becomes very limited.

One final point I'd like to bring up before "introducing" the coverage is, although FitSights has come a very long way in the past year or so, as long as we have a ".com" associated with the name, its gonna be tough for everyone to feel comfortable being a part of the expo coverage.

Case in point, when I approached an unnamed booth worker and explained what I was doing and why, she politely said that she didn't want her photo taken because she's trying to "protect her image", and that someone else already came by and took it, so I can use that photo since we're all taking pictures for the same site (not sure what that meant exactly).

Now, I'm not trying to call this particular girl out with a "DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" sort of line, because her concerns are very valid. It's just disappointing that as long as FitSights is a website, people are always going to think in the back of their minds, "What am I getting myself into? Is my head going to be cut out and placed on the body of a porn photo or something?!" I'm sure if my business card said "FitSights: The Magazine" or "FitSights: the Toaster Oven" or anything besides ".com", people wouldn't be so wary. But that's the way of the world right now, and until I launch my own magazine (don't hold your breath), I'll have to carry the negative stigma along with it. And trust me, that stigma is heavy.. my back is killin' me.

Ok, now on to "FitSights: the Toaster Oven's" coverage of the 2002 Olympia Expo:

With just about every major supplement company and magazine setting up shop on the expo grounds, a plethora of fitness models and competitors were needed to meet and greet all the attendees. We here at FitSights do our best to provide a "who's who" of all the booth girls, which can be found below. Click on a pic, see who it is, and then click on their name to visit their site (if they have one). Pretty simple, eh? Now get clickin!