Derek Lunsford had been hoping to go into 2026 as Mr. Olympia, but it all ended in third place, with Nick Walker and Samson Dauda taking the top two spots. After the event, he spoke about it and admitted he didn't feel right at the prejudging and that his muscles weren't quite working the way he'd hoped.
His comments gave a bit of a flavor of what had transpired during Olympia Weekend, particularly after he'd walked in as the reigning champion. His post-show explanation wasn't in any way an attempt to undermine the result. He admitted he wasn't on his A game and did, in fact, go on to congratulate Walker on winning his first Sandow Trophy.
He said his muscles weren't firing the way he thought they should be and that he just didn't feel like himself on stage. All the preparation, all the confidence he'd had competing, his physique just wasn't there.
Lunsford was equally careful not to use it as an excuse for his position. He accepted the result and acknowledged that his rivals had actually performed better when it came to the important bits.
Importantly, he didn't identify any particular injury, any particular illness, or any particular preparation mistake as the cause. We simply don't know what the cause was.
The official scorecard confirmed the following results:
In bodybuilding, lower is better, so Walker took the overall title with 18 points, two points ahead of Dauda. Lunsford came in four points behind the champion.
Walker provided the required consistency in both rounds; Dauda had a very good final to move ahead of Lunsford.
Lunsford was extremely close to Walker on Friday, just one point behind. Saturday's finals, though, completely changed the order. Dauda got five points in the finals, Walker got ten, and Lunsford got fifteen.
This meant Dauda took the final round, but Walker's consistency throughout the series won him the title.
The result also serves to underline just how important it is for the competitors to be in full conditioning, fullness and presentation throughout both nights of competition.
Coach Fabrício Pacholok reportedly thought Lunsford looked like his best physique of the year during the prejudging. He did have a concern about the difficulty of getting into that state for the Saturday finals, though, and noted that it had happened before. He felt the team needed to get to the root of why Lunsford can't seem to get back into that form.
Meanwhile, Chris Aceto (coach) had a different take on it. He was very complimentary of Lunsford's conditioning, but did point out that Walker had certainly improved in terms of his muscularity and his overall presentation.
These assessments would suggest that Lunsford's third place wasn't simply the result of poor conditioning. The overall muscle development, the way he presented himself, and his consistency would all have been factors.
At the Olympia press conference on Thursday, Samson Dauda put a number of the Men’s Open guys on the spot by challenging them to a spontaneous pose down. Nick Walker and Andrew Jacked both accepted the challenge; Lunsford stayed in his seat.
The decision provoked a bit of a debate among the fans, especially after Dauda himself raised the question of whether he was actually willing to take part.
After Lunsford admitted he was 'off' during the prejudging, a few fans started linking the two incidents. He never confirmed that his decision to skip the pose down was in any way related to his state of physical being. There's no evidence to suggest they were linked.
After winning Mr. Olympia in 2023, he dropped to 3rd in 2024 and then came back in 2025 to win the title again. That comeback cemented him as one of the most tenacious competitors in modern Men's Open bodybuilding.
Now that Nick Walker has the title, Lunsford has another hurdle to overcome. His coaching staff will have to assess his preparation, his muscle response, and his ability to stay in the right state of conditioning throughout the event.
His 2026 result is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to his previous championship performances, but a third place doesn't take anything away from what he's achieved.
His comments made it perfectly clear he wasn't happy with how his physique was responding, though he didn't put his finger on anyone in particular and didn't give any confirmed explanation.
With Nick Walker the new champion and Samson Dauda taking second place, the Men's Open has another interesting story to tell as we head into the next season.
Lunsford has already demonstrated that he can go from a 3rd place finish to win the Sandow again. Whether or not he can do that again will be down to how well he and his coaching staff can deal with the problems that arose in this year's competition.
His comments gave a bit of a flavor of what had transpired during Olympia Weekend, particularly after he'd walked in as the reigning champion. His post-show explanation wasn't in any way an attempt to undermine the result. He admitted he wasn't on his A game and did, in fact, go on to congratulate Walker on winning his first Sandow Trophy.
Derek Lunsford Says He Wasn't at His Best During the 2026 Olympia
In a post-show interview with Tony Doherty of NPC News Online, Lunsford spoke about his performance after the loss of the title and admitted that something just didn't feel right during the Friday pre-judging.He said his muscles weren't firing the way he thought they should be and that he just didn't feel like himself on stage. All the preparation, all the confidence he'd had competing, his physique just wasn't there.
Lunsford was equally careful not to use it as an excuse for his position. He accepted the result and acknowledged that his rivals had actually performed better when it came to the important bits.
Importantly, he didn't identify any particular injury, any particular illness, or any particular preparation mistake as the cause. We simply don't know what the cause was.
Nick Walker Wins the 2026 Mr. Olympia as Samson Dauda Takes Second
The 2026 Men's Open saw Nick Walker win his first Mr. Olympia, Samson Dauda take second, and Lunsford third.The official scorecard confirmed the following results:
| Competitor | Prejudging | Finals | Total |
| Nick Walker | 8 | 10 | 18 |
| Samson Dauda | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| Derek Lunsford | 9 | 15 | 24 |
Walker provided the required consistency in both rounds; Dauda had a very good final to move ahead of Lunsford.
What happened between the prejudging and the finals?
One of the biggest talking points from the 2026 Olympia was the divergence between the prejudging and the finals results.Lunsford was extremely close to Walker on Friday, just one point behind. Saturday's finals, though, completely changed the order. Dauda got five points in the finals, Walker got ten, and Lunsford got fifteen.
This meant Dauda took the final round, but Walker's consistency throughout the series won him the title.
The result also serves to underline just how important it is for the competitors to be in full conditioning, fullness and presentation throughout both nights of competition.
Derek Lunsford's Coaches Offer Another Perspective
Following the competition, the debate about Lunsford's performance continued amongst the bodybuilding experts and his coaching staff.Coach Fabrício Pacholok reportedly thought Lunsford looked like his best physique of the year during the prejudging. He did have a concern about the difficulty of getting into that state for the Saturday finals, though, and noted that it had happened before. He felt the team needed to get to the root of why Lunsford can't seem to get back into that form.
Meanwhile, Chris Aceto (coach) had a different take on it. He was very complimentary of Lunsford's conditioning, but did point out that Walker had certainly improved in terms of his muscularity and his overall presentation.
These assessments would suggest that Lunsford's third place wasn't simply the result of poor conditioning. The overall muscle development, the way he presented himself, and his consistency would all have been factors.
The Olympia Press Conference Pose-Down Controversy
Another moment which drew the eye was prior to the competition even starting.At the Olympia press conference on Thursday, Samson Dauda put a number of the Men’s Open guys on the spot by challenging them to a spontaneous pose down. Nick Walker and Andrew Jacked both accepted the challenge; Lunsford stayed in his seat.
The decision provoked a bit of a debate among the fans, especially after Dauda himself raised the question of whether he was actually willing to take part.
After Lunsford admitted he was 'off' during the prejudging, a few fans started linking the two incidents. He never confirmed that his decision to skip the pose down was in any way related to his state of physical being. There's no evidence to suggest they were linked.
Can Derek Lunsford bounce back after another third-place finish?
Lunsford has already shown he can recover from an Olympia disappointment.After winning Mr. Olympia in 2023, he dropped to 3rd in 2024 and then came back in 2025 to win the title again. That comeback cemented him as one of the most tenacious competitors in modern Men's Open bodybuilding.
Now that Nick Walker has the title, Lunsford has another hurdle to overcome. His coaching staff will have to assess his preparation, his muscle response, and his ability to stay in the right state of conditioning throughout the event.
His 2026 result is a bit of a disappointment in comparison to his previous championship performances, but a third place doesn't take anything away from what he's achieved.
What's next for Derek Lunsford?
Derek Lunsford's priority at the moment is going to be working out what it was that stopped him from putting in his very best performance at the 2026 Mr. Olympia.His comments made it perfectly clear he wasn't happy with how his physique was responding, though he didn't put his finger on anyone in particular and didn't give any confirmed explanation.
With Nick Walker the new champion and Samson Dauda taking second place, the Men's Open has another interesting story to tell as we head into the next season.
Lunsford has already demonstrated that he can go from a 3rd place finish to win the Sandow again. Whether or not he can do that again will be down to how well he and his coaching staff can deal with the problems that arose in this year's competition.
