Really Race Number Two For the Olympia

[Joe Pietaro]

EDITOR'S NOTE: We posted a recent article about the first Olympia era which we coined a 'relay race,' meaning that period of time consisted of different winners year-to-year sandwiched between two dynasties. There is a similar set of circumstances taking place now, albeit with some differences, but close enough to classify it as the same.

There was a lot more at stake than just deciding who was the best bodybuilder on the planet that night in Las Vegas back in September of 2018. Phil Heath and Shawn Rhoden stood shoulder-to-shoulder awaiting the announcement, one that would put the former in the record books as tying the mark for the most consecutive Olympia titles in the history of the sport or if the latter would knock out the champ to potentially begin a streak of his own. When emcee Bob Cicherillo called out Rhoden's name as the new Mr. Olympia, it still remained to be seen how this set off a chain of events that continues to the present day.

Unfortunately, Rhoden would never take the stage again to defend his title, as he ran into legal trouble and was ineligible to compete until that were resolved. The man known as "Flexatron" tragically passed away before the court proceedings and his greatest moment as a bodybuilder would in fact be his last.

In 2019, Brandon Curry took home the Sandow and bested a field of that included only one previous Olympia winner, the ageless Dexter Jackson, who won in 2008. The pandemic hit the world before the next Olympia Weekend and the promoters needed to scramble to reschedule it not only to a later month (December), but also changing the host city from Las Vegas to Orlando, Florida; crowd restrictions made it necessary to move it to a state that loosened some of the rules where an event of this size and magnitude could still take place.

We'll never know if that extra three months made a difference or not since all of the competitors had to deal with it, but Mamdouh "Big Ray" Ellsbiay was dialed in and his massiveness was coupled with the best conditioning that he ever had. This package was enough to defeat Curry, who was the runner-up and Heath - who skipped the 2019 show after having hernia surgery - came in strong and placed third.

Elssbiay repeated in October of 2021 with the show staying in Orlando and it appeared that he may begin his own run; it's early impossible to outsize him and when he's on, Elssbiay is quite the powerhouse. He wasn't as sharp as the previous year, but was certainly good enough to hold off the rest of the line-up.

The Olympia returned to Sin City in 2022 and was held in December. The line-up was stacked and Elssbiay certainly had his work cut out for him. Whatever the reason(s), he came in way off from the previous two years and it was apparent at prejudging that there were many other competitors who looked better and barring a miracle, one of them would unseat the reigning champion.

Height is not always an indicator of who gets the most attention and this show was a perfect example of that. Elssbiay ended up dropping all the way to fifth and was lucky to have placed that high. Hadi Choopan, a former 212 competitor who had been impressive in the open category, ended up edging out Derek Lunsford, who was the 2021 212 Olympia champion and made the decision to move up. It certainly paid off and he nearly pulled it off. Nick Walker placed third and Curry fourth.

So that brings us to the present time and the Olympia will be back in Orlando and held in November. Five different champions in the last six years and it shouldn't surprise anyone if a new competitor ends up in the winer's circle. There are so many possibilities and even Elssbiay - who looked much better a few months later at the Arnold Classic - cannot be overlooked. Choopan is no slam dunk and someone such as Samson Duada (who won the 2023 Arnold) can certainly come in and walk out the new champion.

Let the relay race continue. Maybe...