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The winner of the Mr Olympia is the person who sets the standard for the entire division and every athlete within that division looks to him as the guy they have to beat. Nick doesn’t have an aesthetic look and that’s a major problem as far as I’m concerned. Bodybuilding has always been a sport that rewards symmetry and flow. This is what Joe and Ben Weider envisioned. Just look at the Olympia statue. Eugene Sandow was the definition of balance. That physique wouldn’t even get a pro card in Men’s Physique (the least muscular division) today. The sport has lost its way. Sandow had proportions and a look that was pleasing from every angle. This model continued from Larry Scott (the first Mr. O) all the way to 1983 with Samir Bannout (aka The Lion of Libya).
As much as I love Lee Haney, he was the champion who changed the sport. Haney was all about “mass with class,” and he lived that to its truest intention; however, his reign created a shift in size. From there is where I think the sport started to have mixed priorities. Was size suddenly the most important thing? And even if it wasn’t, it was a driving force.
Bodybuilding slowly but surely stopped being about art and gracefulness, and more about the freak factor. After Haney, it really became a runaway train with Dorian Yates. There wasn’t anything aesthetically pleasing about The Shadow. The guy was just huge and gnarly. He was grainy and he was a monster in the gym. This made the sport bring about other freaks like Paul Dillett and Nasser El Sonbaty knocking on the door. If you have a freak as Mr. Olympia, then you need to out-freak the freak. Similarly, we’re going to see the same thing happen today. No one is going to try to beat a guy nicknamed “The Mutant” with aesthetics and symmetry. To beat a mutant, you must be an ever bigger mutant.
There are those who will stick to their guns. They won’t subscribe to the mass monster look, but they’ll keep doing their thing in terms of staying true to the essence of bodybuilding. They may or may not see success. I suspect the sport missed having a guy on top who was a freak, but not necessarily an ankle biter. Guys like Lunsford and Choopan are gnarly and ripped, but they’re ex-212 guys. You can’t inspire much freak factor when you’re not tall enough to get on the rides at the state fair. The fact is, we’ve been seeing a shift to bigger, taller guys with many of the recent victories in the sport. Guys like Walker, who may not be super tall but is taller than Lunsford, Choopan, and Fitzwater), as well as taller guys like Dauda, Jacked, and Krizzo.
One look at the 2026 Olympia Top 6 and you see that Derek looked like an absolute midget. I think they want to move away from that. I mean Derek was throwing up #3 signs, implying he was about to win his 3rd title and got relegated to a disappointing 3rd place. Many people don’t even believe he deserved that place. I’m one of those people. Despite having a great back and wheels, I wasn’t super impressed with the 2x champion. Nonetheless, I’m happy he was able to lose with some honor. Look at what they did with Big Ramy. He not only lost his 3rd Olympia, but he took an embarrassing 5th place. I guess that’s what you get for being a no-show at an important guest posing and not giving any kind of explanation until 10 days later. Coincidence? I think not.
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