Mr. Olympia 2020 Bodybuilding event rescheduled.
There has been much speculation as to whether or not the 2020 Mr. Olympia would be rescheduled or even worse cancelled. With many major events around the world already pushing back dates that were meant to be held this fall and winter – it seemed only a matter of time before the Olympia followed suit.
Well now it seems that it’s finally official. According to both the NPC News Online and IFBB Pro League social media pages – the Mr. Olympia 2020 has been rescheduled. The official new date for the Mr. Olympia weekend is December 16th through 20th.
Dan Solomon reported the news officially on the Mr. Olympia LLC Instagram page via an IGTV video.
“Over the last several weeks our team here at Olympia headquarters has been working around the clock monitoring the situation throughout the world, we’ve been staying in contact with city leaders in Las Vegas, we’ve been working with the IFBB Professional League offices, and I’m pleased to share some big news…The 2020 Olympia will take place at the incredible Planet Hollywood resort right in the center of the Las Vegas strip…To give all the athletes they need to qualify and prepare, to give our business partners the time to stabilize following the quarantine, and to give everyone extra time to make plans to experience something unlike anything we’ve ever done before, the 2020 Olympia has been set for the middle of December. So this year the fitness industry will come together during the holiday season to crown new champions, and to celebrate the fitness and bodybuilding lifestyle.”
As you can see in the message above, the IFBB and NPC want to make it crystal clear that the event is not cancelled but rather postponed. Not only that, but it will still take place this year. With the Mr. Olympia usually taking place in September, that leaves little room for a new date.
The Joe Weider Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend will now take place at the Planet Hollywood. Our sources also made note that there is still a chance for the competition to be cancelled altogether for 2020, despite current public messaging in the announcement.
The announcement of this rescheduling brings up a few other questions. What will happen to the qualification date for the event? Will that also be pushed back to allow for more bodybuilding competitions to reschedule – thus allowing more competitors a chance to qualify?
Should the Olympia happen on its newly proposed schedule, there may be some excitement in the air as one of the Olympia producers has mentioned he strongly believes Shawn Rhoden will return to compete. Though Shawn Rhoden has not confirmed. On top of that, Dexter Jackson announced in February 2020 that this Mr. Olympia competition will be his last. Though he has now second guessed if he will follow through due to the recent situation due to the coronavirus.
The Olympia 2020 was also meant to be the Men’s Open debut for Flex Lewis – who received a special invitation to compete back in February 2020. After his seventh Olympia win in the Men’s Open, he announced he would no longer compete in Men’s 212. He has now transitioned to competing in the Men’s Open. This year has proven to be a challenging year for Bodybuilding contests and events worldwide. Although a significant change in Olympia ownership and the announcement of the replacement of the 2020 Expo, Olympia organizers have high big expectations for the show this year. The return of the seven-time champion Phil Heath will be highly expected.
Generation Iron will continue to update this story as it develops.
*Header image courtesy of the IFBB Pro League official Instagram
