The biggest 2023 Mr. Olympia takeaways after an exciting event full of shakeups.
The 2023 Mr. Olympia has come to a close and brought about a truly exciting event matching the hype behind such an impressive and massive lineup. We have a new champion in the form of Derek Lunsford who had dethroned the 2022 champion, Hadi Choopan.
Beyond Derek Lunsford’s massive victory, the top five placings in the 2023 Mr. Olympia signal a regime shift currently underway. You can check out our full coverage of the 2023 Olympia results across all divisions right here. But in this article we are going to discuss the possible insights this year’s competition has given us – and what it could mean for the future of this event and the sport as a whole.
Check out our three major takeaways from the 2022 Mr. Olympia right here:
Men’s 212 is taking over the Men’s Open division
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While Derek Lunsford has not been in the Men’s 212 division since 2021, it’s important to note that this is the division where he got his start. Just last year after he received the special invite to compete in the open division, many fans and even experts scoffed at the idea of Lunsford competing in the Men’s Open. His notable smaller size overall and his shorter height had many worry that he couldn’t compete agains “the big boys.”
Lunsford took 2nd place in his first ever Mr. Olympia showing, and after just one year is now is the new Mr. Olympia champion. However Derek Lunsford is not alone in this incredibly successful transition. Hadi Choopan had also transitioned from 212 to Men’s Open, and after a few years had won the Mr. Olympia title himself. Even Kamal Elgargni had considered competing in the Men’s Open, after competing in the 212 division.
And let’s not forget about Shaun Clarida. While Clarida ultimately stuck in his lane with the Men’s 212 division (and earned himself a second Olympia victory), he was seriously considering competing in the Men’s Open division as well. This idea came after he competed in Men’s Open, and won, during the Legion Sports Fest competition.
We have no way of knowing what place or how well Clarida would have done in the Men’s Open this year, as he was also dethroned by Keone Pearson in the 212 division. But his absolutely astonishing conditioning very well could have gotten him into the top five. It’s that same consistent conditioning that eventually helped other 212 competitors like Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford win.
Sprinkle in the fact that there’s an alternate universe where Flex Lewis didn’t retire and came through on his plan to compete in the Men’s Open Mr. Olympia – and you have four massively successful Men’s 212 competitors that could (or could have) made waves in the biggest division in bodybuilding.
Size Doesn’t Always Matter
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At the 2018 Olympia, the late Shawn Rhoden shocked the world by defeating Phil Heath which made him into an Mr. Olympia champion. What was notable about this is he outshined others who were much larger than him. After years of judges rewarding size, Rhoden won on conditioning and symmetry. Unfortunate events followed by his tragic death ultimately never allowed us to Rhoden compete at the Olympia again.
Yet at the time it seemed that the judges reset their course back to size – with Brandon Curry and then Big Ramy winning the Olympia over the next few years. The whole show seemed like a size game yet again. Which is why Nick Walker was so hyped going into this year’s big show, after placing third last year. Unfortunately he did not get to compete due to a hamstring injury.
With Hadi Choopan winning the Mr. Olympia last year and Derek Lunsford taking it this year, it has been re-solidified that size is not always the be-all end-all to winning the show. This year especially, we had seen competitors like Andrew Jacked and Samson Dauda come in with great conditioning and massive size, but they were still taken down by smaller competitors. Now will these just be isolated wins, or are the judges favoring symmetry, conditioning, and posing over size? Only time will tell but a win from Choopan followed by a win by Lunsford definitely a message to all athletes that size is not the only path to victory.
Classic Physique May be the Future
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Now, there were undoubtedly some great competitors in the 212 and Men’s Open Division, however, the Classic Physique Division is growing at a rapid rate, and that shows more and more each year. With competitors like Chris Bumstead and Ramon “Dino” Rocha Queiroz leading the division, many up and coming competitors are looking to chase the “classic” look.
The look that they are going for is certainly having significant amounts of muscle mass, but also sporting a small waist, great conditioning, excellent symmetry, all being brought together by great posing. It is no doubt that not everyone wants to look like some of the larger competitors that you see in Men’s Open or 212, and that is okay, sometimes that may be too big.
However, the Classic Physique division is growing more and more, as the emphasis is not on being as big as you can possibly be. This year, there were almost 40 competitors that were qualified for the Classic Physique Division at the Olympia, while there were only a little over 20 for Men’s Open.
There is no right or wrong in which division you choose, but it goes to show that some divisions are growing at a rapid rate, and the stereotypical Men’s Open bodybuilder may not be the desired physique anymore.
Olympia Takeaways Wrap up
It’s hard to believe that just over five years ago, we had the same Mr. Olympia champion for seven years straight. In the past five years, we’ve seen four new champions. This is a sign of true change in generations and talent. It’s an exciting time to be watching the sport and with athletes like Andrew Jacked and Michal Krizo just getting started – there’s much more excitement in store for us down the road.
Generation Iron Fitness Network will continue to cover Mr. Olympia post-show updates as they become available.
