Tyler Manion shares that NPC natural bodybuilding shows will expand around the world.
The IFBB Pro League has added many sponsors in recent months, which has allowed prize money to grow for bodybuilding shows. The overall expansion of the sport is a major goal as well. On Wednesday, NPC/IFBB Pro League Vice President Tyler Manion shared that there will be expansion worldwide of natural bodybuilding shows.
Manion began by explaining that natural bodybuilding shows in the U.S. will double right away and there will be an additional qualifier in 2025. Natural bodybuilding continues to grow in popularity and Manion believes this expansion will help grow it further.
“I’m here with some breaking news bout our NPC natural competitions. This does for our NPC USA athletes and our NPC Worldwide athletes. For our NPC USA athletes, we’re going to have over 30 NPC natural contests here in the USA this year.”
The Ben Weider Championships are held at the end of each season and will take place in November this year. Manion continued to share the overall goal of this expansion and it is to allow competitors to be able to compete in this show.
“These will all be qualifiers to our Pro qualifier, which is the Ben Weider Championships in Virginia in November. We are planning on growing these opportunities even more going into 2025 and beyond. Here in the U.S., our goal is to about double that number of 30 for NPC natural contests. We will also be adding another natural pro qualifier in 2025.”
Tyler Manion Discusses Worldwide Expansion
Tyler Manion shared that part of this plan is to add 10-15 IFBB natural contests per division. This will lead to all winners to qualify for the Ben Weider Championships. The winner of that show will qualify for the Olympia.
“What is really exciting will be we are adding more opportunities for these athletes that are winning their pro cards at these contests.
In 2025, we want to add 10-15 IFBB Pro natural contests per division. Why this is important is because we are planning to add these in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and in Asia, to make these qualifiers, so the winners of these natural pro shows will qualify for the IFBB Pro Ben Weider Championships that are always held in November. our IFBB Pro natural contest will qualify you and flow right into the IFBB Pro Ben Weider Championships in November.”
Manion has continued to help bodybuilding grow as a whole and has done it in different ways, including adding more prize money via sponsors. Now, the natural bodybuilders will also have more chances to compete over the course of the year.
“I’m really excited for this continued expansion with these contests and I think it’s only going to make the sport of bodybuilding and our organizations stronger as a whole.”
Natural Olympia
Natural Mr. Olympia contest is the most significant natural bodybuilding event in the sport of natural bodybuilding, it is akin to Mr. Olympia IFBB Pro league. What separates Natural Olympia from Mr. Olympia is that every athlete is screened by the best drug testing standards for professional athletes – World Anti-Doping Agency, to make sure they are not using PEDs such as SARMs or anabolic steroids.
In addition, the International Natural Bodybuilding Association (INBA)/Professional Natural Bodybuilding Association (PNBA) – the most significant natural bodybuilding federation – is the event’s host.
In 1988, Denny Kakos co-founded American Bodybuilding Association (ABA) – a drug-free bodybuilding organization. He wanted a bodybuilding league that would serve natural athletes and gives out quality awards. In 1990, Kakos later founded the PNBA, an opportunity for natural athletes to compete in professional competitions that qualified to turn pro. The PNBA further expanded to the INBA in 1994 to unite countries and standardize natural bodybuilding globally.
Below, check out the full list of winners of the Natural Olympia over the years:
- John Hansen (1998)
- Keith Bullock (2001)
- Ron Williams (2002)
- Rodney Hawthorne (2003)
- Danny Chau (2004)
- Komang Arnawa (2005)
- Warren Clampit (2006)
- Philip Ricardo Jr. (2007, 2008, 2015, 2019)
- Kiyoshi Moody (2009-2014)
- Michael Waddington (2016)
- Rob Terry (2017, 2018)
- Meshack Ochieng (2020)
- Paul Krueger (2021)
- Tommi Thompson (2022)
Natty or Not?
Generation Iron 4 explores the inner workings of professional natural bodybuilding in attempt to expose the truth behind the all natural claim of the sport.
This next chapter in the flagship film series will also feature Kai Greene and explore the controversial world of professional natural bodybuilding alongside top pros competing for Natural Olympia in a league dedicated to ensuring all competitors are free of performance enhancing drugs.
With medicine and technology continuing to change at a rapid pace across sports and entertainment, natural bodybuilding as a whole has been criticized and questioned. Can the league guarantee that these competitors are truly natural?
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