Breaking down the Olympia 2019 Men’s Open prejudging comparison rounds.
Friday night held the Olympia 2019 Men’s Open prejudging and comparison rounds. Our very first chance to see the top competitor’s physiques not only in their posing routines but how they stand up side by side after a year of hype and waiting. Of course, this year lives in the shadow of many changes – an up and down spiraling rollercoaster where many competitors fell out of the race including Shawn Rhoden, Big Ramy, and Phil Heath. So perhaps fans were going into this prejudging with more questions than usual. Did that make it more exciting? That depends on your outlook. Is this an Olympia with an asterisk over it or simply a more open Olympia leaving room for a tighter and tougher battle for the top spot?
Regardless of your outlook going into this – there were two big shocking moments from the comparison rounds Friday night. One being Dexter Jackson seemingly being placed in the fifth or sixth place position. The second shock was how high it looks Hadi Choopan is being considered to place. In the final callout, Hadi Choopan was present in what appears to be the top 4 contenders. This is a man who up until this year was competing in the Men’s 212 and hardly had a chance to even get into the United States. Now he’s at the Olympia in the Men’s Open and making some serious waves.
The rest went a little bit more as expected. Brandon Curry is certainly in the top 3 and a major contender for the first place trophy – followed by Roelly Winklaar and William Bonac. But what is most exciting is that there is no clear winner. Brandon isn’t miles above either of these two other competitors so it can still be anyone’s game as we head into the finals tonight. For the first time in a long time – it seems that the Men’s Open Mr. Olympia battle won’t just be between two people but a criss cross of many competitors all fighting for that number one place. It’s an exciting moment to behold and we can’t wait to see how it plays out at the finals.
Content Partner Williams Fitness has a replay video of the first callout from the Men’s Open comparison rounds that you can watch above. Pay attention to they way that the judges move each athlete in and out of the center. There was a lot of contemplating going on as they systematically broke down each physique comparison to bring it to the top 4 they ultimately decided. How do you think it will play out? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
If you like what you see, make sure to subscribe to Williams Fitness’ official YouTube channel right here. And stick around Generation Iron later tonight for our results coverage of the Olympia 2019 Saturday night finals!
