Raymont Edmonds discusses in detail his Olympia contest prep, improvements, and how it wasn’t enough for a repeat Olympia win.
Going into the Olympia 2020 Men’s Physique competition, Raymont Edmonds was the returning champion looking for a repeat victory. Instead, Brandon Hendrickson reclaimed his throne in a close battle. Onlookers of the event or live-stream noticed the shocked look on Edmonds’ face. Some even thought that there was perhaps some drama between the two. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Raymont Edmonds shares a behind the scenes play-by-play of his reaction from pre-judging all the way to the Olympia finals.
Speaking with Raymont Edmonds in our latest exclusive interview, it’s clear that he was proud of the work he put in and the physique he presented on stage. There seemed to be no serious ill will between himself and Brandon Hendrickson. Nor any sulking from Edmonds after losing his title.
That’s largely because Raymont Edmonds believes that he improved his physique from last year. He was happy with his contest prep and truly believed he was sure to win the Olympia 2020. He describes himself as “perplexed” when his name wasn’t called. Not because he disagreed with the decision – but because the competition was so fierce he didn’t allow room in his mind to contemplate failure.
Raymont Edmonds has already stated that he has serious plans to change up his contest prep in 2021 after the feedback he received at the Olympia 2020. IFBB Pro Head Judge Steve Weinberger also admitted in our recent interview that the battle between Brandon Hendrickson and Edmonds was extremely close.
That’s why Edmonds is looking towards 2021 with renewed optimism and holds no ill will towards his performance in 2020. When we spoke to him about his loss, he went in detail about his mindset throughout the entire weekend.
Raymont Edmonds believed he was the clear winner during the pre-judging. And as the battle went into the finals, he knew that Hendrickson was giving him a run for his money. Yet still regardless, he thought he scraped his way to the top.
Edmonds describes the moment during the finals that he was standing side by side with only Brandon Hendrickson left. When they announced Hendrickson as the winner – Edmonds went into a stunned state. That’s why onlookers thought that perhaps Edmonds had bad blood with Hendrickson’s victory.
But as Raymont Edmonds tells it now, he was more perplexed and stunned more than anything. After training so hard and battling so intensely on the stage – it was a blur to hear it all over with him losing the title.
Throughout his recollection, Edmonds chuckles and laughs his way through the events. It’s clear that he takes the loss seriously but also sees no point in beating himself up over it. “My prep was awesome. We improved and… we didn’t get the results that we wanted,” Edmonds says at the top of the interview clip.
There’s no point in sadly looking back. Instead, Raymont Edmonds plans to further the improvements he already made, adjust to improve even more, and come back for vengeance in 2021. The Men’s Physique Olympia will be an exciting one this year – you can already feel it.
Watch Raymont Edmonds detail his full behind the scenes reaction to losing the Olympia title in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above!
