Shawn Ray believes Urs Kalecinski is a top-five competitor if he takes a year to prepare for 2026.
Urs Kalecinski has made the move to Men’s Open and has done it successfully with two victories in back-to-back weeks. Now, he has his sights set on the 2025 Olympia but bodybuilding veteran Shawn Ray believes he should take a year to prepare rather than rushing in.
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“My advice was don’t go to the Olympia. There’s nothing there for you right now. You’re a work in progress, you just won two pro shows.”
Kalecinski made the move to Men’s Open so he could bring his best physique possible to the stage with no restrictions. Right away, he impressed with a victory in Italy before being crowned champion once again during the Europa Pro Championships.
Before his move, Urs Kalecinski carved out a reputation as one of the top Classic Physique competitors in the world. He won the Tampa Pro in 2021, which led to his first Olympian appearance. Kalecinski secured fourth place in the competition. He followed this with a third-place finish at the Arnold Classic in 2022 behind runner-up Ramon Rocha Queiroz and 2022 winner Terrence Ruffin. He burst into the top three in 2023 and remained there in 2024.
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Shawn Ray joined Jay Cutler for a conversation recently and the topic of Kalecinski at the Olympia came up, since it is one of the more interesting stories in bodybuilding leading up to the show. Ray believes that Kalecinski has improvements to make to be able to compete with the best in the world.
“I’m totally against him doing the Olympia, even though he’s qualified. He just made the jump and he needs to put on more size in certain areas. His back especially, more thickness, and get more time to get the detail for that mass.”
Ray is high on Keone Pearson once he makes the move permanently and believes he is a future Olympia champion. As for this year, he does not see Nick Walker making a move into the top three but places him fourth after missing the show the last two years.
Urs Kalecinski has the potential in Men’s Open and we will likely see it right away this year. While Ray is against competing this year, he believes Kalecinski can be a top bodybuilder if he wait.
“I think he’s an automatic top-five guy if he takes a year off. If he goes this year, he’ll be fighting for 6th through 10th.”
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