Steve Weinberger theorizes how Flex Lewis could have placed at the Olympia 2020 if he wasn’t injured.
While the Olympia 2020 had a lot of wonderful surprises and exciting upsets, one true disappointment was Flex Lewis dropping out from the Men’s Open competition. This was to be his debut competing in the Men’s Open and many had high hopes for a high placing. Lewis ultimately suffered an injury that kept him from being able to compete. In our latest GI Exclusive interview, Steve Weinberger shares his thoughts on how Flex Lewis would have placed if he was able to compete in top form.
Flex Lewis was a dominant Men’s 212 champion with seven consecutive Olympia wins. After his final win in 2018, he announced that he would retire from Men’s 212 bodybuilding. Of course, this ended up not being a full retirement from the sport. Instead he announced in 2019 that he would be moving up to the Men’s Open division.
As a previous Olympia champion, he received an invite to compete at the Olympia 2020. The competition was to be his Men’s Open debut. Having never competed in the division, fans were curious as to how he would stack up against the likes of Big Ramy, Brandon Curry, and Phil Heath.
Sadly, we were unable to see that outcome. Flex Lewis suffered a last minute injury that dropped him out of the competition. While we spoke with IFBB Head Judge Steve Weinberger, we asked him his thoughts on how Flex Lewis could have placed had he not been inured.
Steve Weinberger is a legendary judge in the sport. Having been the head judge at this past year’s Olympia, he had a first hand view of each competing athlete. Knowing the quality and score of their physiques inside and out – he is the best person to know what chances Flex Lewis really had.
Of course, this is all just pure theorizing, as much of this would depend on whether or not Flex Lewis brought in the best version of his physique. For the sake of the question, we relied on Lewis’ past physique showcases to determine how he would stack up at the Olympia 2020 Men’s Open.
Assuming that Flex Lewis came in with his best conditioning and physique, Steve Weinberger is confident that Lewis would have been able to place into the top 5 at the Olympia 2020.
The top five placings at the Olympia 2020 were as follows: Big Ramy, Brandon Curry, Phil Heath, Hadi Choopan, and William Bonac. That’s an incredibly stacked lineup. To predict that Flex Lewis could have placed somewhere in that top five is a high honor assessment indeed.
It would also not be the first time something like this had happened. Hadi Choopan moved up from Men’s 212 in 2019. He placed 3rd place at the Olympia 2019 and 4th place at the Olympia 2020. This is essentially proof that Men’s 212 athletes can really make a mark in Men’s Open despite potential hurdled due to a typically shorter height.
You can watch Steve Weinberger’s full comments in our latest GI Exclusive interview segment above.
