Keone Pearson is the king of Men's 212 Olympia 2023! Full results and report

After a year, bodybuilding fans were once again treated to the biggest celebration the sport has to offer. Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend is the biggest bodybuilding event on the planet and competitors and fans from all over the world are eagerly awaiting the event. Fans and holders of the more expensive ticket options had their first opportunities to interact with the athletes as early as November 2, but it wasn't until a day later that the main program began to roll in, culminating in the competition of athletes up to 212 pounds. And that's what we'll take you through in this report.

What did it look like before the races?

Even before the actual competition, it was sort of clear that two dozen riders had met the strict and modified qualifying limits from previous years. Among them, of course, were the hot favourites to win, such as last year's winner Shaun Clarida. However, as it happens, some of the competitors did not take the opportunity to start for various reasons. Unfortunately, among them was last year's defending bronze medallist Kamal Elgargni, whose brother has been diagnosed with an unspecified cancer that makes him want to be with him rather than focusing on his Olympic preparations. Apart from this fifty-one year old pro, who incidentally qualified for both the 212 and open categories, Hossein Kalateh, Mazin al Rahbi and John Jewett were unable to attend the Olympia, so 16 fighters ended up on the boards at this year's 212 Olympia. So how did it turn out?

The course of the races

So, as we've already previewed, this year's Olympia offered a battle of 16 fighters, with last year's defending gold medallist Shaun Clarida the hot favourite. However, he could compete with a number of well-prepared fighters who did not do badly last year either. Then when it came to the first semi-final call-up, it was no surprise that Shaun featured in it. He was accompanied by defending silver medallist Angel Calderón Frías of Spain, the legendary Ahmad Ashkanani and Kerrith Bajjo, who finished as high as seventh last year.

This quartet was eventually joined by Keone Pearson and Oleh Kryvyi, so that the first callout included six riders who finished in the Top 7 last year.

At this point it is fair to say that all the competitors in the first call-up showed fabulous form and there was much to admire about each of them from a bodybuilding perspective. Pearson was perhaps in the form of his life and offered some awesome muscle separation which, combined with a relatively flat and well presented abdomen, made for a really good overall body impression.

In contrast, last year's defending champion Clarida brought his usual hardness of muscle and given that the forty-one year old has been on the professional scene for a relatively long time, his musculature was very mature. In some poses it was very difficult to tell who was doing better, although in some of the poses one of the competitors always had a slight advantage.

However, against the backdrop of this closely watched duel, there was also a battle for other places. The fight for the bronze was definitely going to be fought by the Spanish hottie Angel Calderón Frías, who this time showed really good form with great muscle separation and very sharp details that stood out especially in some poses. But he was not going to give anything for free to Kerrith Bajjo either, who was clearly looking to improve on last year's seventh place.

As is unfortunately the case, not much attention was paid to the other invocations, though of course there were some great competitors in them as well. Among others, the best Japanese bodybuilder in history, the legendary Hidetada Yamagishi, who already won this year's Olympia Masters, presented himself (only in the third invitational). But in great form, for example, Angelov, Moreira or Sayed prepared in the second callout.

However, when the judges gave the opportunity to the foursome of Bajjo, Frias, Pearson and Clarida again in the fourth callout, it was clear that these competitors would battle it out for the win. And then, when the fifth callout concluded as expected with a duel between Pearson and Clarida, it was clear that one of them would take the Sandow statuette and the $50,000 prize money.

Of course, the morning prelims were followed by a break, during which other activities for ticket holders took place at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. Unfortunately, only the top 5 competitors were given the opportunity to present their free ones at the subsequent evening finale, which on the one hand is relatively entertaining for the spectators and the competition is quickly coming to an end and the results are being revealed, but on the other hand it doesn't give much space to the competitors who also showed great forms and the spectators don't even get a chance to hear about them in detail.

Then when it came to the announcement of the winners, it can be said that it did not bring any major surprises, that is until the winner of the competition himself. Ahmad Askhanani took fifth place (for the third time in his career), while Kerrith Bajjo eventually finished fourth, as expected. And of course this achievement is a great one, because for this American pro it is the best placing in his career and moving up three places in such a prestigious race is a reason to be happy.

The third place was then taken, as expected, by Angel Calderón Frías, who, although he would of course have liked to think of a better placing, was frankly quite a bit behind the duo of Clarida and Pearson, especially in terms of lower limb development. And then came perhaps the biggest surprise, but frankly one that a number of foreign commentators had already claimed during the race. For Keone Pearson won the Mr. Olympia 212 title for the first time in his life, preventing Shaun Clarid from winning the third Sandow statuette of his bodybuilding career.

The final standings can therefore be viewed once more for clarity in the table below. It is worth adding that the top three competitors, Pearson, Clarida and Frias, are automatically qualified for the next Olympia. The other riders must earn their qualification ticket by winning one of the races that will take place.

Top 5

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