Mr. Olympia 2022 - Report with results | Hadi Choopan became the king of bodybuilding!

The long-awaited moment is over. After the king of the under 212lb category and all other categories was announced a day earlier, those of you who were primarily waiting for the royal heavyweight category in the Open finally got to see it. The semi-final itself brought one surprise after another - first British up-and-comer Samson Dauda made his way into the first callout, then the judges put defending champion Ramy on the very edge of the callout, and finally newcomer Derek Lunsford was among the seasoned Curry-Choopan duo. What kind of resolution did the final bring? That's what we've been tracking for you.

It wasn't clear until the last minute

Yesterday's semi-final was surprising, but many commentators were able to interpret everything in their own way - some said that Big Ramy still aspired to win and was only on the sidelines because he was so good. But that didn't turn out to be a realistic argument in the end, as the Egyptian giant didn't show nearly as great a form this time as he did last year. On the other hand, representatives from the trio of Hadi Choopan, Brandon Curry and Derek Lunsford showed absolutely stunning form. Nick Walker could still make an impact on the final standings after the semi-final eliminations. Samson Dauda also earned his first callout, which was a huge surprise and achievement in itself, but nobody expected that he could break into the top 3. The final standings are as follows:

1. Hadi Choopan
2. Derek Lundsford
3. Nick Walker
4. Brandon Curry
5. Big Ramy
6. Samson Dauda

Some commentators expressed amazement that Mr. Olympia would probably be the only competitor who doesn't speak English, and the only one who needed an interpreter on stage to translate everything for him. However, given the form Hadi showed, there is absolutely nothing to be surprised about and his victory is well deserved. You can watch Hadi's emotional joy at his victory below:

This year's Olympia was packed with big names and for the first time it also featured a number of well prepared newcomers who caused that some of the seasoned athletes had to accept a lower placing. A typical example is Samson Dauda, whose presence in the first callout probably deprived Hunter Labrada or William Bonac of a place. However, besides him, Slovakian giant Michal Križánek made his first appearance at Olympia and can be satisfied with his second call. Similarly, for the first time in Las Vegas we could see competitors like Blessing Awodibu, Andrew Chinedu, Theo Leguerrier or Tonio Burton on the stage. And it is more than likely that we will hear a lot more from them in the future.