Hadi Choopan walks off the stage at Olympia 2023 and additionally congratulates the winners

Hadi Choopan congratulated all the winners of the 2023 Olympics in a heartfelt Instagram post after he left the podium early. Newly crowned Mr. Olympia Derek Lunsford showed the heart of a champion and responded kindly to the former champion.

Prior to the 2023 Olympia competition, reigning champion Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford were the favorites for first and second place. Looking at the results of the previous Olympia, most industry experts predicted that Lunsford would be able to beat Choopan if he worked on his pectorals and quadriceps. While Hadi Choopan had better conditioning at the 2023 Olympia, Derek Lunsford had an overall solid set of qualities including proportions, aesthetics, and muscle development.

In the end, Derek Lunsford defeated "The Persian Wolf" to become the first ever two-division Olympia champion in the history of the sport, having now won the trophy from Olympia 2023. Prior to that, he held the 212 Olympia 2021 title. Hadi Choopan, who was clearly unhappy with the decision, left the scene during the final formalities.

After cooling down, Hadi publicly apologized and congratulated the winners

Choopan then posted a cryptic message in Farsi on his personal Instagram account. The meaning of the message has not been confirmed by any official source with credible knowledge of Farsi. However, many people in the comments claimed that Choopan was apologizing to his fans for not reaching the finish line and defending his Mr. Olympia title this past weekend.

"Great job. Congratulations to all of you on your titles and I wish you all the best. Good luck and happy 'championship' to you all."

Newly crowned Mr. Olympia titleholder Derek Lunsford, who was visibly upset after Choopan's exit from the stage, supported the Iranian bodybuilder with a heartfelt comment on the post.

"Thank you, champion. You push me to give my best. The Persian wolf is a beast in the gym. Thank you for holding me accountable to work harder every day. God bless you and your Hadi family."

Milos Sarchev defends Hadi Choopan - "Don't condemn him for it"

Bodybuilding veteran Milos Sarchev gave an explanation for Hadi Choopan's actions after he left the stage. In the post, Sarcev suggested that Jews make a camel out of a gnat. He believes that Choopan worked incredibly hard to defend his title and simply left because he didn't want to be there after losing.

"I pay tribute to the great champion Hadi, the pride of Iran. Highly respected in our industry as one of the best bodybuilders in the world who probably could have earned several titles already. He has set the standard for fitness on a whole new level... "Hadi's fitness" and he definitely brought it again this year."

Sarcev added:

"A lot of people saw him win and defend his title. With grace in victory and defeat (as he has done so many times) - he accepted his placement, gracefully congratulated his teammate, took a group photo and simply walked off the stage - something many people blame him for. Don't judge him for that! Few of us understand the mindset of champions - He gave his all in preparation, came prepared and felt worthy of winning the title - when he learned he lost - he just didn't want to be there for long. I'd be willing to bet he's already in the gym and training."

Zobrazit příspěvek na Instagramu

Příspěvek sdílený Milos Sarcev (@milossarcev)

Source: instagram, fitnessvolt.com