Mr. Olympia 2020 - Pre-Competition Special

And it's here! This year's covid edition of the Mr. Olympia competition is about to start!

The history of this contest, which is rightly considered the most prestigious one a bodybuilder can present himself at, began in 1965, when the first ever competition, which was supposed to be the pinnacle of professional bodybuilding, was held on Saturday, September 18, at the premises of the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Over time, the whole event has grown, and today we know it as Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend. In its current form, it features male and female competitions across several events.
Men battle it out on stage not only in the aforementioned Mr. Olympia, but also the Olympia 212 Showdown, Classic Physique and Physique. Women compete in the Bikini Fitness, Fitness, Figure and Physique competitions.

Below we take a closer look at those who will be competing in the most watched bodybuilding competition in the world, Mr. Olympia.

The winners so far

Only 15 bodybuilders can boast the title of Mr. Olympia so far in its 55-year history. They are:

• Larry Scott - 1965 and 1966
• Sergio Oliva - 1967, 1968 and 1969
• Arnold Schwarzenegger - 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1980
• Franco Columbu - 1976 and 1981
• Frank Zane - 1977, 1978 and 1979
• Chris Dickerson - 1982
• Samir Bannout - 1983
• Lee Haney - 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991
• Dorian Yates - 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1997
• Ronnie Coleman - 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
• Jay Cutler - 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010
• Dexter Jackson - 2008
• Phil Heath - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017
• Shawn Rhoden - 2018
• Brandon Curry - 2019

A total of 22 fighters have qualified for this year's event, the 56th edition of the event, but not all will be competing.

As you already know from us, the defending champion of the previous year, Shawn Rhoden, who was banned for life by the organizers due to a criminal prosecution, is still unable to participate in the competition.

Seven-time Olympia 212 Showdown champion James "Flex" Lewis will not be competing either. Although he has received a special invitation from the organizers, he is struggling with an unspecified chronic injury, and after insistence from his wife and consultation with trainer Neil Hill and doctors, he has come to the decision that he will not step on the competition stage this year!

Cedric McMillan, who broke his palm in a fall from his bike, requiring surgery, also withdrew from the race. To avoid a cast, he opted for fixation via wires and screws. Although this allows him to move his fingers, he can't hold anything in his hand, which prevented him from getting the quality training needed to participate in such a big competition.

James Hollingshead will also not be on stage. While he has not given a reason for not participating directly, many believe it is related to restrictions associated with preventing the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.

Rafael Brandao will also be without participation in Mr. Olympia 2020, as he suffered from Coronavirus Covid-19, which took him out of training for 3 weeks. Such a long training break shortly before the top competition could not have been other than to give up his participation.

For the second year in a row , participation eluded Nathan DeAsh, who failed to obtain the visa needed to travel to the USA this year.

The biggest loss then seems to be the non-participation of the monstrous Roelly Winklaar, one of the strongest favourites for the top spot, who tested positive for Covid-19!

The Covid-19 Corovirus is the result of the fact that the competition is being held in December, which is very unusual, and also that it is being held in Florida instead of Las Vegas!

Despite all these pitfalls, this year's event is sure to be very interesting! There are several defending champions! Whether it's seven-time champion Phil Heath, who says he's going for his eighth title, Dexter Jackson, who retired as champion in 2008 and plans to retire after this year's event, or last year's winner Brandon Curry!

Who will be the king of professional bodybuilding this year?

Qualified are:

* - will not participate in the competition

Brandon Curry

Age: 37 years old

Height: 172 cm

Weight: 118 kg

Professional since: 2008
(triumph at NPC USA)

Number of professional starts: 36

Number of professional triumphs: 7

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 7

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
1st place(2019)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph atMr. Olympia 2019 ( lifetime opportunity to participate)

William Bonac

Age: 38 years old

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 108 kg

Professional since: 2010
(triumph at the Juliette Bergmann Classic)

Number of professional starts: 31

Number of professional triumphs: 9

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 6

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
2nd place(2019)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
2nd place Mr. Olympia 2019

Hadi Choopan

Age: 43 years old

Height: 167 cm

Weight: 100 kg

Professional since: 2016
(Triumph at the Olympia Amateur Showdown)

Number of professional starts: 6

Number of professional triumphs: 3

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 1

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
3rd place(2019)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
3rd place Mr. Olympia 2019

There has been speculation for a long time about whether Hadi will be able to get the visa he needs to travel to the USA. Today, a photo has emerged that captured this last year's fan champion already on US soil.

Dexter Jackson

Age: 50 years

Height: 168 cm

Weight: 107 kg

Professional since: 1998
(Triumph at the North American Championships)

Number of professional starts: 91

Number of professional triumphs: 29

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 20

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
1st place (2008)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at Mr. Olympia 2008 (lifetime opportunity to participate)

As we wrote at the beginning of this article, Dexter, who is clearly the most successful bodybuilder of all time, will retire at this year's Mr. Olympia.

Phil Heath

Age: 40 years old

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 115 kg

Professional since: 2005
(triumph at NPC USA)

Number of professional starts: 20

Number of professional triumphs: 13

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 11

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
1st place (2011 to 2017)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at Mr. Olympia 2011 (lifetime opportunity to participate)

Juan Morel

Age: 38 years old

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 122,5 kg

Professional since: 2011
(Triumph at the NPC North American Championships)

Number of professional starts: 32

Number of professional triumphs: 6

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 4

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
10th place (2014)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at Japan Pro 2020

Hunter Labrada

Age: 28 years old

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 110 kg

Professional since: 2018
(NPC Nationals overall winner)

Number of professional starts: 1

Number of professional triumphs: 1

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 0

Best result at Mr. Olympia: -

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at the 2020 Wings of Strength Tampa Pro.

Iain Valliere

Age: 30 years

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 115 kg

Professional since: 2014
(triumph at Amateur Olympia Latin America)

Number of professional starts: 13

Number of professional triumphs: 1

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 1

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
14th place (2018)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at the 2020 New York Pro

Lee Seung Chul

Age: 41 years old

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 110 kg

Professional since: 2014
(Triumph at the Arnold Classic Amateur)

Number of professional starts: 3

Number of professional triumphs: 1

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 0

Best result at Mr. Olympia: -

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at Monsterzy Korea Pro 2020.

Antoine Vaillant

Age: 33 years old

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 115 kg

Professional since: 2012
(overall Canadian championship winner)

Number of professional starts: 5

Number of professional triumphs: 1

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 0

Best result at Mr. Olympia: -

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at California Pro 2020.

Lukas Osladil

Age: 40 years old

Height: 172 cm

Weight: 108 kg

Professional since: 2005
(European Champion)

Number of professional starts: 33

Number of professional triumphs: 4

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 4

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
8th place(2019)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
2nd place at Europa Pro Championships 2020

Akim Williams

Age: 36 years old

Height: 182 cm

Weight: 125 kg

Professional since: 2013
(triumph at the IFBB North American Championships)

Number of professional starts: 22

Number of professional triumphs: 2

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 2

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
8th place(2019)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Triumph at Wings of Strength Chicago 2020.

Max Charles

Age: 40 years old

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 125 kg

Professional since: 2013
(triumph at NPC USA)

Number of professional starts: 31

Number of professional triumphs: 2

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 3

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
12th place (2015)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
1st place in the qualification ranking

Luis Rodriguez

Age: 35 years old

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 115 kg

Professional since: 2016
(overall winner of the North American Championships)

Number of professional starts: 13

Number of professional triumphs: 0

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 1

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
16th place (2018)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
2nd place in the qualifying rankings

Regan Grimes

Age: 27 years old

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 115 kg

Professional since: 2016
(overall winner of the Arnold Classic Brasil Mateur)

Number of professional starts: 8

Number of professional triumphs: 1

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 0

Best result at Mr. Olympia: -

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
3rd place in the qualification ranking.

Mamdouh Elssbiay

Age: 36 years old

Height: 183 cm

Weight: 135 kg

Professional since: 2012
(overall winner of Olympia Amateur Kuwait)

Number of professional starts: 16

Number of professional triumphs: 5

Number of starts at Mr. Olympia: 6

Best result at Mr. Olympia:
2nd place (2017)

Qualified for Mr. Olympia 2020:
Received a special invitation

How do you see it? Try your luck in the competition for our spoiled proteins from Kulturistika.com!

Live transmission

As it stands, the live stream will not be free, but, unfortunately, only for paying viewers. You will be able to watch a little bit for free, but the content will be severely limited.