Olympia 212 Showdown 2019 - Derek Lunsford is out, Kamal Elgargni takes the title!

Author: František Randáček

14.09.2019

5 minut čtení

While the semifinal bouts of the Mr. Olympia competition were taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center early this morning, their lighter counterparts at the Olympia 212 Showdown had already had their battle.

On the stage of this event, which has been making history since 2008, was seven-time winner James "Flex" Lewis, who decided to move up to the Open category, and so it was expected who would become the new king of the 212-pound division.
Many believed it would be Derek Lunsford, who finished second here last year. The semifinals, and his first call-up, should have told us more. As expected, Derek was selected, along with the top five of Ahmad Ashkanani, Sami Al Haddad, Shaun Clarida, Hidetada Yamagishi and Kamal Elgargni.

The first semi-final comparison

As it later turned out, the trio of Kamal Elgargni, Shaun Clarida and of course Derek Lunsford were to share the triumph, with the judges sending them away from the line-up for one last call.

Derek Lunsford was admittedly massive, especially in the upper body area which is dominated by broad shoulders. However, in certain areas he was too flat, boxy, and lacked much detail. It's certainly not ready for triumph at this point!

Shaun Clarida, who is certainly the smallest and lightest fighter in the starting field, on the other hand, offered full and rounded muscles, but he was no match for his opponents in terms of width.

The absolute best competitor of the starting field was Kamal Elgargni, who offered not only the most symmetrical physique, but also perfectly mature musculature, a great amount of detail, excellent posing and perfect control of his abdominal muscles!

Semi-final fights

So it was Kamal Elgargni, in his third professional start, who quite deservedly became the new king of the under 212lb division!

The third man of last year's edition and winner of the2018 Arnold Classic originally considered calling it a career after Olympia. However, as he found out today, at nearly 50 years of age, he is in his prime, and we will see him compete for a while!
Who knows, maybe we have another multiple Olympia 212 Showdown champion!

Second place, just like last year, went to Derek Lunsford. Although he was visibly disappointed when the results were announced, at 26 years of age he still has all the big successes ahead of him! He has yet to mature into a champion!

Third place went to Shaun Clarida, who is only 157 cm tall! The fighter, who moved to the elite after his NPC Nationals triumph in the under 65 kg category, has managed to visibly work on his bulk without losing any of his symmetry.

John Jewett finally made his way to a perfect fourth place in his Olympia debut! The2019 Wings of Strength Tampa Pro winner may have missed the first semifinal call-up, but his qualities ultimately convinced the judges that he belongs much higher!

Ahmad Ashkanani still squeezed into the top 5. He dropped one place from last year's edition, mainly due to his final understeer, which was like a fist to the eye with his unaesthetic physique!

Our eastern neighbours had their representative at the competition, namely Tomas Tabachiar, who had his first Olympia here.
Although Tomas was in excellent form here, with his muscles sculpted and well separated, unfortunately he is too tall and thus looks subtle compared to his opponents. This combination earned him 15th place.
However, given the weight limit, there is nowhere to move, so the question is whether to throw himself into proper volume training and link his future with the Open category.

Results announcement

Results:

1. Kamal Elgargni - qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2020
2. Derek Lunsford - qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2020
3. Shaun Clarida - qualified for the Olympia 212 Showdown 2020
4. John Jewett - qualified for the Olympia 212 Showdown 2020
5. Ahmad Ashkanani - qualified for the Olympia 212 Showdown 2020
6. Sami Al Haddad
7. Eduardo Correa
8. Hidetada Yamagishi
9. Aaron Polites
10. Angel Calderón Frias