Olympia 212 Showdown 2020 - the new king of the 212lb division is the "pocket bodybuilder"!

Just as this year's Mr. Olympia competition is history, so is this year's Olympia 212 Showdown, a competition that is the pinnacle for competitors competing in the 212-pound division.

The competition, which began its history in 2008 when the upper limit of this division was still 202 pounds, only to be raised to the current 212 pounds in 2011, had only 4 winners until this year's edition. Those were David Henry (2008), Kevin English (2009 to 2011), James "Flex" Lewis (2012 to 2018) and Kamal Elgargni(2019). It was therefore expected whether these winners would stick with these winners if Kamal defended the title or if a new king of this division would emerge.

A total of 19 fighters qualified for this top event in the 212-pound division, with 17 fighters appearing before the judges. Keone Pearson withdrew from the competition for personal reasons, and Alfred Chiriac was unable to participate due to lack of funds needed to obtain 14 days asylum outside the Schengen area, which was one of the conditions for possible entry into the USA.

In the case of this pair, there were no favourites for the top places, so there was no doubt that there would be very strong competition on the stage, and the competition promised to be quite a spectacle.

The biggest favourite for the title was undoubtedly last year's champion Kamal Elgargni. He said before the competition that he had managed to gain another 2.5 kilograms of muscle mass since his performance last year, which was noticeable on stage. So it's no wonder he was selected immediately for the first semi-final comparison.
Next to him were Ahmad Ashkanani, Shaun Clarida, Angel Calderón Frias, George Peterson and, surprisingly, Derek Lunsford, who, for who knows what reason, is constantly promoted, although his performance doesn't match it!

Last year's champion Kamal Elgargni and only 157 cm tall Shaun Clarida, who is often called "the bodybuilder in the pocket", posed in the middle of the row. These two were fighting for the victory. It was a duel between last year's winner, a highly experienced fighter who at 47 years of age has a tremendous amount of mature muscle, but whose career is slowly but surely coming to an end in the form of Kamal, and the third man in last year's edition, a fairly seasoned competitor who at 38 years of age still has plenty of time to prove something in the case of Shaun. He also looks very impressive indeed with his height and amount of muscle mass!

It was a very close fight, and Shaun Clarida won by one point! He was overwhelmed with emotion after the results were announced, which is quite understandable.

The "pocket bodybuilder" managed to work his way up from 65 kg to his current 80 kg in his 8 year pro career, which at his height was enough to make him the new king of the division up to 212 pounds!
With this feat he shut the mouths of all those who discouraged him from a professional career or ridiculed his tenure in the professional division!

Last year's champion Kamal Elgargni had to settle for a silver medal, which he took very sportingly. As for his future sporting ambitions, he said he will decide in some time, after a discussion with his family, who have been suffering from his absence for the last few months.

Third place went to George Peterson, who had competed in the Classic Physique Olympia competition for the previous 3 editions of the Olympia Weekend. He has always taken bronze there as well, so it seems that bronze medals are simply his due.

Derek Lunsford earned fourth place from the judges. As we wrote in the introduction, no one knows the reason why this guy is constantly so promoted, because his form simply does not match it! If he were to break into the top 10 somewhere, no one would probably say an inch. But a top 4 finish? For many people completely incomprehensible! He does have a good physique, no doubt, but otherwise he is flat, lacking in detail, his muscles are soft, and given his height, not even very powerful.

The top 5 was closed by Ahmad Ashkanani with decent volumes, who looked too "box-like" in some poses.

Results:

1. Shaun Clarida- qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2021
2. Kamal Elgargni- qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2021
3. George Peterson - qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2021
4. Derek Lunsford- qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2021
5.AhmadAshkanani - qualified for Olympia 212 Showdown 2021
6. Oleh Kryvyi
7. Angel Calderón Frias
8. Derik Oslan
9. Dectric Lewis

10. Guy Cisternino
11. Jason Lowe
12. David Henry
13. John Jewett
14. Hidetada Yamagishi
15. Errol Moore
16. Kim Jun Ho
16. Seonghwan Kim

1. Shaun Clarida

2. Kamal Elgargni

3. George Peterson

Other competitors

More photos from the semifinal fights can be found HERE, on Npcnewsonline.com.

Source:
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www.mrolympia.com
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