Why has Kevin Levrone never won the Olympia? It was just business!

Kevin Levrone has had an aesthetic physique throughout his time in bodybuilding. This Men's Open division competitor is well known for his battles on stage against legends like Flex Wheeler, Dorian Yates and Shawn Ray. He has competed in an astounding number of Mr. Olympia competitions and has been celebrated for his ability to regularly enter competitions where he has always been very well prepared. He is a four-time runner-up in the Mr. Olympia show. Levrone's career spanned from 1991 to 2018. Despite being in his fifties, Kevin hasn't let up in the slightest and continues to train well into his retirement.

In a recent podcast episode with former pro Dennis James, Levrone spoke candidly about a conversation he had with Joe Weider back in the day. Kevin claims that bodybuilding was (and maybe still is) all about the money and bluntly asked Weider why he still awards the Mr. Olympia title to the same man.

"I've learned not to take it personally. I remember asking Joe: Why can't any of us ever win Mr. Olympia? You keep giving it to the same guy...

His answer was: If I take my top four guys and shuffle them, put maybe Shawn in first place, then make the same amount of money. Nothing will change, but if I keep Dorian Yates where he is, I'll open up a whole different market," Kevin Levrone revealed to James.

He was right. If I, Flex, Shawn, or Chris won, the corporation wouldn't make any more money, but Dorian Yates opened up a whole different avenue. At that point, I said: You know what, it's a business. I didn't really take it personally, I looked at it as a business. That's when I started to think, you know what, if I don't win Mr. Olympia, I'm going to try to win another race so I can sell myself as well as I can.

Weider, Olympia's CEO, admitted it was not in his best financial interest to give the award to anyone other than Yates. One important factor influencing Weider's decision at the time was the fact that Dorian represented the European market, unlike many of his competitors.

As sad as it may seem, we have to remember that politics and business also affect our sport, bodybuilding...