OPINION: Mr. Olympia automatic qualification should be abolished.
Should the automatic qualification for the Mr. Olympia be abolished? Evolutionofbodybuilding.net believes it should be abolished for the good of the sport of bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding is literally the only sport that grants the winner of the biggest event of the year, the Mr. Olympia, a lifetime qualification for the event. Plus the top five, automatically qualify for the following year.
Lifetime qualification and automatic qualification for the top five is great for the athletes, but at the end of the day, it does nothing for the sport of bodybuilding.
The winners of the Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, World Cup, Champions League and every other sport event, don’t get any special privileges for the following year.
Every team or athlete has to start from scratch and earn their right to play in the final.
The winner of a title or championship in any other sport, deserve the title they won, because they worked hard all year for that title.
Why does bodybuilding have to be so different? Leading up to the 2022 Mr. Olympia, Big Ramy, Brandon Curry, Hadi Choopan, Hunter Labrada and Nick Walker do not have to compete the entire year, they just have to focus on the Mr. Olympia.
Meanwhile, the rest of the competitors, have to work the ass off all year, trying to win an event or qualify through the point system.
By the time the Olympia Weekend arrives, the top five will walk on stage fresh and ready to compete, while the rest of the competitors will arrive on stage with battle scars from competing for 8-10 months.
We must mention 2019 Mr. Olympia winner Brandon Curry, who will be competing at the 2022 Arnold Classic. This decision by Brandon has already added a lot of excitement to the event.
Removing automatic qualification will benefit bodybuilding
Imagine there is no automatic qualification, the other events such as the Arnold Classic, New York Pro, Tampa Pro, Chicago Pro and others, will all have the top bodybuilders in the world fighting for Olympia qualification.
Instead of the winner and the other four qualified bodybuilders disappearing until the Olympia Weekend, they would have to do battle against all the other competitors.
Seeing the defending champion fighting for his place for the following Mr. Olympia would be an exciting affair. Imagine Big Ramy competing at the New York Pro, going up against all the other hungry bodybuilders.
This way, the champion would be showing his worth, and if he or she is truly the best in the world, they should not have a problem to easily qualify for the next Olympia Weekend.
Removing automatic qualification would benefit the promoters, the media, sponsors and especially the NPC and Pro League.
The sport of bodybuilding will be on par with the excitement that the WWE generates.
Obviously, a number of people in the industry will criticize this site for bringing up this subject, but if the sport wants to improve, it must change some rules.
In regards to lifetime qualification, this can only last for a few years anyways. As the Mr. Olympia winner gets older, he will have no chance competing against the younger competitors, so it is no use to offer a lifetime qualification.
By the time the Olympia Weekend arrives, the top five will walk on stage fresh and ready to compete, while the rest of the competitors will arrive on stage with battle scars from competing for 8-10 months.
Bodybuilding needs a change
Regardless what people say, the sport of bodybuilding is suffering. There are no rivalries that adds excitement leading up to big events compared to the past. Gone are the days of Jay vs Ronnie or Phil vs Kai.
The people that run the sport, have to look to the future and mix things up for the good of the sport.
Getting back to the subject of automatic qualification, if this was removed, the rivalries between athletes would start from the beginning of the competition season and hitting its climax at the Olympia Weekend.
Having the top bodybuilders in the world, fighting against each other, for a place on the Olympia stage all year, would put bodybuilding on another level.
Even when it comes to the judges. It is not the first time the Mr. Olympia judges were criticized for the placings they selected. The defending champion always has a slight edge over all the other competitors, even before he steps on stage.
What if the defending champion could not qualify? The judges would have to look at the qualified competitors in a totally different way, there is no champion to compare them to.
If the defending champion fails to qualify for the following Mr. Olympia, that means they are not worthy to be on the Mr. Olympia stage.
The controversy of the “Special Invite”
The “Special Invite” is another controversial subject leading up to the Mr. Olympia.
Each year, a bodybuilder is given a “free” pass to compete at the biggest event of the year.
For example, for the 2020 Mr. Olympia, Big Ramy was given a “Special Invite” and he went on to win the event. Some of the other athletes were not happy about this, due to the reasons mentioned at the beginning of this article.
For the 2022 Mr. Olympia, 7X 212 Olympia Champion, Flex Lewis, is expected to be the next athlete to be given a “Special Invite”.
Flex Lewis is lifetime qualified for the 212 Division, but not for the Open Division. At the moment, until he is awarded the “Special Invite”, Flex Lewis is not qualified for the Mr. Olympia Open Division, he would need to compete in a Olympia qualifier to earn his place.
Flex Lewis took some time off to take care of some injuries and now he is ready to compete. He has decided to move up to the Open Division and try to be the first bodybuilder in the history of the sport to win the 212 and Open Division Olympia titles.
In recent weeks, a number of bodybuilders that will most probably compete at the Mr. Olympia, expressed their opinion about the “Special Invite”.
These athletes believe that if Flex wants to compete at the Mr. Olympia, he should have to qualify like any other competitor. It is not like a 212 athlete cannot win a show in the Open Division, Shaun Clarida earned his qualification for the 2022 Mr. Olympia Open Division by winning the 2021 Legion Pro. Now Shaun has the option to compete in the 212 or Open Mr. Olympia. Shaun does not need to qualify for the 212 Olympia since he is a previous winner.
The only “Special Invite” that this site believes was truly earned, was for Cedric McMillan in 2019. Cedric could not qualify due to his military duties. This was a truly special case and deserved a “Special Invite”.
But when an athlete has access to any competition in the USA, is in perfect health and has nothing holding him back, they should not get any preference. If they fail to qualify, this means that they do not deserve to be on the Mr. Olympia stage.
Respecting the rules and tradition
Evolutionofbodybuilding.net respects the current rules of the sport, but we have the right to an opinion. Every sport evolves and bodybuilding should also change some rules to make the sport fair for the competitors and exciting for the fans.
There is nothing wrong with putting new ideas on the table, and hopefully new changes will take place in the near future to improve the sport of bodybuilding.
2022 Olympia Weekend Qualification rules and standings
