2020 Olympia Mens Open Bodybuilding Predictions

Olympia Contest Coverage Sponsored by BODYPRO Gym

When it comes to the Men’s Open Bodybuilding Division at the 2020 Mr. Olympia, it’s not an understatement to say the biggest story is the return of 7-time Mr. Olympia Champion Phil Heath. After losing the title in 2018 to Shawn Rhoden, Heath sat out in 2019 to rest and work on fixing the issues he had with his abdomen area. While he is not one to post very much along the lines of progress leading into the Mr. Olympia contest, we believe if he is at the top of his game, Phil Heath will be once again standing tall, with the Sandow trophy in hand. Heath has said that he was “gifted” with great genetics, but he also worked his ass off to take full benefit of this gift.

Reigning champion Brandon Curry should finish this year in the runner-up spot to Heath. Many bodybuilding fans and analysts feel that Curry did not bring the level of conditioning worthy of a Mr. Olympia champion. Even further, many believe had Phil Heath competed in 2019, it would have been Heath taking home the title. Brandon will have to make sure he is flawless if he has a chance at retaining the title this year. His conditioning and his legs will have to be better than ever standing next to Phil.

Expect to see Hadi Choopan take home the 3rd place title once again this year. Hadi did win the first-ever People’s Champion Award, with many fans feeling he should have won, or at least finished 2nd to Curry. We do see the potential he could have earned the 2nd place spot last year, but when you compare pose for pose, we still feel Curry had the edge in the end. While Hadi Choopan was having Visa troubles, it appears that he may have been able to get things straightened out in the end, much like last year.

William Bonac has been an incredible athlete and a true contender for the Mr. Olympia title, although he only managed to come 2nd last year to Curry. Bonac has always been found to be one of the most complete bodybuilders, aside from his height and lack of V-taper, due to having very low lat insertions. It appears that even though he parted ways with his coach Neil “Yoda” Hill last year, he managed to keep up a solid momentum resulting in winning the 2020 Arnold Classic. It is worth noting that Bonac did have a hernia and leg injury to deal with leading into the 2019 Olympia, so we could see him make an even more impressive finish than we anticipate.

When it comes to fifth place this year, we originally thought it would be a toss-up between Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay and Roelly Winklaar. That was before Roelly got Covid-19 of course! It was Big Ramy who placed 2nd to Phil Heath in 2017 but then fell back to a disappointing 6th place the following year, mostly due to a lack of conditioning. There has been quite a bit of controversy over Big Ramy’s special invitation to the 2020 Mr. Olympia. Despite his much-improved appearance at the 2020 Arnold Classic where he placed 3rd behind Dexter Jackson, he has not earned a spot at this year’s contest by winning a show, nor by way of points. Should Ramy bring the size that he always does, along with the conditioning worthy of the Olympia stage, we should see him in that 5th spot.

While we were originally giving the nod to Ramy and Winklaar to be finishing 5th and 6th (before Roelly had to pull out of the Olympia), we would not be surprised at all to see Dexter “The Blade” Jackson knock Ramy out of the top 5 this year or at least push him in 5th. We often forget that The Blade is 51 years old, having an incredible physique, as well as being the winningest bodybuilder in history. While he placed 4th last year at the 2019 Olympia, he came back with an impressive 2nd place at the 2020 Arnold Classic. Many even felt that Dexter brought a more impressive physique than Bonac and should have walked away with the Arnold Classic title this year.

Iain Valliere is one of the Canadian athletes that we expect to make his presence known on stage this year. After winning the New York Pro Show, he made us all take note of his potential to be one of the top bodybuilders. Look for Iain to crack into the top 10 this year.

Another Canadian favorite is Regan Grimes. After Regan won the 2020 Romania Muscle Fest Pro Show, it marked his first pro show win in the Men’s Open Bodybuilding category, earning him a place at the 2020 Olympia. We look forward to what he will bring to the biggest stage this year.*Finishing off our list of Canadian athletes competing in the Men’s Open Bodybuilding category is Antoine Vaillant. This year he went from 7th place at the New York Pro, to the next week making some changes to his diet and posing, to then go on to win the California Pro. He has gained a huge following for his funny antics on Instagram and YouTube, but this stunning win really set the bar for him to be taken seriously as another top bodybuilder in the game. We believe that his bicep tear was almost a blessing in disguise. We say this because his legs had always been a lacking body part for Vaillant, but while recovering from his bicep injury, it left him to train his legs way more than ever before. He now has some of the best legs in the business.

Muscle Insider’s John Cardillo is one of the premier fitness leaders in the bodybuilding industry. Here’s what John had to say on who will take the Sandow this year: 

 “In my opinion, Hadi Choopan should be the 2020 Mr. Olympia champion. His physique combines muscularity with symmetry, balance, separation and he’s shredded every time he steps on stage. He’s not the biggest competitor, but mass alone is not what bodybuilding’s about. The entire physique has to be looked at and how it’s presented is critical. The judges may differ but in my opinion, an Olympia champion can’t have a distended stomach and must be able to display their physique perfectly in every pose to be considered worthy of the Olympia title. Hadi has made continuous improvements over the last 5 years, especially in his legs and I think this year he will be even better than last year where he took 3rd.”

John Cardillo’s Olympia Predictions Men’s Bodybuilding:

For more information, visit MrOympia.com as Trifecta presents Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend brought to you by Northern Chill and by Wings of Strength the weekend of December 17-20.

*Image Courtesy of Instagram

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