Olympia 2017 Recap

Olympia review sponsored by Rivalus

Now that the dust has settled in Las Vegas, it’s time to reflect on another great IFBB Pro League season. Most champions retained their titles, but there was a ton of excitement with new challengers staking their claim as top echelon competitors. There was disappointments, surprises and controversy on the Olympia stage this year and it leaves us looking forward to 2018.

MEN’S OPEN BODYBUILDING

1. Phil Heath
2. Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay
3. William Bonac
4. Dexter Jackson
5. Shawn Rhoden
6. Roelly Winklaar
7. Nathan De Asha
8. Brandon Curry
9. Josh Lenartowicz
10. Cedric McMillan
11. Lionel Beyeke
12. Lukas Osladil
13. Maxx Charles
14. Johnnie O. Jackson
15. Gerald Williams
16. Michael Lockett

Heath’s confidence was tested last weekend! At prejudging, Heath was taken out of the middle in a three-man callout with Bonac and Ramy. As usual, Heath ever so slightly missed the mark on Friday night and speculation was that Ramy may have bested him. In classic Heath fashion, “The Gift” absolutely nailed his conditioning and fullness for Saturday and left all argument for Bonac and Ramy to take home the Sandow in the dust. Heath won his 7^th title and is now tied with Arnold Schwarzenegger for second all-time in Olympia victories.

THE SURPRISE: Nathan De Asha jumped up five spots from a 12^th place finish in 2016. De Asha sported noticeably improved wheels and even better conditioning this time out. Arguments could easily be made for De Asha to have cracked the top-five. Look for Nathan to gather some momentum in the next few months before arriving in Vegas next year.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT: Shawn Rhoden was extremely disappointing last weekend. Rhoden was being touted as the greatest challenge to Heath (along with Big Ramy), but fell way short. He was extremely underwhelming at prejudging due to holding a significant layer of water. He looked considerably better at finals, but the damage was already done. Rhoden must bounce back in these post-Olympia shows or at the Arnold Classic Ohio if he wants to re-capture his reputation as a Olympia threat.

MEN’S 212

1. James “Flex” Lewis
2. Ahmad Ashkanani
3. Jose Raymond
4. David Henry
5. Derek Lunsford
6. Milan Sadek
7. Ronny Rockel
8. Charles Dixon
9. Shaun Clarida
10. Ricardo Correia

Even after losing friend and training partner Dallas McCarver just a few weeks earlier, Lewis brought one of his best overall packages ever to Vegas and earned his sixth 212-pound title. There really wasn’t anyone close in my opinion. I felt like Ashkanani was off and, even though Raymond was one of his best ever versions, his structure is just going to hold him back unless Flex is off. Youngsters Sadek and Lunsford made the first callout in their Olympia debuts, but to me the 212 throne is safe until at least 2019.

THE SURPRISE: Derek Lunsford made a big splash in Vegas only one month into his IFBB Pro career. He’s an up-and-comer in the 212-pound class, but does already have a win under his best and now a top-five finish at the big dance after only two IFBB Pro shows. I’d like to see Derek take a full offseason and crack the top-three next year.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT: Last weekend didn’t go to plans for Shaun Clarida. After racking up momentum this season, Clarida just simply fell short in Vegas. The expectation was a top-six finish from Clarida, an expectation I felt was actually quite conservative. Unfortunately, Clarida just wasn’t able to surpass his previous conditioning from earlier in the season and wound up a disappointing 9^th.

CLASSIC PHYSIQUE

1. Breon Ansley
2. Chris Bumstead
3. George Peterson
4. Arash Rahbar
5. Danny Hester

It was a photo-finish between Ansley and Bumstead. Bumstead’s classic lines and imposing structure versus Ansley’s proportions and conditioning. Ansley got the nod, but Canada’s quickest rising star will surely be a top-tier CPD competitor for as many years as he can stay healthy and injury-free.

THE SURPRISE: George Peterson beat all expectations leading into this weekend with a terrific third-place finish. “Da Bull” somehow beat all of his lights-out showings from the 2017 season leading up to the Olympia and finished ahead of the weekend’s most hyped CPD competitor Arash Rahbar.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT: Arash Rahbar’s face told the story as he was announced as the fourth-place recipient. Rightfully so, Rahbar’s social media posts were straddling the line of confident versus cocky. Structurally Rahbar will have trouble comparing against the likes of Ansley, Bumstead and Ruffin. As shown this weekend, Rahbar needs to be 100% to be a threat to being crowned in Vegas and if he’s anything short of that, he will have trouble staying in the top-five moving forward.