Mister Olympia 2019 - Best bodybuilder in the world
Brandon Curry succeeds Shawn Rhoden!
The fact that we would be seeing a new Mr Olympia was actually already clear on Friday night after the pre-judging. Although many of his supporters had hoped for him, Dexter Jackson was unable to fully convince them and had to relinquish his second title since 2008. However, it was still completely unclear before the finals who would follow in his footsteps and succeed Shawn Rhoden, which is why the heated debate about the potential winner created a certain amount of tension.
Cedric McMillan undoubtedly had no say in Sandow's favour from the outset. With an almost somnambulistic confidence, the US-American appeared in unworthy form as usual and deservedly only finished in seventh place. It is questionable whether he had to apply for a special invitation and start a fundamental discussion for this performance. Behind him in 8th place was Lukas Osladil, who had to work hard for his qualification by taking part in several competitions. The top 10 was completed by an impressively massive Akim Williams and Patrick Moore. The latter in particular could possibly have been placed higher due to his toughness, even if he still lacks a bit of muscle due to his size. However, there is no doubt that we will see more of him in the future.
Steve Kuclo took a respectable sixth place, moving up four places compared to last year and celebrating his best result overall in Las Vegas. His direct rival was none other than Roelly Winklaar, who basically had one of the most promising starting positions after his third place at the Mr. Olympia 2018 , but was unable to capitalise on this. As at the Arnold Classic in March, the Dutch IFBB Pro had too few arguments in his favour, which is why fifth place was no surprise in the end. Nevertheless, the 42-year-old appeared to be visibly disappointed, but he cannot blame this on the judges' judgement.
At the age of 49, fourth place for Dexter Jackson almost seems like a miracle. At his 20th Mr Olympia, "The Blade" showed room for improvement in the pre-judging, but then made up ground in the final. However, there really wasn't much more to it and when you consider that greats such as Shawn Rhoden, Phil Heath and Big Ramy, who all finished ahead of him last year, didn't compete at all, you have to at least question whether time isn't slowly working against the former title holder. If the aforementioned athletes had also started, Jackson would probably have had to settle for seventh place again.
Let's move on to Hadi Choopan, who was probably unaware of his first participation in the Mr Olympia around a fortnight ago. This makes his third place in the open class all the more sensational. The Iranian-born athlete, a sportsman through and through, presented an overall picture on stage that was astonishing. Without a doubt, second place would also have been possible for him. One or two experts even saw the "Persian wolf" at the top of the podium. All in all, a great performance that was honoured.
In the end, William Bonac, who recently parted company with his coach Neil Hill, was able to overtake the Iranian. Considering this drastic change, it is definitely remarkable that the 37-year-old was actually in contention for the title. However, at no point did it feel like victory was really in the air.
It was a different story for Brandon Curry, who, alongside Roelly Winklaar, had been picked as the top favourite by almost all insiders. There's no question that the American IFBB Pro didn't show himself as expected in the pre-judging. However, "The Prodigy" appeared to have improved for the final and ultimately lived up to his reputation. The triumph was by no means undeserved, but the victory was still not as clear-cut as some people had anticipated.
After his gold medal at the Arnold Classic in the spring, Brandon Curry has now also won his first Sandow, leaving high-calibre competitors such as William Bonac, Hadi Choopan and Dexter Jackson in his wake. The 36-year-old took the tailwind from Columbus with him to set another exclamation mark in Las Vegas. As the 15th Mr Olympia in history, the American IFBB Pro is writing his own chapter in the book of bodybuilding history.
Mr Olympia 2019 - Top 10 Open Bodybuilding
Brandon Curry
William Bonac
Hadi Choopan
Dexter Jackson
Roelly Winklaar
Steve Kuclo
Cedric McMillan
Lukas Osladil
Akim Williams
Patrick Moore
Comments (0)