The best in bodybuilding has taken to Las Vegas this week for Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness and Performance Weekend, home to the prestigious Mr. Olympia event.
The 60th edition of the Mr. Olympia concluded at Resorts World Theater in Las Vegas, NV, on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. This was the main event of the 2024 Olympia weekend.
Samson Dauda was awarded his first Olympia title and the richest prize in the sport’s history: $600,000. It is the first time the Olympia title returns to the UK since Dorian Yates held the Sandow trophy in 1997.
Hadi Choopan maintained his position from 2023 as the runner-up. Derek Lunsford, who won it all last year, fell to third place.
This was a two-day show, with pre-judging on Friday, Oct. 11, and the finals a day later. The 15 athletes who advanced from pre-judging entered the main stage for head judge Steve Weinberger’s direction for numerical comparisons. The judges scored competitive callouts to determine the finishing order.
Joining Lunsford as previous champions competing in this year’s competition are 2022 winner Hadi Choopan and 2019 victor Brandon Curry. They will look to become multi-time titleholders, joining the sport’s most decorated stars.
Multi-time champions have been common since the inaugural days of the event.
Larry Scott kicked things off, winning the first and second events. Sergio Oliva picked up where he left off, winning the next three. While those two athletes would lay the groundwork for the industry, introducing the Terminator himself sparked interest in the sport and help catapult it to new heights.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, the most recognizable face in the industry’s long history, won six consecutive Mr. Olympia events from 1970 through 1975 before Hollywood came calling.
He returned to the industry in 1980 and proved he still had it, winning a seventh title.
Frank Zane and Dorian Yates would go on to leave their lasting legacies as repeated victors who dominated the sport for extended periods before Jay Cutler and Phil Heath all defined eras in bodybuilding with their long strings of dominance.
Phil Haney and Ronnie Coleman are the most prolific winners, tied for eight Mr. Olympia victories, making them the most decorated to compete in the event.
It remains to be seen if Lunsford or Choopan can add a second title to their resumes. They have tough competition in the form of Samson Douda, a bodybuilder whose physique is rivaled by few and could easily be deemed the best in the show on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The quality of talent in the sport right now, too, could make it difficult for one competitor to go on the type of run that Schwarzenegger, Coleman, Haney, and the others have experienced. The deeper the talent pool, the less likelihood that a given performer can fend off his opposition for any extended period of time.
Still, there is an opportunity for history to be made Saturday with a Lunsford or Choopan victory.
And an entirely different kind of history should Douda, the most obvious threat to either man, earn the nod from the judges.
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