The 2022 Mr. Olympia had all the pomp and circumstance to go along with a big time boxing match. I am not saying this was Haglar and Sugar Ray, but it was pretty damn good as far as bodybuilding contest go. Everything you read for the 12 months leading up to the show had centered around 3 individuals: Mamdouh "Big Ramy" Elssbiay - Reining Champ, Nicholas Walker - 5th place and media beast, and 2019 champ Brandon Curry lurking in the under brush ready to pounce. No one was talking about the Wolf of bodybuilding () as the winner but US. To capture this show one of these guys would have to set himself apart from the other three. As they say in Hollywood - "On with the Show!".

From the first look in pre-judging the wolf of bodybuilding Hadi Choopan had done what the others could not. He presented a package that put him one clear step above the rest of the pack. He wasn't the biggest man in the show but standing by himself on stage he seemed to fill the stage with his presence. His muscles seemed to be so full that they stretched his skin as if they were going to pop through. His deltoids and improved back width and thickness, gave balance to his new an much improved lower body. His torso wasn't over shadowed by his arms anymore. His legs from my perspective were very improved from past years. His quads not had sweep and frontal separation. His calves had a diamond shape to them from the front and back. Hamstrings a problem area were improved to the point they match their frontal partners. I will guarantee you that his improvement in his lower body is what catapulted his physique into that of a Mr. Olympia winner circle.

In 2^nd place was the previous years 212 champion Derek Lunsford having moved up into the open because well he can't make weight anymore. Lunsford looked very good for any show but the Mr. Olympia. This show has a way of wearing out the very best of champions. Lunsford was very large and round, he had made improvements in his back, shoulders and chest. The only small weakness observed was that his legs looked to be slightly off from the previous year. This could be do to the new weight gained during the year as new muscle needs a level of hardness before it sticks. His legs though fuller then in the past year also looked flat compared to the upper body. Also probably from the move up in weight. In the end the judges kind of saw it as we did with Derek getting straight 2nd's on all score cards. Being a man of good character Derek congratulated Hadi on his win and we know he's probably thinking about how he's going to plot his revenge and take the title in 2023.

3^rd place belong to a well deserved Nicholas Walker. Nicholas Walker looked great big full, cut, and with considerable improvement in shape. This was some sweet and sour vindication from the year before where he placed a very disappointing 5th place. He has finally found himself in this show. At the 2021 show his physique was much improved over the 2020 version, but 2022 was his coming out party in our opinion. He had fullness, cuts and roundness to all his muscles and a improved waist to shoulder taper. Some folks in the back wanted to see more of him and Lunsford posed against each other, we wanted to see that also but it wasn't to be. He shape and conditioning were very good and it will be a very interesting show in 2023 - Indeed.

An ever improving Brandon Curry placed 4^th with more size and separation that had been missing from previous contest but his cuts and separation suffered a little. His muscle fullness was also improved. If he combines this with his added size he will again be right in the mix for the title. 5^th went to 2021 Mr. Olympia Mamdouh "Big Ramy" Elssbiay who seems to have found his way back from the abyss. His conditioning very flat at the contest beginning but continued to improve during the show, but the Olympia is a show that has zero mercy for anyone being off. A very impressive new comer to the Olympia in Samson Dauda landed in 6^th place. Rounding out the top 10 were Hunter Labrada in 7^th place, new comer Chinedu Andrew Obiekea in his first Olympia placing in 8^th, with veteran William Bonac in 9^th and Rafael Brandao rounding out the and 10^th spots, respectively.

This was a very good show and with these final placings next years show is shaping up to be just as interesting as this one was tonight. The show itself needs allot of improvements as we were up till 2:AM getting these results as the contest didn't end till about 1:AM! The contestants looked dead tired & exhausted. Organization improvement needed all the way round!

Live Strong and Train Hard….
BigZZZ

In 1^st place, although down from last years conditioning Andrea Shaw still had enough of the intangibles to capture her second consecutive Ms Olympia title among some of the best competition in the world. She displayed very good muscle separation even with a less dryness as displayed in 2021 but with more fullness. Her calves, quads hamstrings, back and shoulders are still the class of women bodybuilding. Congratulations to Ms. Shaw on her second Olympia victory.

In 2^nd place was Angela Yeo, who if not for the ever present Shaw would be your new Ms. Olympia winner. She was in great shape and displayed excellent overall conditioning. She was the most conditioned athlete of the whole show. With more added size overall she will be more competitive to capturing that top spot. In 3^rd place was Helle Trevino, 2021 runner-up. This year she arrived in excellent shape and displayed good separation and muscle shape. With more added leg sweep and back thickness she could be moving up to challenge possibly for second place. Rounding out the top 5 in 4^th place was an impressive though off Margie Martin who was eked out of third place, with 5^th place going to Branka Njegovec of Croatia. This show keeps getting better each year despite what seem to be a lack luster effort by the governing body. With more shows during the competition year so as to increase the amount of competitions has boosted the quality of the competition. These ladies deserve all the credit for keeping the sport of women bodybuilding at the front of all women fitness events.

Train Hard or Go Home!
Bulldog…..

This years 212 was supposed to be a open fight among the top 3 competitors but we would be lying if we said that! In 1^st place was the most impressive bodybuilding athlete of the entire weekend - Shaun Clarida! He was the most condition, fullest, sharpest, driest, and complete bodybuilding athlete of the entire weekend - PERIOD! Open, Classic, don't care he was above both of them - PERIOD! The show was his as soon as he hit his first pose & everybody who was there knew it in the instance. This is not a knock on the other competitors, but is just how good he was on this day at this time! Even though Shaun is not a tall man he is a big man as far as the 212 class is concerned. His small joints and waist coupled with ever expanding muscle belies he just looks larger than his fellow competitors. The real competition was for second & third place in our opinion between Angel Calderon(Spain) & Kamal El Gargni(Libya). In 2^nd place was a thick and full Calderon of Spain over a slightly more symmetrical and conditioned El Gargni of Libya in 3^rd. Hey we had these 2 guys flipped. In 4^th was a very impressive Ahmad Ashkanani of Kuwait, who most around our group thought needs more time for refinement and would be pushing for a higher placing. Oleh Kryvyi of Ukraine came in 5^th, way up from his 12^th place in 2020, with a qualify physique from head to toe. Another great show, so far 2 for 2. Now on to the main show.

Train Hard or Go Home!
Bulldog…..

Final Pacing - 2022 IFBB Olympia Weekend Bodybuilding Report