Hany Rambod speaks about the 2022 Olympia in his podcast called “The Truth with Hany Rambod. Hany touches on the timing at which competitors stepped on stage during the Olympia. It is absolutely ridiculous how long the athletes had to wait for, to step on stage. More importantly, the promoters should have let each division know at what time they would be stepping on stage so they didn’t all cram into a small room, taking up space and dealing with unnecessary stress and frustration. No athlete in the world is able to perform their best and excel when the timing is completely off a reasonable time frame.
Prejudging should not take place at night, when every other show prejudging is always in the morning. There is no benefit to having these events at 11pm west coast time, 2am eastern. These athletes are what makes the sport possible. People buy tickets, the PPV, and everything else because of the athletes competing. The athletes should be the utmost priority of the show. The coaches also experience a difficult time having to manage athletes all over the place without a sense of what time the specific divisions will step on stage. The overall scheduling of the 2022 Mr. Olympia was an absolute disaster for every individual involved, including the viewers.
Another critical issue with the Olympia is the date on which it takes place. The end of the calendar year is not a good time to hold this competition. Holidays, the end of the calendar year, and many other factors make it that much more difficult for competitors to optimize their prep and overall performance. As far as I can remember, the Olympia was always held in September. Even with the 2023 Olympia being pushed up to November in Orlando, it is still a major inconvenience. Having the Arnold in March and the Olympia in September is the ideal time frame for a bodybuilding season.
Another great point Hany makes is the proximity of the Olympia with holiday sales, black Friday, etc. From a business perspective, it does not make sense for businesses to dump marketing dollars into the booths and trade shows, during the busiest time of the season for businesses. The end of the calendar year is not the time for companies to try to prepare for expos.
Overall, the moving of the Olympia time frame might not seem like a big deal to most people. However, condensing the bodybuilding season to a smaller time frame will improve competitors’ health, performance, and comfort. The athletes should be the focal point and catalyst for these organizations to build their schedules on.
Watch the full video below !
