Bodybuilding gets a small taste of this yr’s Olympia in early May.
It’ll be a protracted wait for the 2023 Mr. Olympia. With this yr’s flagship bodybuilding contest not occurring until Nov. 3-5, 2023, in Orlando, FL, there’s quite a lot of time for the celebrities of the Men’s Open division to assemble themselves. This spring, they’ll offer a teaser of what might come by appearing together at a comparatively smaller scale International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League competition.
On Mar. 23, 2023, the National Physique Committee (NPC) organizers of the 2023 Pittsburgh Pro revealed who shall be guest posing during this yr’s competition the weekend of May 12-13. Here is an outline of huge names who’re expected to indicate off an early spring take a look at their physique with nothing tangible on the road:
2023 Pittsburgh Pro Guest Posing Athletes
Reigning four-time Classic Physique Olympia champion (2019-2022) Chris Bumstead has also been announced to make a special appearance, but he is just not expected to guest pose.
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Save for the defending Mr. Olympia, Hadi Choopan, this list of guest posers at the newest Pittsburgh Pro is arguably a laundry list of potential contenders for the following Mr. Olympia title. There could all the time be an unexpected dark horse making a run out of the blue, but certainly one of these names (with Choopan included) will likely be the 2023 Olympia victor.
Assuredly, there isn’t any shortage of storylines leading into this primary take a look at a lot of the principal 2023 Mr. Olympia slate.
For Lunsford, after successfully transitioning from the 212 division, the athlete will now likely be pulling out all of the stops to win his first Mr. Olympia title. Taking home a runner-up in his first Men’s Open try might need only been the beginning of a fruitful profession in the highest bodybuilding class. In terms of Walker, “The Mutant” has submitted relatively disappointing performances of late. Two consecutive podium results on the 2022 Olympia and 2023 AC are nothing to sneeze at, but Walker expected to win. That makes what he brings to the stage in Orlando potentially much more exciting.
Elssbiay returns to guest pose on the Pittsburgh Pro after skipping the 2022 iteration. The previous two-time Olympia champion has recently dipped a bit, performance-wise, and could possibly be using the Pittsburgh Pro as a option to construct some momentum heading into one other Olympia appearance in the autumn. Dauda surprised the bodybuilding world along with his recent AC title, but some established icons don’t think any coming victories shall be much of a shock anymore. He’s undoubtedly appeared to establish himself as a household name.
Finally, amongst the principal pantheon featured on the Pittsburgh Pro, Clarida will likely just be moonlighting guest posing amongst Men’s Open contenders as he pushes for a 212 Olympia title record. It doesn’t appear “The Giant Killer” shall be slaying any of the athletes on stage in a primary competition any time soon. As for Labrada, after ending in seventh place on the 2022 Olympia, he didn’t appear to be contending well with the skin noise. The athlete has been planning a streamlined physique in 2023, which he might show a glimpse of within the early stages in May.
On the time of this text’s publication, it’s unclear what role Bumstead plans to play on the Pittsburgh Pro on condition that he isn’t guest posing. Nevertheless, having one other superstar available is all the time welcome by fans.
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From a competitive perspective, nothing meaningful is on the road for any of those dynamos on the 2023 Pittsburgh Pro. They’re merely there to partially provide a public update on their training progress while fulfilling IFBB appearance “obligations” of sorts. That said, seeing the present elite mixture of Men’s Open bodybuilders is one rousing option to fire up debate and draw attention before they really duke it out on stage later this yr.
Featured image: @npcifbbpropittsburgh on Instagram