Valliere thinks it doesn’t make sense to maintain the category around anymore.
From the tip of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, various notable figures in and around bodybuilding have had frank thoughts in regards to the state of the game. There was the long-lasting Arnold Schwarzenegger expressing his fandom of reigning four-time Classic Physique Olympia champion Chris Bumstead while noting the division must be the Olympia weekend’s primary event. There was 1983 Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout lamenting that the Olympia qualification isn’t rigid enough and allows too many competitors. Now, Iain Valliere, an energetic bodybuilder, shared some recent strong thoughts on a distinguished modern competitive category.
On Feb. 2, 2023, Valliere appeared in a podcast episode with Fouad Abiad Media, discussing among the latest pertinent bodybuilding topics just like the 2023 Arnold Classic. Among the many more notable revelations was that the 2022 Vancouver Pro champion believes the 212 division should now not be a viable skilled division.
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As standards for training and quality nutrition proceed to grow, Valliere professed that he doesn’t see a spot for 212 bodybuilders in the long term. He maintained that recent successful examples of 212 competitors like Derek Lunsford and Shaun Clarida, who’ve transitioned to and competed well within the Men’s Open, reveal that there isn’t much of a necessity for the 212 anymore.
As such, the athlete said the division’s existence is redundant and that it must be absorbed into the Men’s Open.
“If a 175 or 180-pound Shaun [Clarida] is available in and is thrashing 290-pound, 6-feet guys, you actually don’t have any [expletive] case for keeping the 212 [division], to be honest.” Valliere said. “Because I still think the blokes which might be really [expletive] driven to be the most effective, would stick out a couple of years of getting [expletive] on in the event that they believed of their heart. Just like the Derek’s (Lunsford] of the world, would have stuck that [expletive] out and been within the Men’s Open and would have ended up where they’re.”
After receiving pushback and counterarguments from his fellow podcasters, including retired 212 bodybuilder Guy Cisternio and retired Men’s Open competitor Fouad Abiad, Valliere made an inexpensive analogy between basketball and bodybuilding, declaring how the cream often rises to the highest without accommodations.
“That’s the identical thing as saying guys which might be, like, 5-foot-10 shouldn’t pursue basketball and that we must always make a shorter net for the blokes which might be shorter. It’s silly.” Valliere explained. “With 212, I just think loads of those guys could find yourself within the [Men’s] Open identical to it was, and be nice.”
Ultimately, to Valliere, nixing the 212 division is in regards to the more talented athletes winning out and allowing them to compete in probably the most elite circumstances.
“Irrespective of how much I train, I’m not going to be as big as Ramy [Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay] or as fast as Usain Bolt,” Valliere said. “Some guys won’t be nearly as good as Derek [Lunsford], some guys won’t be as tall as Yao Ming, it’s just the [expletive] reality. People aren’t all created equally and simply because they aren’t, it doesn’t mean we must always fill the gap.”
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Valliere might need a right to own his strong opinion on the longer term of the 212, but, on the time of this writing, competitive organizers don’t appear to have any meaningful plans toward falling in lockstep together with his idea.
As for Valliere’s individual exploits, the Men’s Open bodybuilder is coming off an Eleventh-place finish on the 2022 Mr. Olympia. In line with NPC News Online, the result was the second-lowest of his profession, with a 14th-place finish on the 2018 iteration standing as his worst. To this present day, Valliere’s best Mr. Olympia output was back-to-back placings in seventh in 2020 and 2021.
With the 2023 competitive season still in its early stages, if he qualifies for the competition, he’ll undoubtedly be in search of a rebound throughout the 2023 edition, November 3-5 in Orlando, FL.
Featured image: @iainvalliere on Instagram