Walker didn’t bring his best to the show, per Cicherillo.
For some, Nick Walker was the presumed heavy favorite to win the 2023 Arnold Classic (AC). In Mr. Olympia legend Jay Cutler’s eyes, Walker was alleged to finish on top (keyword: supposed). As an alternative, Walker would take a house runner-up result to champion Samson Dauda and be left looking forward to what’s next within the 2023 competitive calendar. As one bodybuilding icon would explain, Walker’s finish was earned.
On Mar. 10, 2023, Mr. Olympia commentator and former International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Pro League competitor Bob Cicherillo, posted a YouTube video to his Voice of Bodybuilding channel explaining easy methods to judge a bodybuilding contest properly. Inside his rationale, he offered specific clarity on why Walker ultimately fell wanting a second AC title in three years.
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While some have seriously considered the merits of Dauda as a legitimate force in the game, Cicherillo didn’t have such qualms. He made it readily apparent that Dauda had the perfect and most balanced physique over the remainder of the sphere. That features Walker and the “deserved” third-place finisher in Andrew Jacked.
Dauda was simply essentially the most well-rounded of his peers.
“Why did Samson [Dauda] win the Arnold over Nick [Walker], [Andrew] Jacked, and everybody else?” Cicherillo asked rhetorically. “Because he had the perfect of all worlds: shape, symmetry, proportion, size, conditioning, and presentation. He had all of it. Was he the perfect in every certainly one of them? No, but you’ll be able to’t make the case for another person overall … I keep getting numerous responses, ‘Yeah, but Nick [Walker] won this pose, this pose, and this pose.’ It doesn’t work like that, folks … He loses to Samson, outright, with regards to shape, symmetry, and proportion. … Overall, Samson had a greater physique and that’s why he ended up within the winner’s circle.”
As for Walker’s individualized disappointment, Cicherillo appeared to speak to the athlete directly. The commentator made it clear he believed Walker appeared in tip-top shape. Nonetheless, he had lost a number of the mojo that when made him certainly one of bodybuilding’s fastest rising stars.
“Nick Walker was tremendous,” Cicherillo said. “If he looked like he did on the [2022] Olympia, he probably would have won. But he lost a little bit of the ‘freak factor,’ bringing it down just a little bit. That was probably a mistake on his part. You’re not going to streamline a physique that may’t be streamlined. Nick, return to being a ‘freak.’
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It is likely to be just a little strange to listen to that a bodybuilder’s ripped physique was too “streamlined” or too lean, so to talk. Though, with Walker taking home third-place and runner-up results on the 2022 Mr. Olympia and 2023 AC, respectively, it is likely to be a critique he should consider. With enough refinement, perhaps the athlete often called “The Mutant” could find himself on top of a podium again in the approaching months.
Featured image: @nick_walker39 on Instagram