The Lion of Lebanon thinks the Olympia must showcase only the perfect of the perfect.
To shut the 2022 calendar yr, the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) revealed the standards for the 2023 Olympia qualification process. The competition’s next iteration will occur sometime in November 2023 in Orlando, FL. Before that competitive moment arrives, a former Mr. Olympia (1983) champion, Samir Bannout, recently discussed what he feels are issues concerning bodybuilding’s most important event.
During a Jan. 3, 2023, episode of The Muscle Maturity Podcast, Bannout broke down his current thoughts on bodybuilding as a sport and where he feels the flagship Mr. Olympia must evolve. Among the many more notable bullet points was the previous fitness titan stressing that the qualification process for the competition needs to be more rigid.
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Perhaps essentially the most significant change to the IFBB’s Olympia qualification system in 2023 was that there would not be a points system. Only the top-five finishers within the 2022 Mr. Olympia, the highest three athletes in every other 2022 Olympia division, and the respective contest winners of each IFBB Pro League competition in 2023 will qualify for November’s festivities in Florida.
In a spanning discussion, this can be a change that Bannout welcomed and said doesn’t go far enough. The 2022 Mr. Olympia stage held a field of 30 competitors vying for the title, which was too vast a field in Bannout’s experienced opinion.
“The Olympia should never be greater than 20 contestants. Never. That needs to be the limit. The cream of the crop should get on that stage,” Bannout said. “In the event you don’t make the highest ten, it’s over. I feel the highest five should qualify again.”
Regarding prize money, the Men’s Open category, with champion Hadi Choopan, eclipsed every other participating Olympia division by far within the 2022 edition of the Olympia. This can be a discrepancy Bannout doesn’t appreciate. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bannout believes the Classic Physique division deserves more respect.
“A man like Chris Bumstead, truthfully, he was essentially the most conditioned and essentially the most skilled on the Olympia weekend, and his check was $50,000.” Bannout began. “And the third-place winner (within the Men’s Open) took home $100,000. How [expletive] do you explain that?”
As for improving the Olympia’s general presentation, Bannout noted he thinks the competition’s organizers needs to be making more of an earnest effort to spotlight past victors. To this former Olympia champion, his suggested plan is to proceed constructing the game’s mystique while catering to loyal spectators by honoring Olympia winners from previous years.
“It [would be] really cool every decade, at the very least or every 5-6 years, bring all of the Mr. Olympias on stage for just two minutes,” Bannout proposed. “And that’s gonna bring a more completely satisfied atmosphere and celebration. Like Arnold does [at the Arnold Classic contest], he brings all the previous Arnold Classic champions.”
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Whether the IFBB and the Olympia’s organizers will take Bannout’s suggestions and apply them in the long run stays to be seen. For now, he’s just the most recent legend of the game who seems to want higher for those athletes which have come after him.
Featured image: @officialsamirbannout on Instagram