Mr. Olympia 2021: Winners, Results, and Pro Analysis
The 57th Annual Mr. Olympia took place from October 7th-10th, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The contest featured 11 Pro divisions including the iconic Mr. Olympia contest which began in 1965. Other pro events that took place during the Olympia weekend include the Ms. Olympia, Fitness Olympia, Figure Olympia, Bikini Olympia, Women’s Physique Olympia, Classic Physique Olympia, Men’s Physique Olympia, the Olympia Wheelchair division and the new Wellness Olympia category.
The weekend got started off with a somber note with the shocking revelation that George Peterson, top bodybuilding competitor in the 212 Olympia division, suddenly passed away at 37 years of age. The story quickly traveled the social media circles, leaving shock and sadness in the bodybuilding community. George was amazing on & off stage and will be thoroughly missed. Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Dan Solomon started off the Olympia Press Conference on Thursday afternoon with a short tribute to George as well as for Peter McGough as well. Peter was a respected journalist and writer who worked for Flex Magazine during the magazine’s heyday. He passed away last December after a long battle with cancer.
Here is the recap for this year’s Mr. Olympia & Classic Physique Olympia divisions.
2021 Mr. Olympia Main Event
For the second year in a row, Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay won the Mr. Olympia title. Unlike last year when Ramy dominated the competition by virtue of his excellent conditioning and technically perfect posing, Ramy was pushed for the win this year by former Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry and Hadi Choopan from Iran.
5th Place – Nick Walker – $35,000
Nick is one of the most exciting pro bodybuilders competing today. His dominating wins this year at both the New York Pro and the Arnold Classic as well as his confident personality have made him a favorite among bodybuilding fans around the world.
At only 27 years old, Nick personifies the young, cocky bodybuilder who wants to rule the bodybuilding world and fully believes that he will. It’s exciting to watch! In his debut at the Mr. Olympia this year, Nick was in rock hard shape with great muscle mass and thickness. He may have appeared a little flat at the prejudging on Friday but he looked much fuller and more impressive for the finals on Saturday.
It looked to be a battle between him and Hunter Labrada for fourth place but Hunter got the nod, based on his superior condition on Friday night. Nick was coming off his win at the Arnold Classic only two weeks earlier so it was impressive that he was able to hold onto that great condition for the Mr. Olympia contest. This was a great Mr. Olympia debut for Nick Walker and it will be fun to watch his progress next year
4th Place – Hunter Labrada – $40,000
One of the most improved bodybuilders in the 2021 Mr. Olympia contest was Hunter Labrada. The son of the legendary Lee Labrada, Hunter moved up from eighth place last year to fourth at this year’s Mr. Olympia. His physique is one of the most aesthetic onstage for the open men’s bodybuilding division but he is also very big and thick. His conditioning this year was excellent with noticeable improvement in his back poses and he was able to jump four places up from last year’s contest.
Hunter performed an excellent posing routine, even borrowing some of the classic poses that his father originated when he was competing in the Mr. Olympia contest in the 1980’s. One of the younger competitors competing in the Mr. Olympia, Hunter has to be one of the favorites to win in the next few years and it will be exciting to see what he will bring to the stage in the future.
3rd Place – Hadi Choopan – $100,000
For the third year in a row, Hadi Choopan took a strong third place at the Mr. Olympia. This year, Hadi also won the People’s Choice award where the fans voted for their favorite bodybuilder at the Mr. Olympia. Hadi’s combination of dense muscle and rock hard conditioning makes him one of the best bodybuilders in the world. Although shorter in stature than most of the line-up, Hadi’s amazing size and conditioning makes him very hard to beat.
Last year, Hadi improved tremendously from the prejudging on Friday to the finals on Saturday and this year was a similar situation. Although in great shape on Friday, Hadi did not make as much of an impact during the prejudging as he did in the finals on Saturday. He was significantly harder and more impressive during the finals, matching up very well against Big Ramy and Brandon Curry. If Hadi can show this crazy conditioning along with all his dense muscle size next year for the prejudging as well as the finals, he might just be the next Mr. Olympia.
2nd Place – Brandon Curry – $150,000
2019 Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry took second place at the Mr. Olympia for the second year in a row. Brandon was much improved from last year with added size and fullness throughout his physique. One of the most aesthetically pleasing bodybuilders onstage, Brandon emphasized his great shape and perfect proportions onstage during the mandatory poses and in his posing routine at the finals.
In the comparisons with Big Ramy during the prejudging, Brandon looked better in many of the mandatory poses due to his increased muscle mass and fullness. His massive upper body combined with his small waist matched up well next to Ramy’s big frame.
Brandon has always been criticized for having smaller legs compared to his massive upper body but this year, his legs were noticeably bigger and more in proportion.
At the finals on Saturday, Big Ramy improved his conditioning enough to hold off Brandon and win his second Mr. Olympia. However, Brandon has to be one of the favorites to win the title back next year now that he has shown that he can make the improvements necessary to possibly get the title back from Ramy in 2022.
1st Place – Mamdouh Elssbiay (“Big Ramy”) – $400,000
Weighing a massive 303 pounds, a confident Big Ramy predicted that “Winter is Coming” again to Orlando at this year’s Mr. Olympia. However, at the prejudging, Ramy did not display the sharp conditioning that brought him the title in 2020. He looked softer in many of the poses from the front and this left the door open for some of his competition to possibly steal the title away from him. This was particularly evident when the judges called out Big Ramy to be compared with former Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry during the prejudging.
For the Saturday evening finals, Big Ramy improved his condition enough to retain the title and win his second Mr. Olympia over Brandon. Ramy’s overwhelming mass makes him a formidable presence onstage and his massive legs and back dominate the competition. Although not the most aesthetic bodybuilder onstage, Ramy’s size is hard to overcome when he is in top shape.
At this point in his career, Ramy only needs to continue to refine his physique in order to hold onto the Mr. Olympia title. This was a close win for Big Ramy but he was able to pull off the victory this year by improving his condition for the finals.
2021 Classic Physique Olympia
5th Place – Ramon Rocha Querioz – Prize money: N/A
Ramon is a new competitor from Brazil with some great potential and an outstanding physique. He has very good thickness and size, particularly in his arms and legs.
He needs some more thickness in his back but as a young competitor in his 20’s, the future looks bright for Ramon in the coming years as he further develops and refines his physique.
4th Place – Urs Kalecinski – $5,000
One of the most exciting new competitors in the Classic Physique division is 23 year old Urs Kalecinski. Urs is from Germany and recently won the Tampa Pro in August before making his Olympia debut this year. He is over 6 feet tall with an outstanding structure and a fantastic vacuum pose. Urs is still very young and needs time to add more muscle thickness and maturity but once he does, he could win the Classic Physique Olympia.
Equally outstanding as his physique was his posing routine. Utilizing the classic bodybuilding poses of his idols Flex Wheeler and Milos Sarcev, Urs performed one of the best posing routines of the Olympia weekend and he ended it with a little hip hop and some pop locking poses. It was fantastic! The best is ahead for this exciting young competitor from Germany.
3rd Place – Breon Ansley – $10,000
Former two time Classic Physique Olympia champion Breon Ansley placed third for the second year in a row. Breon has one of the best physiques in the Classic Physique division and he was very confident this year in the improvements he made. He was even bold enough to take off his shirt at the press conference and pose to the audience in front of Chris Bumstead and Terrence Ruffin.
Breon was in fantastic shape with good size and excellent conditioning but he is limited by how big he can get due to the height-weight restrictions in Classic Physique. Chris is bigger and more developed now than when Breon beat him in the past so it’s going to be hard to pass him up, but credit goes to Breon for having the heart and passion to keep coming back and trying hard to get the title back. Breon looked excellent, but fell just short.
2nd Place – Terrence Ruffin – $15,000
Terrence repeated his runner-up position at the Classic Physique Olympia for the second year in a row. He won the Classic Physique division at the 2021 Arnold Classic only two weeks earlier and he was a commanding force at this competition too.
Terrence is one of the shorter competitors in the line-up but his outstanding aesthetic physique is so good that he easily beats out the bigger competitors in this division.
He is probably the best poser in all of bodybuilding today and his routine at the Classic Physique Olympia was outstanding, earning rousing applause from the audience. Terrence was also in superb condition, particularly from the back where he displayed shredded hamstrings and detailed back muscularity.
1st Place – Chris Bumstead – $50,000
For the third year in a row, Chris Bumstead won the Classic Physique Olympia. Chris has such an advantage over the competition due to his height, his structure and his aesthetically superior physique. Last year, Chris won the title very decisively with little competition. This year was more of the same as Chris won his third title unanimously. If he keeps making improvements each year, can anyone beat him for the title?
Chris has fantastic leg development and great width in his upper body. His vacuum pose and front lat spread are some of the poses in which he dominates his competitors. He also added a great three quarter twisting back pose (an Arnold favorite) to his routine this year. Chris came on stage with the confidence of knowing he did everything possible to improve and win the contest and he certainly did that at this 2021 Classic Physique Olympia.
On To The Next One
There were quite a few surprises at this year’s Olympia, as well as some familiar placings. The crowd definitely got their money’s worth at the spectacular event in Orlando, Florida & the bodybuilding community will eagerly await the 2022 Mr. Olympia as forged rivalries this year grew & will continue for the coming years.
Exciting times ahead, especially with the rise new faces & promising physiques across all divisions.
What did you think of the 2021 Mr. Olympia? Do you agree with the results? Let us know in the comments below!
