“The cream of the crop should get on stage” - Samir Bannout on the Mr. Olympia qualification rules

Bannout is not a name many casual admirers of the sport today will recall. However, anyone who is a seasoned fan of the sport will know him as a dominant force during his time. From the casual fan's perspective, Bannout was the first Arab ever to win the Mr. Olympia title. The former Lebanese bodybuilder won the 1983 edition of the most prestigious bodybuilding competition in the world.

The IFBB Pro League's management team recently announced they would abandon the points-based qualification system previously used to qualify athletes for Mr. Olympia. Instead, new deadlines are in place for qualification. Samir Bannout, Nick Trigili, and John Hansen dissected what this means for the future of the competition in the latest episode of Muscle Maturity.

The winner of each competition and the top three bodybuilders in points qualified for the 2022 Mr. Olympia. However, the latest change in qualification means that only the winners of the contests held within the stated deadlines will qualify for Mr. Olympia 2023. Hansen gave his two cents on the topic to start with:

"I think that’s good. I think that we need to cut back on the number of people that are in Olympia. It’s just too many, I think, you know. They should be the best of the best. Not 60 people or 40 people, you know."

Bannout, in agreement, insinuated that the most prestigious title in the sport should only contain the best of the best. He added:

"The cream of the crop should get on that stage. If you don’t make the top ten, it’s over. I think the top five should qualify again."

Trigili agreed with them but raised concerns about the large number of shows that would need to cram their schedule to fit in the qualification period. He also mentioned that the promoters of various shows outside the qualification period would be upset by the decision as they would see close to no participation.

Bannout on the prize-money disparities between divisions of Mr. Olympia

All the professionals at the competition were paid according to their respective finishes at the 2022 Mr. Olympia from the funds allocated for the prizes, totaling up to $1.5 million. However, the vast pay gap between the Men's Open and every other division sparked off a conversation where Bannout said:

"A guy like Chris Bumstead – Honestly, I think he was the most conditioned and professional at the Olympia weekend, and his cheque was 50 thousand. And the third-place winner (In the Men’s Open division) took home a hundred thousand dollars. How do you ... explain that?"

Despite only being inaugurated seven years ago, in 2016, Mr. Olympia Classic Physique quickly became one of the most popular shows at the event. Chris Bumstead, who is arguably the most famous bodybuilder today, has undoubtedly driven up viewership for the whole of Mr. Olympia. He is a true modern-day celebrity athlete with nearly 14 million followers tuning in to see his life on his Instagram account alone.

One can only hope that the prize-money situation changes this year. It remains to be seen whether the changes will arrive or whether the Men's Open will continue to dominate the prize pool for historical reasons.