The Mr. Olympia competition is considered the Super Bowl of bodybuilding. The best bodybuilders every year get together to compete and crown one of them the champion. Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, and Phil Heath have all won 8 titles, which is the longest streak for any one contestant. While the bodybuilding division is the most popular, there is also the physique, 212, and Ms. Olympia contests during the same weekend. The competition is also known for its corruption.
It politic, bro. If three contestants are close enough that any of them can with without too much outcry, the one with the cleanest record will win even if he is not the best. That's why Kai has never won, despite many thinking that he bested Phil in the past. Phil didn't fuck a grapefruit, and Kai did. Phil also had his business partner on the judging panel in 2012. And how did Arnie win in 1980 despite CLEARLY not having the best body. He won because his name was worth more than his competitors' names. Arnie was, and still is, the biggest name in the sport. If you want to make it big, the powers-that-be need to have yo back.
The lighting is bad. In a sport that literally depends on lighting, this is just inexcusable. The one in 2007 was so bad you had to squint your eyes to see all the definition. The one in 2008 was almost worse with the highlights washing out the striations. Come on IFBB. If you want to be taken seriously, don't be lazy on the lights.
The judging system makes no goddamn sense. They have pre-judging the night before, then real judging, then the fake-real judging where competitors dance around and the judges pretend like it counts for anything. Are there 3 Super Bowls? 3 World Cups? 3 Olympics? Anything can change between judging rounds, and while that might add some guesswork and anticipation, it's dumb and not fair to the athletes who need to peak 3 fucking times.
The entire contest is a shill for supplement companies. Sponsors, sponsors everywhere. They make their $$$ from the expo the days before that give fans protein powder samples in plastic bags. Yeah, I get they have to sell out a little bit, but when random-ass Amazon.com is a bodybuilding contest sponsor you know the IFBB just doesn't give a fuck who sponsors them as a long as the dollas are coming in.
The judging standards have gotten out of control. Not to ignite the ol "back in my day bodybuilding looked good!" argument... but the expectations have changed. Arnold killed it back then, but he wouldn't even place top 16 if the 1975 version of himself competed today. And the women's bodybuilding contest has also gotten totally out of hand, with judges basically forcing contestants to take drugs that forever alter their bodies and make them look increasingly masculine. How much bigger will we go?
The IFBB sucks. Replace the judges with previous Mr. Olympia winners.
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