Arnold Wants to Beat the Olympia

 

With $750,000 on the table for the winner, Schwarzenegger is forcefully pushing the boundaries he himself set half a century ago: two elite shows, six months apart, one single body to sustain them. The Olympia might no longer be the ceiling, but the first step on a ladder that ends in Columbus. Could the Arnold Classic someday dethrone the legendary Mr. Olympia? Arnold believes so.

Derek Lunsford dropped to third place in 2024 after winning the Olympia in 2023. Lunsford’s mindset turned that defeat into pure gold. He lost, got back up, won the Arnold 2025 and then the Olympia 2025. He beat the reigning Mr. Olympia, Samson Dauda, twice, just in case anyone had doubts. Repeating the feat next year would leave him with nearly one and a half million in his pocket and a line in history no one will erase: the man who completely dominated the sport for 2 years and reclaimed his title from a previous year. The risk is obvious: burning out before March and falling like Dauda, who still feels the echo of the Arnold and Prague on his shoulders.

Andrew Jacked stands 1.90 m tall and weighs 130 kilos onstage. His third place at the Olympia 2025 was no accident, it was a statement. Height, mass, separation: three words the judges can’t ignore. The Arnold will be his lab to polish what’s already brutal and make it unbeatable by October 2026. The goal seems impossible: climb from third to second, or maybe first. The last 3 Mr. Olympias have been in his spot. He knows he has the potential to make the impossible possible. Two top tier pro shows in one year can destroy a career, as it did to Dauda, but two top tier pro shows in one year can also build momentum and lead to the desired triumph. Jacked knows he’s climbed very high and the fall could be more spectacular. He also knows climbing into the top spots is harder. The main thing is he knows he’s never been this close.

Martin Fitzwater, “the Martian,” needs no introduction: he writes it with crushing victories onstage. He writes it by doing what many thought he couldn’t. Fifth at this year’s Olympia, but first in Prague against Dauda and Keone Pearson. He beat two Mr. Olympias in a single night. The 2024 Prague Open was also his after defeating Chris Bumstead. Fitzwater is motivated like few others and will undoubtedly surprise us in 2026. Could Fitzwater’s collection of defeated Mr. Olympias grow even larger? Will he continue his rise at the Mr. Olympia?

The organizers are pulling strings in the dark. Hadi Choopan, Nick Walker, Dauda himself, these are names already circulating in the hallways of Columbus and in the minds of Arnold enthusiasts. If most of the Olympia Top 10 steps onto the stage in Columbus in March, the Arnold Classic 2026 won’t just be another event: it will be inches away from becoming the new summit of bodybuilding, leaving behind the reputation of being the stage for those who couldn’t win the Mr. Olympia. Two top tier pro shows in one year is slowly becoming the great challenge and the name of the game. Winning the Mr. Olympia is no longer enough to be considered the world’s number 1 in bodybuilding. The winner must take everything, that will be the new standard.