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I\u2019m worried about Nick. There, I said it. I\u2019m worried about him from a career standpoint, but I\u2019m also worried about what may be going through his head at this point. You have to understand that bodybuilding is a very unique sport. Unlike team sports, it\u2019s a sport of individuals \u2013 at least on the face of it all. I say that because it would be na\u00efve to say that the sport is only about the competitor, but ultimately, it\u2019s not a team sport and all the pressure falls on the shoulders of a single athlete. Sometimes it\u2019s actually better to be a no-name, totally off the radar, just competing for fun. Some people might argue that that\u2019s a lack of ambition but look at what attention gets you. And I wish we \u2013 as journalists \u2013 had clean hands, but we don\u2019t. Some writers and content creators might argue that point. They might claim that they only cover the uplifting parts of the sport, but even if that were the case, \u201cpositive journalists\u201d still take benefit from the reach that was created by \u00a0\u201ctoo negative\u201d journalists. It\u2019s just a fact of life. If the media didn\u2019t have the potential to be dangerous to famous competitors and\/or massive supplement companies, then we wouldn\u2019t be taken seriously. No one is trying to vilify Nick, but Nick is also a very opinionated guy who likes to tell a tall tale from time to time. This past Arnold Classic is a major case in point, but ultimately, it all speaks to the mountain of pressure he has to carry around with him wherever he goes. And that\u2019s not an issue when you\u2019re not on the rise, but if you find yourself in a spot like Nick, it can become chaotic very quickly.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s be brutally blunt, Nick Walker was supposed to be Mr Olympia by now. He\u2019s kind of falling into the window that Big Ramy was in after taking 2nd<\/sup> at the O and then basically getting written off. Big Ramy was thought to win the Olympia in 2017 but took second. And then he was more or less back to square one, not winning the Sandow until 2020 (and only then because he got a special invite).<\/p>\n Nick Walker was supposed to win big in Pittsburgh last year, but then Derek Lunsford jumped in at the 11th<\/sup> hour. Nick was supposed to win the Arnold Classic this year, but Andrew got it. And the Arnold was supposed to be Nick\u2019s redemption \u2013 when he took control of his coaching. The implication was that his shortcomings were on some level linked to subpar prior coaching. He may never have come out and said it, but when he said that no one knew his body better than he did<\/em>, it implied a certain level of incompetence had been play. What put egg on Nick\u2019s face is when Guy Cisternino basically revealed that he had had a much larger hand in Nick\u2019s preparations for Columbus. And at that point, Walker had to come clean. It was one of those \u201coh, shit\u201d<\/em> moments that I\u2019m sure he wishes he could play down. But taking 2nd<\/sup> place at the 2nd<\/sup> most prestigious bodybuilding contest in the world is nothing to hold your head down about. I still remember Derek Lunsford in 2019 or 2020 eating cold green beans out of a Tupperware container. He had had a great placing, but he didn\u2019t win, and you could tell. I remember the late, great CJ (Cynthia James) going to Derek to console him. That\u2019s just the kind angel she was. But that\u2019s what I think of when I think of how Nick must have felt after Andrew was announced the winner and where his head might be right now.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n