{"id":29924,"date":"2026-09-25T23:34:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=29924"},"modified":"2026-09-25T23:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T23:34:05","slug":"mr-olympia-2026-dates-schedule-prize-money-top-bodybuilders-and-predictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=29924","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Olympia 2026 Dates, Schedule, Prize Money, Top Bodybuilders and Predictions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/0\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The Mr. Olympia Open is widely viewed as the top competition in men&#8217;s bodybuilding and the biggest IFBB event of the year. Unlike the Mr. Olympia 212, it has no weight limit and brings the biggest and best competitors in the world. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/1\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">The Mr. Olympia traces its origins to 1965, when Larry Scott won the inaugural competition. In 1977, even organizer Joe Weider resurrected the Sandow Trophy\u2014which made its debut all the way back in 1901\u2014as the top prize in bodybuilding. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/2\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Over the years, several legendary bodybuilders have become multi-time Mr. Olympia winners, including Sergio Olivia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lee Haney, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, and Phil Heath. In 2025, Derek Lunsford joined the list by winning his second Olympia Open title in three years. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/3\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Lunsford headlines a list of top 2026 competitors that is 22 deep. However, only a handful are likely to have a realistic shot at challenging Lunsford for the crown. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/4\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">2024 winner Samson Dauda is probably the most notable challenger this year after taking an extended offseason to hone his physique and prepare for this event specifically. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/5\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">&#8220;People are saying, obviously, wow, this is the best Samson. It&#8217;s the biggest Samson, and it&#8217;s on target to be the best,&#8221; fitness coach Chris Aceto said in a YouTube video (h\/t <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/chris-aceto-on-samson-dauda-advantage-2026-mr-olympia\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Doug Murray<\/a> of Fitness Volt). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/6\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Andrew Jacked is another serious threat, one who some believe should have won last year&#8217;s Olympia Open. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/7\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">While Jacked finished third behind Lunsford and Hadi Choopan, he bounced back to win the 2026 Arnold Classic. While Dauda and Lunsford may have a slight edge during judging as former champions, Jacked has the goods to come out on top. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/8\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">Nick Walker and Martin Fitzwater are other pros who should be considered among the early favorites. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/9\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">While fans may get an early idea of who can win during the prejudging, there&#8217;s a good chance that the winner won&#8217;t separate himself until the finals. The prediction here is that Dauda peaks at the right time to recapture the title of Mr. Olympia. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"id\/article\/slide\/5502364\/element\/10\">\n<p class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__body__article__medium mui-m06sf4\">A look at the full field can be found <a class=\"MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-inherit MuiLink-root MuiLink-underlineAlways MuiTypography-root MuiTypography-bp_small__ui__link__medium_strong mui-mlpnpn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ifbbpro.com\/2026-olympia-competitors\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25502307-mr-olympia-2026-dates-schedule-prize-money-top-bodybuilders-and-predictions\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mr. Olympia Open is widely viewed as the top competition in men&#8217;s bodybuilding and the biggest IFBB event of the year. Unlike the Mr. Olympia 212, it has no weight limit and brings the biggest and best competitors in the world. The Mr. Olympia traces its origins to 1965, when Larry Scott won the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mr. Olympia 2026 Dates, Schedule, Prize Money, Top Bodybuilders and Predictions - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=29924\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mr. Olympia 2026 Dates, Schedule, Prize Money, Top Bodybuilders and Predictions - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Mr. Olympia Open is widely viewed as the top competition in men&#8217;s bodybuilding and the biggest IFBB event of the year. 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