{"id":30266,"date":"2026-09-28T14:50:33","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=30266"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:50:33","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:50:33","slug":"samson-dauda-finishes-second-at-2026-mr-olympia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=30266","title":{"rendered":"Samson Dauda finishes second at 2026 Mr Olympia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 1.5em;\">\n<p>Nigerian-born bodybuilder Samson Dauda finished second in the Men\u2019s Open division at the 2026 Mr Olympia in Las Vegas, United States, as Nick Walker claimed his first title in the competition.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dauda, who won the Mr Olympia title in 2024, finished on 20 points, two behind Walker\u2019s 18, while Derek Lunsford placed third with 24 points, according to the published 2026 scorecard.\n<\/p>\n<p>The competition was held in Las Vegas from September 24 to 27, with the Mr Olympia finals taking place at the Orleans Arena on Saturday, September 26.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dauda\u2019s second-place finish came despite him recording the lowest score in the Saturday finals.<\/p>\n<p>According to an analysis of the official scorecard, Walker led after Friday\u2019s prejudging with eight points, while Dauda had 15. In the finals, however, Dauda scored five points to Walker\u2019s 10.<\/p>\n<p>The combined scores left Walker on 18 points and Dauda on 20, with the lower score determining the winner.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dauda confirmed his runner-up finish in an Instagram post on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c2nd place at the 2026 Mr. Olympia,\u201d he wrote.\n<\/p>\n<p>He added, \u201cOf course we came here to win, but I couldn\u2019t be prouder of this moment and the look we brought to the stage.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Dauda also described the physique he presented at the competition as \u201cthe best version of me we have ever created.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was the best version of me we have ever created,\u201d he said in the post.\n<\/p>\n<p>Thanking his team, Dauda said the medal was not solely his achievement.\n<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis medal may be around my neck, but it belongs to all of us,\u201d he wrote.\n<\/p>\n<p>Walker, meanwhile, took the Sandow trophy for the first time after finishing sixth at the 2025 Mr Olympia. He also won the 2026 People\u2019s Champion award.<\/p>\n<p>The final top five in the Men\u2019s Open division were Walker, Dauda, Lunsford, Chinedu Andrew Obiekea, popularly known as Andrew Jacked, and Tonio Burton.\n<\/p>\n<p>Dauda entered this year\u2019s competition after winning the 2026 Europa Pro on September 13.\n<\/p>\n<p>His 2026 result marks a return to the Mr Olympia podium after he placed fourth in 2025. He had won the title in 2024, with the official results listing him as representing the United Kingdom.\n                    <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/punchng.com\/nigerian-born-samson-dauda-finishes-second-at-2026-mr-olympia\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigerian-born bodybuilder Samson Dauda finished second in the Men\u2019s Open division at the 2026 Mr Olympia in Las Vegas, United States, as Nick Walker claimed his first title in the competition. Dauda, who won the Mr Olympia title in 2024, finished on 20 points, two behind Walker\u2019s 18, while Derek Lunsford placed third with 24 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1549,"featured_media":30267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[215,274],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mens-open-bodybuilding","category-samson-dauda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Samson Dauda finishes second at 2026 Mr Olympia - 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=30266\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Samson Dauda finishes second at 2026 Mr Olympia - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nigerian-born bodybuilder Samson Dauda finished second in the Men\u2019s Open division at the 2026 Mr Olympia in Las Vegas, United States, as Nick Walker claimed his first title in the competition. 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