Will Bodybuilding Ever Become an Olympic Sport?
Some have been saying that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accepted the sport of bodybuilding into the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. However, nothing has surfaced about it since these rumors started which leads me to believe, it’s not truly going to be part of the Olympics. Bodybuilding Olympics? That would be pretty cool, no? This petition started back in 1970 by Ben Weider and appears to still be going strong to this day—only with no real changes taking place in terms of acceptance. This raises the question… Will bodybuilding ever become an Olympic sport? Here’s my take on bodybuilding Olympics and if it could actually ever happen.
Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way—steroids
We need to be honest with ourselves here… do you think any of today’s bodybuilders would pass a drug test for steroids if they were asked to provide a blood sample in order to compete in the Olympics and make it an official Olympic sport? So really, why would we even be getting our hopes up that bodybuilding would ever be considered? It would make the Russian athletes look like saints. Steroids in bodybuilding isn’t a little dark secret anymore. It’s talked about, discussed, and some even praise its use. I can only speak for myself on this one, but I’m not about to watch natural bodybuilders compete in bodybuilding Olympics. It’s either the mass freaks or nothing in my opinion—no disrespect and nothing against natural bodybuilding competitors.
We already have our own bodybuilding Olympics (kinda)
While it would be nice to have bodybuilding be a part of the Olympic games, I don’t think it defines the sport of bodybuilding by any means. We have competitors from all over the world competing just about every month in contests against each other. Look at the Olympia for example. It’s not like only US competitors are on that stage, there are competitors from everywhere. So, do we really need to be an Olympic sport if everyone is already competing against each other and the Mr. Olympia title is given to the winner along with the other respective placings? It’s like a gold, silver, bronze in its own way.
Olympic Sport: Are bodybuilders athletes?
Are bodybuilders even athletes? Is bodybuilding even a sport? We call it a sport, but is it? But, I think that’s because if you call 300-pound monsters on stage as competitors of a pageant, they might not take too kindly to that. But, really. There is no athletic ability needed in bodybuilding. There’s no running, jumping, throwing, etc. involved. I love bodybuilding, but there’s truly no skill involved in the competition aspect of it. Sure, the athletes train all year and diet for shows, but the weight they lift or amount of protein consumed means nothing on how the athletes are scored and looked at on stage.
Subjective judging doesn’t match well with an Olympic sport
If you think fans are upset now with show results, add bodybuilding Olympics and see what happens when your favorite competitor doesn’t win for their respective nation. It’ll start a world war (ok, that’s a slight exaggeration). But seriously, all of the judges would need to be trained on what to look for etc. It’s not like the athletes need to throw a ball through a hoop and score points where they only need someone to keep score. The judging is done in the eyes of each individual judge on who they feel brought the best physique to the stage.
In addition, the Olympics are all about repping where you’re from. If you’re a fan of Big Ramy, you’re going to route against the US for bodybuilding if it were considered an Olympic sport?
The public does not support bodybuilding
There are people out there who aren’t fans of basketball, who watch Olympic basketball just because it’s the Olympics and they want to cheer on their country. I don’t watch swimming on television, but I watch it when the Olympics are on. There seems to be a negative connotation that goes along with bodybuilding where I don’t feel those same people would get behind it, even if a competitor from their nation was competing (look at what took place with Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan. Many find it gross. Many think it’s weird. And many can’t look past the steroid piece of the equation regardless of if they understand how much hard work and dedication is put into building such physiques.
Bodybuilding Olympics? It will never happen
With everything mentioned above and the fact that the IOC seems to have zero interest in even entertaining the thought of including bodybuilding Olympics, I don’t feel we will ever see it become part of the games. Personally, I’m ok with that. We have enough shows and contests throughout the year that bring competitors from all over the globe, that one “extra contest” wouldn’t make or break my opinion of bodybuilding or change the excitement in my eyes. I’m perfectly fine with looking at the Mr. Olympia contest as the “Olympic Games” for bodybuilders. But down the road, could we have bodybuilding Olympics or see the sport of bodybuilding as an actual Olympic sport? It would be pretty cool to see the world’s best up on the stage at the games.
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