Each need to be prime canine, and neither is afraid to pay prime greenback to get there.
Final up to date on October seventeenth, 2024
At bodybuilding competitions, measurement issues. That’s why the world’s two hottest occasions are ponying up for status.
- Through the Males’s Open finale, organizers on the 2024 Olympia introduced that winner Samson Dauda would take dwelling an all-time-high money prize of $600,000.
- Months prior, in March, Arnold Schwarzenegger beefed up the first-place reward of the Arnold Traditional from $300,000 to half one million {dollars} beginning in 2025.
Even occasions exterior of bodybuilding, such because the quickly increasing Rogue Invitational, are including to their piles. Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at the winnings provided by prime bodybuilding competitions and see whether or not this chilly conflict will have an effect on bodybuilding’s already-heated local weather.
Mr. Olympia & Arnold Traditional: Winnings Over Time
The first Mr. Olympia was held in 1965, and no person made a dime off it. In 1966, inaugural winner Larry Scott took dwelling a $1,000 money prize, or about $9,900 right this moment. Adjusted for inflation, the purse on the “O” grew steadily till 1990, stagnated till 2009 (shoutout Jay Cutler’s quad stomp), then ballooned as much as the half-ish million haul that modern winners take dwelling right this moment.
The Arnold Traditional, the flagship bodybuilding occasion of the Arnold Sports activities Competition, has packed its piñata through the years as nicely — however by no means an excessive amount of, till not too long ago.
- “Now we have to have an settlement,” Schwarzenegger in 2022 recalled as soon as being advised by Mr. Olympia co-founder Ben Weider. “You can not supply more cash [at the Arnold Classic] than we’re providing on the Olympia.”
It’s unclear whether or not Schwarzenegger’s coalition implicitly or explicitly held to this settlement through the years. Whereas the Mr. Olympia had held regular at $400,000 since 2015, the Arnold Traditional began ramping up its winnings in 2021:
On stage within the Better Columbus Conference Heart, whereas crowning Choopan the winner, Schwarzenegger proudly introduced that in 2025, the Arnold Traditional would leapfrog the Mr. Olympia and plant their flag because the world’s first bodybuilding occasion to supply a half-million prize to the winner.
“I don’t really feel obliged anymore with the ‘guidelines,’” Schwarzenegger quipped on stage.
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Schwarzenegger seems to have pressured the palms of the highest brass on the Mr. Olympia. Mum was the phrase about 2024’s prize cash within the weeks main as much as the “O.” On web site on the Resorts World Area in Las Vegas, NV, the place the occasion was held from Oct. 10 to 13, BarBend correspondent Roger Lockridge fished for specifics on the winnings — no person bit.
However whereas awarding the finalists of the Males’s Open division on Oct. 12, the Olympia’s proprietor, Jake Wooden, made a speech on stage to tell that silver medalist Choopan would take dwelling a $250,000 test. Wooden then added:
- “I’m not the sort of particular person to inform you what I’m going to do subsequent yr,” he stated. “[Here’s what] I’m going to do that yr.” He then introduced the $600,000 prize for the winner, Dauda.
It’s value noting that the Mr. Olympia’s beefed-up winnings announcement won’t have been a whole shock to these inside bodybuilding. Just a few days earlier than the present, RxMuscle Podcast host Dave Palumbo cited the $600,000 determine whereas discussing the withdrawal of Nick Walker, although it’s unclear if it was a slip of the tongue or a mistake on his half.
Mr. Olympia vs. Arnold Traditional: Who Wins?
The Mr. Olympia and Arnold Traditional’s bidding conflict is an efficient omen for followers and athletes alike. Greater prize swimming pools increase the profile and status of those occasions whereas additionally encouraging extra athletes to take part.
Dauda has already committed to competing on the Arnold in 2025. “You’d greatest consider I’m going to be on that stage,” he stated someday after successful the Mr. Olympia.
- If Dauda wins the Arnold Traditional in 2025, he’ll have pocketed simply over $1 million in lower than six months solely from competing.
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Money injections are laborious to complain about, however they aren’t an ideal answer. The overwhelming majority of whole winnings are allotted to the highest three finishers in any bodybuilding present.
Certified athletes who can’t squeeze onto the rostrum don’t profit almost as a lot — Olympia fourth-placer Martin Fitzwater took dwelling simply $5,000 greater than quantity 5 Andrew Jacked.
Each the Mr. Olympia and Arnold Traditional may benefit from making certain these down-ballot races have alluring incentives connected. Group engagement is without doubt one of the fan-friendly techniques employed by the organizers of the Rogue Invitational:
- The 2024 Invitational, which showcases each CrossFit and strongman occasions, has a $1.7-million greenback prize purse as of Oct. 17, 2024, to be awarded to the 40 contributors.
- The winnings include an up-front funding by Rogue Health, whereas followers can contribute by buying merchandise and gear, whereby a portion of every sale provides to the pot.
Whether or not by communal funding or pleasant rivalry, more cash in power and physique sports activities is undeniably a superb factor. Since 2017, solely Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay has received the Mr. Olympia greater than as soon as; a bulked-up prize purse matches bodybuilding’s hotly aggressive local weather.
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