2026 Mr. Olympia Live Updates, Highlights and Reaction From Night One

Not every Olympia champion is a repeat champion.

Brazilian Ramon Dino, who won the Classic Physique title in 2025, dropped to third in judging for Friday's final event—which wrapped up with a pose down at 1:39 a.m. ET on Saturday—that was won by Niall Darwen of the United Kingdom, who picked up a $100,000 check.

Darwen's win capped a three-event climb from 11th place to fifth place to a gold medal.

Germany's Mike Sommerfeld was second while Wesley Vissers of the Netherlands took fourth and American Terrence Ruffin was fifth.

Darwen is the fifth winner since the Classic Physique division was created in 2016.

Inaugural champion Danny Hester captured it once. He was followed by two-time winner Breon Ansley in 2017 and 2018, and then by six-time champ Chris Bumstead from 2019 through 2024, and Dino in 2025.

"I've given my life to this, and I love everything about it," Darwen said. "I want to keep hold of this for a while."

It's back to the men for the night's final competition, Classic Physique.

Brazilian Ramon Dino is the defending champion looking to repeat.

Criteria include proportion, symmetry, and a balance between size and conditioning.

Brazilian rivals Eduarda Bezerra and Isabelle Nunes arrived as the defending Wellness Olympia champion and the champion-once-removed, respectively, and they kept it in the country again in Friday's competition, with Bezerra repeating as champion.

Dominican Elisa Alcantara was third.

Another Brazilian, Francielle Mattos, was the champion in each of the division's first three years from 2021 through 2023. The division focuses on lower-body muscle development in tandem with an hourglass shape and medium-conditioned upper body.

The Wellness and Classic Physique competitions are the final two on Friday's agenda.

Derek Lunsford, Samson Dauda, Andrew Jacked and Nick Walker were the final four callouts for the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division in Friday's pre-judging session.

It doesn't guarantee a top-four finish, however, because Friday's judging is worth 50 percent of the final score, as is Saturday's final judging.

Lunsford and Dauda were alongside each other for all of Friday's final session, initially in the middle of the quartet and later with Dauda on one side of the stage and Lunsford immediately to his right.

"Derek has a very good tan," analyst Phil Heath said. "With his skin texture he's looking very polished."

Six athletes were among the initial callouts for Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) pre-judging, including Derek Lunsford and Samson Dauda, who've combined to win the last three titles.

The half-dozen athletes went through a series of poses as called out by event judges.

Dauda and Lunsford, who've been vocal rivals beyond the stage, too, were positioned alongside each other for the final portion of the posing session.

Two-time Mr. Olympia champ Derek Lunsford is in the Friday night pre-judging mix while chasing a third "Men's Open" division title in the last four events.

Lunsford won the 2023 show in Orlando and got his second win last year in Las Vegas.

Lunsford and 2024 winner Samson Dauda were among the final athletes to do an individual pose routine for pre-judging. Lunsford, 33, was born in Indiana and has been a professional bodybuilder since 2017. He won the 212 Olympia division title in 2021.

Dauda, 40, was born in Nigeria and has lived in the United Kingdom for more than 20 years. He challenged his competitors to a pose-down during a pre-competition press conference, but Lunsford refused.

Friday night's biggest prize has been awarded, but the event is not over.

Athletes involved in pre-judging for the Mr. Olympia competition, whose finals are on Saturday night, followed the Ms. Olympia contestants to the stage.

Lucky seven. Seventh heaven.

Take your pick. But both apply to Andrea Shaw on Friday night.

The 42-year-old who grew up in Michigan continued a Ms. Olympia dynasty at the Orleans Arena with her seventh straight victory, besting a field of nine other finalists including repeat second-place finisher Ashley Lynette Jones.

Also finishing in the top five were Brazil's Leyvina Barros, Finland's Paula Ranta and Megan Morrison from West Virginia.

An emotional Shaw dedicated the show to her mother, who was unable to attend the event due to illness.

Wrapping up the 10-woman posing series is six-time defending Ms. Olympia champion Andrea Shaw.

Brazilian Leyvina Barros was the first of 10 finalists to pose for the Ms. Olympia title. She was third in 2025.

And now it's the "women's bodybuilding" division, whose winner is crowned Ms. Olympia.

Keone Pearson acted like a three-time champion.

And now he's a four-time champion.

The 31-year-old seized the center of the stage during a group pose down with four other finalists, engaging each in a one-on-one flex-off and dominating every time on the way to a fourth straight win in the Men's 212 Olympia division.

Pearson won a $50,000 check by outpointing a finalist field that included Lucas Garcia, Shaun Clarida, Vitor Alves Porto De Oliveira and Nihat Kaya.

"This year I just locked myself in a cage and pretended like I'd never won anything," Pearson said. "That gave me something to chase."

The men are getting a turn on the Friday night stage with the 212 Olympia division, which is reserved for athletes who weigh no more than 212 pounds.

Lola Montez climbed the most important rung on the Figure division ladder, moving from 2025 runner-up to 2026 champion.

Montez was second to Rhea Gayle in 2025.

Gayle went from first to fourth.

Wondering what goes into making an Olympia champion in the Figure division? Wonder no more.

Judges focus, among other things, on an athletic, feminine physique with a sharp V-shape, ideal shoulder-to-waist ratio, and moderate conditioning.

Rhea Gayle was the 2025 champion.

Next up: the Figure division.

The first title of the weekend was awarded shortly after 9:45 p.m. ET when Natalia Abraham Coelho emerged from a field of nine called to the center of the stage in the Women's Physique division.

The win was her third in a row and she also picked up a check for $50,000.

Competitors went through required poses in a series of callouts—first in a group of five women followed by a group of four. A trimmed down field of five was called one at a time for individual poses set to selected music, like an Olympic free skate.

Finally, the top-five finishers were called out together for a pose down to music.

Former Mr. Olympia competitor Bob Cicherillo is the master of ceremonies at a cavernous Orleans Arena and he tried to pump the crowd in predictable fashion by labeling the event as the "Super Bowl of bodybuilding."

Twelve women have won the Ms. Olympia title since the initial competition in 1980. Six of those women have multiple titles.

Iris Kyle holds the record with 10 wins, followed Lenda Murray with eight and both Cory Everson and Andrea Shaw with six.

Shaw has won six in a row, matching Everson's run from 1984 to 1989 and Murray's run from 1990 to 1990. Kyle won in 2004, then won nine straight from 2006 to 2014.

In addition to other criteria, athletes qualify to compete on the Olympia stage by finishing within the top 25 of the season point standings for divisions that use a points-based qualification system.

Also, former Olympia winners hold lifetime eligibility, though entry must be approved if it's been more than five years since their last victory.

In addition to crowning a Ms. Olympia for 2026, the Friday finals will also reveal winners in the Figure Olympia, Women's Physique Olympia and Wellness Olympia divisions.

The top four heading into Friday's Ms. Olympia finals after prejudging are Leyvina Rodrigues Barros, Ashley Lynnette Jones, Paula Ranta and Andrea Shaw.

Shaw is the reigning champion and has six titles in a row dating back to 2020.