2026 Mr. Olympia Live Updates, Highlights and Reaction From Night 2

A two-day gauntlet of callouts, confirmations and competition ended in the wee hours of Sunday morning (on the East Coast) for the final field of 10 athletes in the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division before Nick Walker edged Samson Dauda and earned his first title.

Dauda had won previously in 2024. Two-time champion Derek Lunsford, who won in 2023 and 2025, dropped from first last year to third this year.

Walker, who also won a Peoples Champion title determined by online voting, edged a top-five field in Las Vegas that also included Andrew Jacked in fourth and Tonio Burton in fifth.

"I'm speechless," an emotional Walker said.

"(My coach) brought me back to life. He made this fun for me again. And I don't think I'd be in this position without him."

We're down to the final confirmation round for the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division, where the judges will get one last look at the finals field of 10 competitors.

Derek Lunsford will try for a repeat title and third win overall while UK resident Samson Dauda will try to regain a championship he won in 2024. Lunsford also won in 2023.

Reigning three-time champ Ryan Terry was deemed the top competitor among a finals field of 10 and earned a fourth consecutive title in the Men's Physique Olympia division.

The victory equals Jeremy Buendia's record of four wins. Buendia won four in a row from 2014 through 2017. Brandon Hendrickson won three times in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

The division aims for an athletic, balanced beach physique rather than extreme mass and the rest of Saturday's top five included Ali Bilal in second, Kyron Holden in third, Erin Banks in fourth, and Hendrickson in fifth.

The competitors invited out for the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division's three-minute stage routines were Andrew Jacked, Tonio Burton, Michal Krizanek, Regan Grimes, James Hollingshead, Brandon Curry, Samson Dauda, Behrooz Tabani Abarghani, Nick Walker, and defending champion Derek Lunsford.

They will be, in no particular order, the division's top 10 finishers.

Next up, the 10 finalists in the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division will come to the stage for individual three-minute (maximum) pose presentations that allow competitors to demonstrate personality and artistic presentation.

Muscularity, and perseverance were on display when the finalists for the Wheelchair Olympia competition were brought to the main stage for a pose down.

Blake Colleton of Australia was a first-time winner.

"It's inspirational," analyst Phil Heath said.

"So many people have excuses every day not to go to the gym. These are guys who are doing everything the other guys are doing."

The women who started the finals off with a series of athletic routines were brought back to the stage for the awards presentation and the announcement of Michelle Fredua-Mensah as the repeat champion in the 21-year-old Fitness Olympia division.

Adela Garcia won eight times—in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

"I felt like I was at home," Fredua-Mensah said. "I felt so good on stage. No matter what happened, I was just loving this moment. Every time I step on stage I want to do something that shows I'm challenging myself."

Jasmine Gonzalez's knees buckled and she crumbled to the stage in emotion after she was named 2026 Bikini Olympia champion as the best in a 10-athlete field after the final individual presentations.

Defending champion Maureen Blanquisco, who also won in 2022 and was seeking to become the competition's second three-time winner, finished second. Previously Ashley Kaltwasser won in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Rounding out this year's top five were Aimee Delgado in third, Lauralie Chapadoso in fourth, and Ashlyn Little in fifth.

"This is crazy, it's crazy," said Gonzalez, a former active U.S. Marine. "I'm still processing this is even happening. The comeback, that rise-up, is greater than any pitfall you can ever find yourselves in."

Four women were brought out for a final side-by-side callout in the Bikini Olympia competition, prior to individual posing routines for each of the 10 finalists that last 60 to 90 seconds apiece.

Included in the field is defending champion Maureen Blanquisco.

Talk about your quick starters.

Shealynn Burnett entered her first pro fitness competition earlier this year and finished sixth, a result that's since been followed by three straight wins.

The third of those wins came Saturday when she was named the first Fit Model Olympia champion, winning a new division created to reward competitors with a toned physique with less muscle mass and leanness than the bikini division.

"This has been absolutely amazing," said Burnett, who didn't commit to entering any other shows before simply returning as Olympia champion next year.

After speeches, all 22 competitors in the Men's Open (Mr. Olympia) division arrived on stage for a confirmation round of judging, with six competitors—including defending champion Derek Lunsford—brought to the center for a first series of called-out poses by the lead judge.

Initially, the athletes were arranged on opposite sides in two diagonal lines of 11.

There's no guarantee the first six callouts will be finishers 1 to 6, but it is an indication of the competition's current pecking order.

It's speech time, starting off with Dan Solomon, president of the event.

"Tonight," Solomon said, "gratitude fills this arena and so does greatness."

Solomon has been the Olympia president since 2018.

Before that, he was founder and editor of Digital Muscle Media.

As many as 10 competitors will perform two-minute routines as part of the program-opening Fitness Olympia finals, with 67 percent of the final scoring coming from the routine and the remaining 33 percent based on physique judging.

First up on stage in Saturday's finals session will be the Fitness Olympia competition, which mandates competitors have a toned, athletic physique and a high-energy, athletic-artistic routine.

The division's first champion, Mia Finnegan, was crowned in 1995.

Adela Garcia has won the title a record eight times, including 2004, 2006 and 2007, and then each year from 2009 through 2013.

Michelle Fredua-Mensah is the defending champion from 2025 and is in this year's field looking for a repeat win.