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by Christian Duque
The return of the point system seems to be somewhat inevitable in physique-based sports. We saw what happened with men’s open bodybuilding over the years. There were competitors of varying degrees of quality showing up at the Superbowl of Bodybuilding. As a result of this we saw upwards of 30 to 40 guys on stage when in reality probably 70% of them didn’t belong there. This is because when men’s open bodybuilding relied on the point system, placings 1 through 5 would get points towards the O. This created a situation where guys who never won contests – or even took runner-up – could get to the most prestigious stage on Earth.
The reason for this was to keep competitors coming from all over the world instead of having guys automatically qualify each year by taking top placings. What ended up happening was detrimental to the sport in the sense that the quality took a dive and the prestige of the title came into question. That being said the point system has made its comeback with certain divisions. For example there will be a point system that will be coming into place with classic, men’s physique, bikini and wellness. There’s also going to be points for wheelchair bodybuilding. Only these divisions will have a point system. Men’s Open Bodybuilding, Women’s Physique, 212, Figure, Fit Model, and Fitness will remain the same. It’s a limited scope experiment. That said, it’s back in some capacity. Even though bodybuilding will not use the system, by having it even in one IFBB division, it opens the door. At least that’s my thinking.
It seems – for now – that bodybuilding is safe. And to be totally honest with you bodybuilding is all I really care about. I could sit here and lie to you and tell you that I’m following classic and men’s physique the same way, but with the exception of the reigning Mr Olympia and the reigning Arnold Classic champion, I would be hard-pressed to talk to you about any of the up-and-comers in any of those divisions. This is especially true now that Chris Bumstead has retired. Now of course this is going to inflame a lot of our readers because classic is the most popular division at the amateur level. You can go to any show, anywhere in the United States and the vast majority of competitors are going to be there for classic physique, not bodybuilding. Nonetheless bodybuilding is the flagship division and it is what I love the most. I also argue that bodybuilding is what has given an opportunity for all the other divisions to exist. Without bodybuilding there would be nothing. That being said, we need the other divisions to stay afloat. Without men’s physique and classic, bodybuilding would have died a long time ago. Without bikini, there may not even be any women’s divisions because bikini carried all of them for quite some time. And this is something that a lot of people don’t understand. Perhaps we should delve a bit further.
When we look at the point system we have to take a big picture approach. All roads lead to the Olympia, but putting on shows is very much a business. Promoters need to have the incentive to organize events. There needs to be enough ways to get to the Olympia for as many competitors as possible, especially in the smaller divisions, because it’s these smaller divisions that are drawing the biggest numbers. As it turns out, what is happening is that the same people are going to the Olympia each and every year. They are the top of the top, the elite, and they are not really giving up those positions to any rookies or improved athletes. As a result, there is not enough interest in some of these other divisions at the pro level as we would see in the amateurs.
For example, there isn’t a comparable amount of interest in amateur classic physique as there is in professional classic physique. What may happen is that a lot of classic physique guys either move up to bodybuilding or move down to MPD. We may see a lot of shuffling around divisions because competitors want to be able to excel and compete at the most important stages in the world and when that is not a possibility, they may just jump ship. The last thing the Federation wants to see is for any division to languish. Therefore these changes do serve a purpose although they may try to recreate the wheel along the way. History teaches us what works and what doesn’t. There’s a lot of dissent from various groups in the sport.
One group of people that’s not too excited are the fans. The fans want to see the best physiques on stage and the point system has a tendency to reward mediocrity. The reality of the matter is that Olympia is a contest for contest winners to battle other contest winners. If all of a sudden you have guys that have amassed points from taking 3rd, 4th, and 5th at shows, they’re going to fade next to guys who won those shows. I understand the need to bring in more athletes but the fact is when you lower the bar, you start to see physiques that are not Olympia or ASC quality. Now the beauty with the Arnold Classic is that it’s an Invitational so they handpick every single man and woman that’s going to compete. The point system throws a monkey wrench into everything. For example, you could have a competitor at a contest with a weak lineup, take third place, and do the same thing at two or three other weak shows and now you have someone that’s Olympia qualified. I understand that it’s not going to affect bodybuilding, right now, but it’s affecting those other divisions. And when you have competitors that are lackluster on an Olympia stage that’s when the media starts to write. That’s a bad visual. We can’t really lay this on Olympia’s doorstep, either. The Olympia Weekend is a contest run by a promoter. Promoters do not make rules. Promoters simply follow them. Therefore, if the Federation wants to take the chance, the contest has to march to the beat of that drum.
I think I’m going a little bit back and forth with this because I remember what the point system did just a few years ago and how bad the Olympia got. The idea of seeing rows of guys on stage is not a good look. In my opinion, if you make it to the Olympia you should be given a thorough looking-over, meaning that the judges see your full physique, that you get to pose on all the mandatories, and that you have the ability to do your full individual posing routine. If the Olympia were just the best of the best, then everyone could be a part of the posedown. The posedown is the best part of the whole show – it’s entertainment to the max!! Imagine paying your way, getting to the O, and being so subpar you don’t get to do hardly anything. The Mr Olympia should not be a contest where there’s cannon fodder on stage. And that’s precisely what happened the last time they tried this. Maybe it’ll be different since they’re trying it with some of the smaller divisions, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
Could you imagine the expense required to go to the Olympia to basically be a benchwarmer? Now sure, anyone can win but what are the odds of a benchwarmer being in the top six? What are the chances of a benchwarmer being in the top three? They’re pretty much slim to none. Every decade or so, a longshot comes out of nowhere or a dark horse is able to make good, but that is the only exception. For the most part the guys and gals that are not on the posters do not get a second look. And that’s not because of politics or where they were from or anything like that. It’s simply that they are not on the level to be on that stage. So by implementing a point system we are going to give a path to more people that don’t belong at the O under normal circumstances.
It might make us feel good and it might be a happy ending to an otherwise tumultuous story of endless obstacles and adversity, but it almost comes off as charity. It’s akin to 10th place medals and participation ribbons. That’s not what the Olympia was envisioned to be. Only time will tell if this experiment bears fruit. I can tell you I’m not overly-optimistic. But what say you?
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