Nick Walker of the United States won the 2026 Mr. Olympia, the biggest title in professional bodybuilding, on September 26 in Las Vegas. A year earlier he finished sixth at the same contest.
Britain's Samson Dauda placed second and defending champion Derek Lunsford of the US was third. Walker earned $600,000, Dauda $200,000 and Lunsford $100,000 (FitnessVolt, MiddleEasy). Fans also voted Walker the People's Champion.
Why sixth place the year before is so rare
New Mr. Olympia champions almost always come from the previous year's top five. By FitnessVolt's count, only one man had won his first title after placing lower: Ronnie Coleman, who was ninth in 1997 and then won eight titles in a row starting in 1998 (Wikipedia).
Walker's own path was uneven. He placed fifth at his first Olympia in 2021 and third in 2022. In 2023 he withdrew shortly before the show after tearing a hamstring (the muscle at the back of the thigh), and he did not compete in 2024 either. He returned in 2025 and finished sixth (Wikipedia). How muscles recover after heavy training is covered in our separate guide.
How he lost the finals and still won
Walker finished with 18 points, Dauda with 20 and Lunsford with 24. In bodybuilding, the lowest score wins. Yet Dauda won the Saturday finals: according to FitnessVolt's breakdown of the judges' scorecards, he scored 5 there to Walker's 10. The night before, at prejudging, Walker scored 8 and Dauda 15. That seven-point cushion outlasted a five-point loss.
How bodybuilding is scored
Each judge ranks the athletes: first place counts as 1 point, second as 2, and so on. The highest and lowest marks are thrown out so that no single judge decides the result, and the rest are added up. Big shows like the Olympia can use up to nine judges, in which case the two highest and two lowest marks are dropped (BarBend).
Prejudging and the finals count equally. The IFBB Pro League rules say it directly: "The Judging and Finals are each valued at 50% of the final score." At prejudging, athletes stand side by side and hit eight mandatory poses, from the front double biceps to the "most muscular," while the judges compare them pose by pose. The finals night that fans watch in the arena and on the stream decides only half the result.
Winners in the other divisions
The Olympia crowns champions in several divisions at once. Winners of the main ones (Yahoo Sports, FitnessVolt):
- Classic Physique (bodybuilding with weight caps set by height): Niall Darwen
- 212 (athletes weighing up to 212 pounds, about 96 kg): Keone Pearson
- Men's Physique: Ryan Terry
- Ms. Olympia (women's bodybuilding): Andrea Shaw
- Figure: Lola Montez
- Bikini: Jasmine Gonzalez
- Wellness: Eduarda Bezerra
