Just a few nights away from the biggest event of the 2023 contest season, another one of the sport’s biggest names has announced that he’s withdrawing from the Men’s Open competition. Nick Walker, who was considered by many to be atop five finisher in this year’s contest, recently took to Instagram to share the unfortunate news of his decision to sit out the Super Bowl of bodybuilding after suffering asevere hamstring tear. In his heartfelt message to his fans on October 31, Walker reflected,
“It’s with a heavy heart I won’t be stepping on stage this year due to unforeseen and unfortunate reasons that remind us we’re only human.”
Walker, who was the 2021 Arnold Classic champion, has been one of the most dominant forces in bodybuilding over the past three seasons. Despite failing to win his second Arnold Classic title in March of 2023, Walker showcased significant improvements to his physique throughout his Mr. Olympia contest prep, and had drawn praise from RxMuscle’s own, Chris Aceto, in recent weeks.
“Nick Walker has a lot of mass. I think people are underestimating him. This is still bodybuilding, and it’s still about mass and conditioning.”
In a visibly shaken state, Nick Walker expressed his feelings about this tough decision to his fans:
“This was a very hard decision to make. This prep was very smooth, very easy to be honest, I kept telling Matt, every day, ‘I’m going to win your first one.’ Then the last second this happens… and it just sucks because you don’t know what to do. If I know myself, it’s just another reason for me to come back stronger, another reason to come back better, and that’s what I’ll do.”
Unfortunately for bodybuilding fans, Nick Walker isn’t the only notable contestant to withdraw from the 2023 Mr. Olympia competition. Recently, the former two-time champion Mamdouh ‘Big Ramy’ Elsbiay, Brett Wilkin, Iain Vailliere (retired), and Behrooz Tabani have all pulled out of this year’s contest, leaving several top ten spots up for grabs less than 72 hours away from the start Olympia weekend.
