Four men are about to walk onto the biggest stage in bodybuilding for the first time: Leandro Sencini Peres of Brazil, Quinton Eriya of Canada, Sergey Danilov of Russia and Edward Kargbo of the United Arab Emirates.
Waiting for them are three former champions (one of whom has already done 13 of these) and 61 years of history that is not kind to rookies. We dug through every Mr. Olympia in our database to see what first-timers can realistically expect. The answer is more interesting than “they won’t win.”
The only man who won on his first try
Larry Scott won the first Mr. Olympia in 1965. Technically, everyone on that stage was a debutant, so it barely counts. Since then, nobody has won the Sandow at his first Olympia.
The fastest route to the title has been two tries, and only five men have managed it:
- Sergio Oliva was fourth in 1966, then won three straight from 1967.
- Arnold Schwarzenegger lost to Oliva in 1969, then won the next six.
- Lee Haney was third in 1983, then won eight in a row.
- Dorian Yates was second in 1991, then won six straight.
- Derek Lunsford, a former 212 Olympia champion, was second on his Men’s Open debut in 2022 and won in 2023.
That is a list of legends. Everybody else needed longer, sometimes much longer. Dexter Jackson won in 2008 at his ninth Olympia. Shawn Rhoden won in 2018 at his eighth.
Why this weekend still matters for them
Here is the part the rookies should care about. Every Mr. Olympia champion since 2022 made the top six at his first Olympia:
- Hadi Choopan was third on debut in 2019 and won in 2022.
- Derek Lunsford, same story: second in 2022 and champion in 2023.
- Samson Dauda was sixth on debut in 2022 and won in 2024.
Two of this year’s contenders started the same way. Nick Walker was fifth on debut in 2021. Martin Fitzwater was fourth in 2024. So forget the Sandow. For a debutant, a top-six finish is the real prize, because lately it has been the clearest early sign of a future champion.
Meet the four
Leandro Sencini Peres (Brazil)
Sencini Peres punched his ticket at the Arnold Classic South America in April. He did not arrive out of nowhere, either. He spent 2025 testing himself in America, with starts at the Pittsburgh Pro and the California State Pro, then opened 2026 at the Detroit Pro.
Quinton Eriya (Canada)
Eriya has been a pro since 2019, and his Olympia ticket came in front of a home crowd when he won the Toronto Pro Supershow in June. He shared the 3,437-calorie diet he used to get there. He also knows what Olympia prep looks like up close: he trained alongside Samson Dauda before last year’s show. Now he gets to stand next to him.
Sergey Danilov (Russia)
Danilov has had the longest wait of the four. He won the Tsunami Nutrition Showdown France Pro in Lille in September 2025, which locked in his spot a full year before this weekend. That is twelve months to build one physique for one stage.
Edward Kargbo (United Arab Emirates)
Kargbo took the busy route. He competed at the Empro Classic Spain Pro in June, then won the FLEX Weekend Italy Pro in Milan a week later. Two shows in seven days, and an Olympia invitation to show for it.
The veterans across the stage
Brandon Curry, the 2019 champion, is making his 14th Olympia appearance, 15 years after his first in 2011. William Bonac, runner-up in 2019, is making his 12th. The rookies will be posing next to men who have been doing this for more than a decade.
Nobody is expecting them to crash that party. None of the 13 experts on our predictions board ranked a single debutant, so a top-six finish from any of the four would be a genuine surprise, and history says it would be worth remembering.
The four debutants hit the stage with the rest of the Men’s Open at Friday night’s prejudging. Our 2026 Mr. Olympia predictions have every expert pick, our look at last year’s placings explains why Nick Walker needs a Ronnie Coleman-style jump, and the live updates page will carry every callout.
