Cydney Gillon left the bodybuilding world in a state of shock following her eighth consecutive title win at the 2024 Figure Olympia contest. In a recent YouTube video shared on October 14, 2024, she discussed her retirement from the sport, what’s next, and how she conquered the Figure stage as a natural athlete.
The 60th anniversary of Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend delivered across all 11 IFBB Pro League divisions, but especially in the Figure category. Cydney Gillon dominated the stage and her posing appeared effortless and methodical, leading to a record-eighth victory at the prestigious event.
Little did fans and bodybuilding enthusiasts know that Cydney Gillon would announce her retirement from the sport. While she initially wanted to win 10 Figure Olympia titles, she decided to sail off into the sunset with eight.
Cydney Gillon Talks Winning 8th Title at 2024 Figure Olympia, Retirement, and Competing as a Natural Athlete
With feathered quads, a tight waist, and balanced proportions, she left the stage at her all-time best. She’s had time to process the performance and discussed what the victory meant to her along with the challenges that came with competing all these years as a natural athlete, who doesn’t use performance-enhancing drugs.
“I didn’t tell I think only six people knew that I was retiring. I literally decided like six or seven weeks ago that I was like alright, this I think is going to be the last one. As soon as I said it my body went into hyperdrive it was like oh this is the last one? We’re going to put the pedal to the metal and give it everything we have.”
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Gillon revealed how she kept her waist size even smaller at the marquee event.
“Vacuums, vacuums, vacuums, all year long. I made sure I do a lot of breath work, a lot of meditation work, a lot of rib work, just to make sure I’m never expanding my rib cage and a lot of people don’t focus on the details but that’s how I’ve been able to get to eight titles is all the details day in and day out every single day.”
Cydney Gillon explained that a few weeks ahead of the event she realized she was ready to hang it up at eight, feeling proud of what she’s accomplished.
“Originally, my goal was eight. Then I wanted to do 10, then, at a certain point, six or seven weeks ago I was like are you okay with eight? And when I sat with that I said I am. I’ve done what I needed to do. I’ve added so much to this sport. I’ve inspired so many people and just changed the dynamics of my category.”
“I’ve done everything I can. And at this point, I find that as I get older, I am very much more traditional and very much more turning towards family time,” adds Gillon.
She emphasized that while she was the reigning Figure Olympia champion, her focus remained solely on competing and now she is ready to work on her businesses and being a promoter for the sport.
“These eight to nine [years] have been dedicated to winning the Olympia, every single day has been dedicated to that,” shares Gillon.
“Retiring also allows me to be able to pour into those businesses and pour into my athletes and give them what I’ve always wanted to see in the sport and what I’ve been able to experience in this sport. It allows me to pour back into them in a bigger way than I can as an actual natural athlete. Because you can give even more back as a promoter.”
Cydney Gillon revealed that competing naturally allowed her to last longer on the competitive stage and continue to grow.
“Never. You’ve seen me in person. People see pictures, and I’m deceptive in pictures but if you meet me in person or if I even had a shirt on, if I had a shirt on right now, you wouldn’t see barely — you’d see shape.”
She believes when she has clothes on it’s clear her physique was crafted naturally.
“It would look athletic it would look like a run track or something but it wouldn’t be like whoa, until I take my clothes off and pump up and do all the things you have to do in order to get ready for the stage. Being a natural athlete has allowed me to have this long of a career and this healthily and have such an amazing time and get better every year.”
All season long, Cydney Gillon has been open with fans about building better physiques. She has shared glute-building workouts that can be performed with or without machines. Additionally, she has offered her followers a back workout tutorial, designed to help beginners who are just starting out with exercise.
Cydney Gillon goes down in history as the winningest Figure Olympia champion of all time. Having navigated the sport as a natural athlete, she continues to inspire the next generation of bodybuilders on the rise.
RELATED: 7x Figure Olympia Cydney Gillon Breaks Down How She Structures Leg Day Training
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