Four in a row. Keone Pearson beat Lucas Garcia and Shaun Clarida on Friday night for his fourth straight 212 Olympia, and the only man with more is Flex Lewis, with seven.
So here comes the question that follows Pearson off the stage every Olympia weekend, a little louder each time: is it time to move up?
He has two roads from here, and bodybuilding history has already walked both of them. One ends with a Sandow. The other ends with a man who never got to find out.
Road one: stay and chase Flex Lewis
Lewis won seven straight 212 titles, from 2012 to 2018. Matching him would take Pearson three more, which means winning every 212 Olympia through 2029.
It is the road Pearson seems to prefer. Heading into this weekend, despite the calls for a switch, “The Prodigy” was still set on going down as a 212 great.
He has a two-time Mr. Olympia runner-up on his side. After Pearson’s Open debut last fall, Shawn Ray told him to stay put: “I personally don’t think it’s time for Keone to go in the Open. There’s Open shows he can win, but you have to be strategic.” Ray pointed at the obvious model: “Flex Lewis wasn’t out there competing in a bunch of Open shows.”
There is a twist in the Flex story, though. Lewis retired from the 212 after his seventh title, planning to move up. Injuries got in the way, and he never made it to an Open Olympia. The only man ahead of Pearson on the list never got to answer the question Pearson is facing now.
That is the catch in road one. Chase the record for three more years and you are betting your body holds until you are done. Lewis made that bet, and the Open Olympia never got to see him.
Road two: move up like Derek Lunsford
Seven men have won a 202 or 212 Olympia title. Only one of them has gone on to win the Sandow.
Derek Lunsford won the 212 in 2021, moved up, finished second in the Open in 2022 and won the Mr. Olympia in 2023. He won it again last year.
The early crossovers did not come close. David Henry, the first 202 champion, entered the Open the same weekend in 2008 and finished 15th. Kevin English, a three-time 202 champion, placed 16th in that same Open lineup.
Pearson has already tried the Open on for size. His debut came at the 2025 Prague Pro, two weeks after his third 212 title, and he went in with a plan: “It’s not about playing the size game. I’ve got to play to my strengths.” He finished fourth. Ray was blunt about it: “You put him on that Open stage and he disappeared.”
Then again, look who is telling him to go. Ronnie Coleman said in early 2025 that he expects Pearson “to climb up to that Open class probably in the next 2-3 years,” and added, “He’ll win it.” By Coleman’s clock, the move is due in the next year or two. Jay Cutler called him “a Ronnie Coleman in the making” and thinks he could crack the Mr. Olympia top five.
He has switched divisions before
This would not be Pearson’s first move. He started in Classic Physique, finished fourth at the 2019 Classic Olympia, then switched to the 212. Here is every Olympia he has stood on:
| Year | Division | Olympia finish |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Classic Physique | 4th |
| 2021 | 212 | 14th |
| 2022 | 212 | 6th |
| 2023 | 212 | 1st |
| 2024 | 212 | 1st |
| 2025 | 212 | 1st |
| 2026 | 212 | 1st |
Read it top to bottom and the last switch cost him at first. Fourth in Classic, then 14th in his 212 debut, then champion two years later. The move-up camp sees its whole case in those rows: Pearson takes the hit, then he learns fast. The stay camp looks at the same table, sees four bold 1sts in a row, and asks why you would trade them for another 14th.
The question Flex Lewis never got to answer
Pearson wants to go down as a 212 great. After Friday night he already is one. What is left to settle is whether he sticks around long enough to catch Flex Lewis, or leaves the division before he can. Lewis never got to answer that question. Pearson has to, and we will know which road he picked the moment his name shows up on an Open roster, or the moment it doesn’t.
Friday night’s full 212 results are here, every 212 Olympia champion is here, and his whole career, Classic Physique onward, is in our Keone Pearson profile.
