Seven weeks before the 2026 Olympia, Ryan Terry herniated a disc in his neck. On Saturday night he won his fourth straight Men’s Physique title, tying Jeremy Buendia’s record for the division.
He told Tony Doherty of NPC News Online about the injury after the show, and he made a point of not using it as an excuse.
“I don’t want to get the violin out and say, ‘Oh, this was our prep because of this, this, and this,'” Terry said. “But yeah, like seven weeks ago, I herniated my C5 disc in my neck.”
Six weeks just to reach the stage
Terry said the injury left him with a trapped nerve and a hard six weeks. He spent every day of them on treatment, from acupuncture and chiropractic work to ice baths, saunas and deep-tissue sessions, just to be able to stand on the Olympia stage.
It changed how he saw himself. “The whole time it made me realize how resilient I can be and how much I want this,” he said. At no point, he added, was he going to give up.
“By far the hardest lineup”
Terry said the lineup is why this title meant so much.
“This year was by far the hardest lineup, the most competitive, and it’s the most I’ve been pushed,” he said.
He named Holden, Bilal, Brandon Hendrickson and Edvan Palmeira among the men who could have won it. Of every lineup he has faced since earning his pro card in 2013, he said, this was the toughest.
Men’s Physique is decided at prejudging; the finals were not scored this year. Terry scored 5 (lowest wins), seven clear of Ali Bilal on 12, with Kyron Holden third on 13. Our 2026 Mr. Olympia scorecard explainer covers how each division is scored.
Every place from eighth to first
This was Terry’s 11th Olympia. He finished fourth on his debut in 2015 and second a year later, then spent the next several Olympias moving around the top eight before winning for the first time in 2023. Across those 11 shows he has finished in every position from first to eighth.
He summed up the journey with a line he credited to Winston Churchill: “Just don’t quit.”
For his son
The hardest part of this prep, Terry said, was not the neck. He missed his son’s sixth birthday the week before the show.
“I missed my son’s birthday last week, which absolutely broke me,” he said. “So I’m proud to take that back to him.”
His son was allowed to stay up for prejudging, and Terry said he has video of him screaming “Daddy” at the TV. Matching Buendia’s four titles, he said, was a goal that once felt “unfathomable.” A fifth would give him the record outright.
Every placing and prize from the division is in our 2026 Men’s Physique Olympia results, every champion is on our Men’s Physique Olympia winners list, and his full contest history is on his athlete page.
