Tyler Manion is shedding some light on one of the sport’s most popular divisions featured at Mr. Olympia — Classic Physique. In a recent YouTube video shared on October 18, 2024, the IFBB Pro League Vice President explained how Chris Bumstead won his sixth title against Mike Sommerfeld, defeating the German standout three poses to two. In addition, he discussed the performances of third and fourth-place finishers Urs Kalecinski and Ramon Queiroz.
The 60th anniversary of Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend is still being talked about. In the end, Chris Bumstead hoisted a sixth title above his head and shortly thereafter, announced his retirement from the sport at 29. But he faced far more than he bargained for on the sport’s greatest stage as he narrowly defeated Mike Sommerfeld by three points on the scorecards.
Beyond the top two, Urs Kalecinski presented his best package to date, earning him a third-place finish and Ramon Queiroz slid into fourth place. Recapping the historic event, Tyler Manion went pose by pose to provide fans with some closure.
Tyler Manion Talks Chris Bumstead Being Pushed by Mike Sommerfeld at 2024 Olympia, Says He Won 3 Poses to 2
First and foremost, Tyler Manion honored ‘Cbum’s’ legacy and underlined that ‘no one is going to touch what he’s done anytime soon.’
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“A quick congratulations to Chris. The best that’s ever done it in Classic and an amazing representative of bodybuilding.
No one is going to touch what he’s done anytime soon,” says Tyler Manion. “For the first time since he won, Chris got pushed very very hard by a competitor in Mike.”
Front Double Biceps – Mike Sommerfeld Wins
Given that Bumstead’s quads looked downsized, Manion awarded this pose to Sommerfeld.
“Chris always has a very very strong front double biceps. He’s improved his arms over the year. He has a great taper into a small waist and he’s always had great legs and great quads from the front. However, in my opinion, I think his quads specifically were just a little bit downsized from his best.”
“Mike improved obviously tremendously from last year. We see the improvement in his arms, he has great size, fullness, and roundness to his arms, specifically the bicep and the tricep. Those are better than Chris’. He has a very crazy taper into a very small waist.”
Side Chest – Chris Bumstead Wins
Manion believes the side chest shot is one of Bumstead’s strongest, making the score tied at one apiece.
“The side chest is obviously Chris’ strongest pose in my opinion, it’s always been,” says Manion. “For Mike, he has a side leg that is actually very comparable to Chris’.
Chris’ side leg is normally more detailed and much bigger than everyone else’s that has been compared to him. Mike hangs in there with him in this department. Now, I still think Chris’ is better.”
Back Double Biceps – Chris Bumstead Wins
Although Manion expressed that Sommerfeld ‘had the better back,’ he gave this pose to Chris Bumstead thanks to his tremendous leg width and detail through the hamstrings.
“Back-wise, I think Mike had the better back. You saw the thickness, the separation, and the detail. Great arms and shoulders here in this pose,” explains Manion. “His [Chris Bumstead’s] width was not as good as Mike’s.”
“Chris has tremendous leg width, tremendous detail through the hamstrings, and really great conditioning. I think Mike’s conditioning might have been just a touch better.”
Abdominals and Thigh – Mike Sommerfeld Wins
Sommerfeld presented deeper abs than Bumstead on stage; this was enough for Tyler Manion to score the pose in his favor.
“For me, this was a clear pose for Mike to make this two poses to two.”
Favorite Classic Pose – Chris Bumstead Wins
Manion gave the favorite classic pose to Bumstead, citing his ‘crazy taper’ and impressive arms.
“He [Mike] could still use a little bit more thickness and detail to his upper chest and a little bit more roundness to the delts. But still, with his crazy taper and crazy legs, it’s still a very impressive pose.
For Chris, he was hitting his one arm overhead, one arm front double biceps pose. He has the crazy taper. The arm that he flexes is definitely his better arm so the bicep in the inner arm still looks good there.”
Final Tally: Chris Bumstead Defeats Mike Sommerfeld 3 Poses to 2
Manion’s Thoughts on Urs Kalecinski and Ramon Queiroz
Manion also praised Kalecinski for his major improvements and maintained that Queiroz’s posing limitations held him back from a better placing.
“I think Urs showed up and improved a lot over what we were seeing out of him,” said Manion. “He wasn’t really improving over the last year and a half. He came back and in my opinion, showed major improvements.”
“Again, with Ramon, it just shows you how important that posing really is as well. I still think he could be hitting his front double biceps better. He can definitely be hitting his back double biceps better.”
Even though Chris Bumstead decided to step away from the competitive limelight, he still plans to influence the Classic Physique division. He revealed plans to raise the Classic Physique Olympia prize earnings using his own money next year.
Tyler Manion believes the field of Classic Physique competitors gave Bumstead all he could handle at the latest Mr. Olympia. With ‘Cbum’ out of the title picture, fans continue to debate who will take the vacant crown when the show returns next year.
Watch the full video from the NPC News Online YouTube channel below:
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