The 2021 Arnold Classic was held in Columbus, Ohio without its defending champion, William Bonac, due to travel restrictions while he was staying in Abu Dhabi. He may have missed out on that contest, which was won by Nick Walker, but he will not miss out on taking part in the Mr. Olympia. The two-time Arnold Classic winner and 2019 Olympia runner-up has arrived in Orlando, Florida and is expected to compete in the 57th edition of bodybuilding’s biggest contest.
Bonac’s coach, Abdullah Alotaibi, confirmed that his client is in the United States by sharing a video on his Instagram story of Bonac training in a local gym in Florida. Several fans have also shared images and comments that they have seen “The Conqueror” in the Sunshine State.
William Bonac himself hadn’t shared anything about his presence in Orlando, but he did share a post predicting victory at the Olympia.
“Seems like everyone is talking about the weather. As forecasts are often misleading, I would rather change the subject over to history:” Bonac wrote. He then discussed William I, the first Norman monarch of England. He then made his bold proclamation at the end of his caption. “For those of you who don’t know, history is destined to repeat it. 👑#17👑 7days out from @mrolympiallc 2021.”
Bonac will get his opportunity to face the new Arnold Classic winner as well as the reigning Mr. Olympia, Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay, 2019 Mr. Olympia Brandon Curry, and the rest of the star-studded lineup of men qualified to face the judges and fans in the Orange County Convention Center on October 8th and 9th. If he were to be the last man standing and hear Bob Cicherillo say, “and new…,” then Bonac would in fact become the 17th winner of bodybuilding’s world championship contest. He would be the first European titleholder since Dorian Yates was the champion from 1992 to 1997.
Amanda Suarez
William Bonac’s Olympia History
The 40-year-old bodybuilder from the Netherlands made his Olympia debut in 2014 where he placed 15th. He followed that up with an eighth place effort in 2015. His first top five appearance came in 2016, and he hasn’t left that group since. He placed third in 2017, fourth in 2018, and was the runner-up to Curry in 2019.
Even though he won his second Arnold Classic in 2020, he was relegated to fifth at the Olympia behind winner Elssbiay, Curry, seven-time champion Phil Heath, and Hadi Choopan. In 2021, he opted to work with his new coach with hopes of winning both the Arnold and Olympia shows. Time will tell if he can pull off the victory in the latter contest this weekend. For more information about the Mr. Olympia, go to www.mrolympia.com .
Go to www.olympiaproductions.com to order the pay-per-view webcast so you can see who emerges as Mr. Olympia on Saturday night.
