Shawn Ray is back with a debate on the Mr. Olympia stage process.

On 20 December, 2025, Shawn Ray joined The Menace Podcast, where he was seen debating Milos Sarcev about placing lower-placed competitors on stage. However, the 1989 Mr. Universe challenged the 1991 Arnold Classic winner’s stance, prompting Shawn Ray to justify his point.

According to Shawn Ray, the final round must feature only the competitors who finish in the top and get a check. But Milos Sarcev thinks distinctly and focuses on the athlete's lifelong sacrifices and emotional journey. He linked the Olympia stage to the Olympics, where only appearing in the event became a lifetime achievement.

However, Shawn Ray continued the debate by highlighting the distinctiveness between the Olympics and Olympia.

He said, “Yeah. You know what? There's a lot of people they train their whole life for the Olympic Games. And when you get eliminated in the first heat, you don't get a a free pass to go on to the next round. There's three or four heats that you run and it's a process of elimination”.

According to him, performance, not effort, determines improvement.

Then, Shawn Ray shared his experience of judging in Egypt. He said, “I went to Egypt, and I was on the judging panel with Chris Cormier. They brought us out there to bring down the Egyptian team. They had about 600 700 athletes….. What they did was they brought out 10 at a time, and from the 10, we had to pick three. So you bring out 10, pick our top three, bring out 10, pick our top three. It was a process of elimination”.

He said that all the participants trained equally and some “probably more than others”. However, when Shawn Ray and the team got the top 10, “All these other guys that aren't making it, there's ramifications from not being ready”.

Shawn Ray concluded his point by saying, “This is where you sink or swim, and you shouldn't be able to have a free pass just because you qualify”.

Shawn Ray not only compared the Mr. Olympia with the Olympics, but also today's bodybuilding with beauty pageants.

Bodybuilding is a beauty pageant

In the same podcast, Milos Sarcev and Shawn Ray engaged in another healthy debate about the number of confirmation rounds in the finale of Mr. Olympia.

Shawn Ray said, “What my experience has told me is to never compare bodybuilding with any other sport in the world….Because it’s not. It’s not comparable. I try to compare it to Miss Universe. When you get to the top ten of the Miss Universe, nobody else matters”.

According to Shawn Ray, to maintain the quality of the sport, it is important not waste too much time on “participation awards”. The management must gradually reduce the event's size to the best.

However, Milos Sarcev disagreed with him and said that Miss Universe is a pageant, not a sport like bodybuilding. In response, Shawn Ray said, “It’s a pageant, bro, it’s who looks the best. It’s based on looks. It is an art”.

So, what do you think?

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu