The dust had yet to settle after the conclusion of the 2020 Olympia Weekend in Orlando, Florida, when promoters had declared that the next year’s event would be bigger and better. It appears they are following through on that statement.
The organizers of the Olympia announced that the Wellness division will be added to the biggest event in the sport of bodybuilding, starting in 2021. The announcement was shared on the Olympia Instagram page on February 11th.
“As part of our dedication to the ongoing expansion of the NPC and the IFBB Professional League, we are pleased to officially announce the inaugural ‘Wellness Olympia’ to be held as part of the 2021 Olympia Weekend.”
Olympia President Dan Solomon also shared his thoughts in an exclusive statement to BarBend.
“As the popularity of the wellness division continues to grow throughout the world, we are excited to give these athletes the opportunity to compete on the most prestigious stage in the world. The stakes have just gone up.”
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With the addition of this new division, that now makes 6 women’s divisions, and 11 professional divisions overall that will be contest at the Olympia. The other women’s divisions are Women’s Bodybuilding (which returned in 2020), Women’s Physique, Fitness, Figure, and Bikini.
The Wellness division debuted in the IFBB Pro League in 2020. According to their description, the division is for female athletes with athletic physiques, but judges will look for more mass in the hips, glutes, and thighs. The upper body should be developed, but not as much as you would see in the Figure division. The outfits for competition are the same as the Bikini division.
Winners of each of the contests this season will be qualified for the Olympia. There is no official word about a points system like there is in other divisions, but one is expected. As of this writing, the first Wellness division contest of the season will be the Pittsburgh Pro in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the weekend of April 30th and May 1st. The schedule could potentially see changes made similar to what happened in 2020.
Further details about the 2021 Olympia have yet to be announced, including the final dates and location for this year’s event. Organizers have said that those details will be shared in the near future.
Featured image: Mr. Olympia LLC on Instagram