Is Phil Heath staying away from the Olympia for yet another year?

UPDATE May 2020: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia officially announced that the Athleticon will be postponed until 2021. The original story that follows mentions Phil Heath was likely to compete at the event. It is now unclear if Phil Heath will still participate.

According to sources close to Generation Iron, it’s been alleged though not yet confirmed that Phil Heath will be competing at the Athleticon event dubbed the “Icon World Classic” and skip the Olympia 2020.

Athleticon, spearheaded by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, has been gaining a ton of traction these days as recent updates have been released to fire up the bodybuilding and fitness fan base. Many have said the Athleticon brand is being established as a major competitor to other bodybuilding events like the Olympia or the Arnold Sports Festival.

After losing the Olympia 2018, Phil Heath took a year off from competing. Though Phil has yet to officially make clear if he would be competing again in 2020, many fans speculated that he would return to regain his Mr. Olympia title. This would earn him eight Sandow trophies – matching the world record with Ronnie Coleman and Lee Haney.

Phil Heath has dedicated a good amount of his time to building his supplement line, Phil Heath Labs. After staring in Generation Iron, Phil continued to dominate the sport of bodybuilding up until he took his break in 2019 to focus on his businesses.

But if Phil Heath were to instead compete at the Icon World Classic at Athleticon, actively deciding to not return for the trophy at the Mr. Olympia – that could have a major impact on the future of both events. The Mr. Olympia brand itself has gone under a sudden change of ownership as well with AMI selling the weekend event to Jake Wood, the promoter of Wings Of Strength.

This sale of the Olympia brand, mixed with the launch of Athleticon and the Phil Heath rumors has the potential to create a perfect storm that changes the trajectory of major bodybuilding competitions.

The potential involvement of Phil Heath in the Icon World Classic could be a major indicator as to how far the Athleticon brand will go. If Phil Heath competes and wins at the Icon World Classic it could put the event on the map as a legitimate competition for pro bodybuilders to consider participating in for years to come.

Stay tuned to Generation iron as we continue to follow this story as it develops.

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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.