Arnold Classic Classic Physique competitor Mike Sommerfeld, one of this weekend’s favorites to win, didn’t make weight! This is devastating and a gigantic blunder on the part of Mike and Mike’s coach. His coach? Yes, they don’t just get to bask in the glory; sometimes they have to share a cheat meal with their charge, and the menu will have to be crow.
So what happened both somehow thought Mike was going to be taller at the Arnold than he was at the Olympia and could therefore weigh more — Classic Physique has weight limits based on height; the taller you are, the more you can weigh. As opposed to the Open, which basically means “run what ya brung”—no limits.
This is ridiculous. It borders on the flat Earth theory. Your height is determined at the Olympia. Period. If you think you’re going to get taller from one show to the next, that’s fine. You can believe in the Easter Bunny if you want to. But you’re getting measured at the Olympia. That’s the only measurement that counts. For some reason, someone in his camp thought Mike was going to be in a taller and thus heavier class at the Arnold.
Now, considering this is probably going to go down as the WTF moment of the weekend, I’m sure at some point Mike is going to have an explanation that might clear up some of this. But Thursday night before the show, with two hours before the cutoff, Mike was seven pounds over the limit for his height. What are his options?
He has three. Two of which could either damage his soul or his body or both.
Choice #1: Pack up and go home. Considering the investment to get to this point, this choice is not likely.
Choice #2: Start taking a lot of powerful diuretics. But even mainlining Lasix (injectable diuretic) isn’t likely to pull seven pounds of water out in two hours. He might come close, he might make it, he might die. Such odds are cheap steak tough, and they get worse if something does go south.
Choice #3: Compete in the Open
So far, I’ve heard this option is on the table. If it is, it’s logically the only one to take. But it does come with a caveat: Mike is a Classic Physique competitor. His goal is to win the Olympia in Classic Physique. If he competes in the Arnold Open and wins, he will be qualified for the Olympia, but not in Classic. He would be qualified in the Open class—where he will go from being the class favorite to getting destroyed at the Olympia by guys much bigger than he is. Don’t get me wrong, Mike has a killer physique, but he’s not the size of an Open bodybuilder.
Like I said, this is a tough position to be in, but he came all this way and spent the grind getting ready to compete; he might as well compete.
You do it ’cause you love it.