"Very simple ... very fair" - Hany Rambod says coaching Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford for 2022 Olympia similar to training Jay Cutler and Phil Heath
The 2022 Mr. Olympia was held last month, and Hadi Choopan was crowned the champion, with two-time Mr. Olympia title winner Big Ramy finishing outside the top three positions. The runner-up was Derek Lunsford. This was Lunsford's debut in the open division of the Mr. Olympia competition.
Lunsford didn't take much time to make his mark as he claimed second place. He competed in the Open Division through a special invitation he received because previously, he was a former 212 Olympia champion. In fact, both the champion and the runner-up of the Men's Open Division of the 2022 Mr. Olympia were coached by the same coach, Hany Rambod.
In a video posted on January 13, 2023, we can Hany Rambod in a Q&A session for The Truth podcast. During the session, Rambod spoke about coaching Hadi Choopan and Derek Lunsford together. He compared this to when he coached four-time Mr. Olympia title winner Jay Cutler and seven-time Mr. Olympia Phil Heath together from 2009-2011.
Hany Rambod said:
"Very simple, it was very fair and I focused on it. It was just like 2009, 2010, 2011, when I had Jay [Cutler] and Phil [Heath] and so. not only did they go one two, especially in 2010 and 2011. It was also the focus was on bringing each individual athlete in their best. Theoretically, I would never do this, but let’s just say I had 10 people in the Mr. Olympia competition."
Rambod continued:
"I would focus on their strengths and weaknesses individually because I don't look at it as this person is going up against this person. It's always what's is the best version of that person that you're trying to bring in. I'll give you a little example of that like Hadi [Choopan] - I was hoping him and Derek [Lunsford] would go one and two."
Hany Rambod opens up about other contestants at the Mr. Olympia
Hany Rambod went on to speak about competitors other than Hadi Choopan and Derek Lundsford. Speaking about two-time Mr. Olympia title winner Big Ramy, Rambod said:
"But before that, we’re talking about Big Ramy who had won twice, so he was the frontrunner, by all means, everyone thought he was going to go in there and crush because most people especially after you’ve won one and you get to two, you start to really build momentum. Everybody thought he was the frontrunner including me, because he had won two."
The elite bodybuilding coach also spoke about William Bonac, Brandon Curry, Nick Walker, and others who competed in the Open Division of the 2022 Mr. Olympia.
"You had guys like William Bonac who had been in the top five many times. You had Brandon [Curry] who had won already in 2019 and was coming back. You have Nick Walker who’s building momentum, who was top five last year in his first Mr. Olympia competition. You had Hunter Labrada — same thing.
"So you have all of these people and then you have question marks like Andrew Jacked, [Michal] Krizo, Samson [Dauda] — all of these new up and coming guys who were building a tremendous amount of momentum."
Rambod also stated that he would give his 100 percent to the person he worked with. Apart from Derek Lunsford and Hadi Choopan, Hany Rambod also coached Chris Bumstead, who won the 2022 Mr. Olympia Classic Physique title at the 2022 Olympia.