"Your eyes told you" - Samir Bannout on the influence of social media on judging at bodybuilding shows
Samir Bannout is a former Mr. Olympia who has become a unique voice surrounding the sport of bodybuilding. As a part of Old School Labs, Samir often goes online defending the golden-era methods of bodybuilding and fitness. He is also well known for his criticisms of drug use within the sport.
Bannout has recently been vocal about his issues with judging in the sport. In a recent episode of the Muscle Maturity podcast, Samir discussed the influence of social media on judges at major shows. According to Samir, social media should have no influence on professional judges.
"A good judge who is sitting 10 yards away… he should make a proper decision and not alter his decision later because Joe Blow said something and Fred said something, just stick with your plans."
According to Bannout, judges nowadays are heavily influenced by comments on social media platforms. He wants judges to stick to their decision despite the opinions posted on social media platforms.
"Your eyes told you first second third. You go back to the room and start looking at the social media and you see a lot of people a lot of kids talking bullshit – that should not change the way you voted. So yeah, that does [happen] nowadays, unfortunately. This is what I call it when judges are not capable enough. When you make a decision, stick to it."
Echoing the views of Nick Trigili and Nick Walker, Samir wants to eliminate the ambiguity surrounding the judges' decisions. He believes attaching a name to the scorecard and justifying their decisions will make the process more transparent.
"Every judge should be asked for what he picked for a call out. Every single judge should do the same ... It’s a good idea. Everyone be on the record. Nobody could cheat this way, everybody would say, ‘they’re going to see who I am,’ so they score it clean."
"They did it intentionally" - Bannout on his fall from grace at the 1983 Mr. Olympia
Samir Bannout won his first and only Sandow trophy in 1983. The very next year, Bannout fell to sixth place, marking one of the biggest fall-offs in the history of the sport.
Bannout recently opened up about his scuffle with Joe Weider and the Olympia franchise stating that misunderstandings and malicious actions from Ricky Wayne saw him have a major fallout with the IFBB.
Bannout added that there is no doubt in his mind that he was 'cheated' back in 1984.
"They did a good job on me in ’84. I went from first to sixth – and they did it intentionally and cheated me. Okay, so. There’s still some cheating anyhow."
According to Samir, 'cheating' still exists in the sport today and the only way to get across the issue is through transparent judging practices. He added that Lee Haney and Dorian Yates, two very successful Mr. Olympia title holders, could have lost a few times but they did not.
"You can still feel cheating going on right now too, so. It’s not like whatever reigning Mr. Olympia will win. I saw a couple of times when Haney or Dorian could have lost and they didn’t."