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2005 Olympia Prize Money increased by over $120,000!
July 15, 2005 - Ron's Opinion

  • Well, it looks like the promoters of the 2005 Olympia Weekend, after receiving some criticism of their decision to move the Olympia from the Mandalay Bay to the Orleans Hotel & Arena (and Las Vegas Expo), are back in favor with the competitors. With the perception that they may drop some prize money, they did the opposite and release the breakdown of prize money which far exceeded almost anything anyone even thought remotely of.

    With this prize money, this makes this competition the largest ever, with some serious competition coming up. Congratulations to AMI for coming through for the athletes! I can't wait for more suprises at this year's Olympia!

    Here is the press release from AMI.

  • American Media Inc. (AMI) and The International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB), promoters of the 2005 Olympia Weekend, are proud to announce that prize money for the this year's event has been increased from $540,000 to $661,000. That represents a staggering 22% increase of $121,000.

    The purse for the Mr. Olympia contest has been raised by $101,000, Ms. Olympia by $10,000 and the Fitness and Figure events by $5,000 each. Comparisons to last year for each contest are shown in the attached charts. Another breakthrough is that all Mr. Olympia competitors will take home a check of at least $2,000. The prize money for men now stacks up to $500,000 — by far the richest purse in the sport.

    The 2005 Olympia Weekend prize money of $661,000 prize money compares to a combined $403,000 on offer at the second biggest contest of the year, The Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic (see accompanying chart for comparisons between these two biggest events on the calendar.)

    The overall $121,000 increase makes good on the promoter's promise to take the sport to ever higher levels and to continue investing in the athletes.

    Olympia Prize Money20052004
    Mr. Olympia $ 500,000$ 399,000
    Ms. Olympia$ 71,000 $ 61,000
    Fitness Olympia $ 55,000 $ 50,000
    Figure Olympia $ 35,000$ 30,000
    Totals$ 661,000 $ 540,000

    2005 ComparisonArnoldOlympia
    Men's Bodybuilding $ 275,000 $ 500,000
    Women's Bodybuilding $ 50,000 $ 71,000
    Fitness $ 50,000 $ 55,000
    Figure$ 28,000 $ 35,000
    Totals $ 403,000 $ 661,000