Jacked will take an identical path to Olympia qualification this yr.
On Apr. 3, 2023, Chinedu Andrew Obiekea, aka “Andrew Jacked,” revealed in an Instagram publish that he would compete at this summer season’s 2023 Texas Professional. The bodybuilder is the contest’s defending champion within the Males’s Open division. The competition will function eight separate aggressive courses: the Open, 212, Girls’s Physique, Determine, Basic Physique, Males’s Physique, Bikini, and Wellness. It should happen on Aug. 19, 2023, in Arlington, TX.
Jacked used his 2022 victory as a springboard to realize qualification into the 2022 Mr. Olympia contest. That efficiency was partly why a bodybuilding legend like four-time Arnold Basic (AC) champion Ken “Flex” Wheeler asserted Jacked was the next big thing. It seems Jacked will likely be utilizing an identical path to dwell as much as the hype in 2023.
With current shifts to the 2023 Olympia qualification system — together with the nixing of total factors standings from IFBB Professional League contests — something lower than a victory in Texas will pressure Jacked to search out one other avenue to qualify for the Olympia, set to happen Nov. 3-5. Not that this was a selected problem for Jacked in 2022, who was additionally triumphant within the 2022 Arnold Classic UK (ACUK). On the time of this text’s writing, it’s unclear if Jacked may also function within the 2023 version of the ACUK.
As for Jacked’s current exploits, he’s been conserving busy on stage.
After his Texas Professional and ACUK victories, Jacked would end in eighth place on the 2022 Mr. Olympia. Such a result’s nothing to sneeze at for a competitor of their debut at bodybuilding’s largest competitors. Jacked would comply with that efficiency with a third-place finish at the 2023 AC. Solely champion Samson Dauda and 2022 Olympia third-place finisher Nick Walker (AC runner-up) fared higher.
Within the aftermath of his AC efficiency, Jacked maintained that he “deserved” his result. He appeared to in the end channel it as motivation for improved outcomes throughout in any contests he seems in through the yr 2023. Plus, whereas an ethical victory within the AC isn’t what Jacked was searching for, ending forward of different extra established Males’s Open stars like two-time Mr. Olympia (2020, 2021) Mamdouh “Big Ramy” Elssbiay (fourth place) and two-time 212 Olympia champion (2020, 2022) Shaun Clarida (fifth place), and two-time AC winner (2018, 2020) William Bonac (seventh place) is one thing he can hold his hat on.
In a great world for Jacked, such a end within the standings can be a teaser of the electrical energy he brings to aggressive levels within the coming months.
There’s nonetheless quite a lot of work to do earlier than Jacked establishes himself as a family identify within the bodybuilding sphere. He’s assuredly already acquired the eye of his gifted friends. Successful a serious contest just like the Olympia might be the subsequent a part of his profession journey. Efficiently defending his Texas Professional title could be step one.
Featured picture: @andrewjacked on Instagram
