Keone Pearson and Shaun Clarida did not need a war of words to build a rivalry. 🏆
They just kept meeting at the top of the 212 division, year after year, with the Olympia title on the line.
The old version of this article guessed where the story was heading. It talked up an Open move that never became Pearson’s next chapter.
The real story turned out simpler, and far more impressive. Pearson stayed in the 212, and he kept winning it.
How Pearson went from fan to champion
Keone Pearson, known as “The Prodigy”, started out in Classic Physique before switching to the 212 division in 2020.
The switch did not bring instant glory. He finished 14th at the 2021 Olympia, a result that showed just how far he still had to climb.
He climbed fast. A win at the 2022 Tampa Pro took him back to the Olympia, where he finished sixth.
By then the man at the top was familiar. Shaun Clarida had already won the 212 Olympia twice, and Pearson had watched him closely on his own way up.
That admiration is part of what makes this rivalry work. Pearson was once the younger man looking up at the champion. Then he became the champion himself.
The 212 scorecard: four Olympias in a row
The turning point came at the 2023 Olympia in Orlando. Pearson beat defending champion Clarida to win his first 212 title.
It was an upset at the time, and it started a run that has not stopped since. Here is how their shared Olympia stages have finished:
2023 Olympia, 212: 1. Keone Pearson, 2. Shaun Clarida, 3. Angel Calderon Frias.
2024 Olympia, 212: 1. Keone Pearson, 2. Shaun Clarida, 3. Angel Calderon Frias.
2025 Olympia, 212: 1. Keone Pearson, 2. Shaun Clarida, 3. Lucas Garcia.
2026 Olympia, 212: 1. Keone Pearson, 2. Lucas Garcia, 3. Shaun Clarida.
For the full story of the first win, see our 2023 Olympia analysis, and for the second defence see our 2024 Olympia results.
The 2026 result changed the shape of the rivalry slightly. Clarida was still on the podium, but Lucas Garcia moved past him into second place.
That matters for the future, but it does not rewrite the past. Across 2023, 2024 and 2025, the final was Pearson against Clarida, and Pearson won all three.
Before that run, the roles were reversed. Clarida won the 212 Olympia in 2020 and again in 2022, while Pearson was still finding his place in the division.
So this is not a one-sided story. It is a changing of the guard, told across six Olympia seasons.
The Open question, answered honestly
So what about the Open? Both men have tested it, but neither test turned into a permanent move away from the 212. 💪
Clarida got there first. He won the Men’s Open at the 2021 Legion Sports Fest Pro, beating much bigger men at around 174 lb.
That win is where “The Giant Killer” nickname earned its full meaning. He then chose to stay in the 212 and won that Olympia title back in 2022.
Clarida tested the Open again in 2025. He finished seventh in the Men’s Open at the Arnold Classic in Ohio, in Columbus, where Derek Lunsford won.
Later in 2025 he won the Japan Pro in the Open division. That gave him an Open qualification for the 2026 Olympia, alongside his 212 route.
Olympia rules did not allow him to contest both divisions, and in 2026 he contested the 212, finishing third behind Pearson and Garcia.
Pearson’s Open test came later, and only once. He made his Men’s Open debut at the EVLS Prague Pro in October 2025.
He finished fourth, behind Martin Fitzwater, Samson Dauda and Michal Krizanek. It was a strong debut against a stacked line-up.
Afterwards he was clear that a permanent switch was not the plan right now. He wanted more size first, and the 212 remained his focus.
He proved the point by going back to the 212 and winning the 2026 Olympia, his fourth straight title in the division.
As recently as late October 2026, Pearson was still talking about winning a future Arnold Classic one day, while saying he is not ready to enter it yet.
That is a goal, not a result. Until he steps on that stage, no article should present an Arnold Open win, or an Open switch, as something that has happened.
Has Keone Pearson left the 212 for the Open? No. He tested the Open once, at Prague in 2025, then returned to the 212 and won the 2026 Olympia.
Has Shaun Clarida won an Open show? Yes, twice on the record used here: the 2021 Legion Sports Fest Pro and the 2025 Japan Pro.
Who leads their Olympia meetings? Pearson won the 212 Olympia in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Clarida won it in 2020 and 2022. No wider winner is declared beyond those results.
In the end, the rivalry did not need an Open ending to matter. Four straight Olympia finals, then a podium shake-up in 2026, is a legacy on its own. 🏅