The year 2023 must feel like deja vu for Classic Physique competitor Darwin Uribe. In both 2021 and 2022, the IFBB Pro League athlete won two major contests — the Chicago Pro in 2021 and the Houston Tournament of Champions in 2022 — and then sat out the Olympia both times.
On Feb. 21, 2023, Uribe revealed in an Instagram post that he withdrew from the 2023 Arnold Classic (AC), a show considered nearly as prestigious as the Olympia. Rather than compete in the Mar. 2-5, 2023 contest in Columbus, OH, Uribe intends to first work through some undisclosed health problems.
While Uribe didn’t clarify exactly what compelled him to withdraw from the 2023 AC (and, by extension, the 2022 Olympia previously), he maintained it was something he couldn’t just gloss over and that it was partly out of his control.
” … I am grateful [to] get invited for the second time in my sixth Pro show in my short career as a professional,” Uribe wrote. “Unfortunately, this is something that I won’t be able to finish…sadly I can’t push through this now and finish because there are always more red flags, and red flags indicate to you it’s time to stop.”
The athlete also clarified that he considered withdrawing from the 2023 AC sometime around the 2022 Olympia but had already sent his application in for the contest. Nonetheless, the bodybuilder will focus on his health and well-being for now.
“This time I am prioritizing myself, looking for myself, taking in my own decisions more than expectations or what people think or want from me as an athlete.”
To date, as a relatively newer Pro League member, Uribe has never competed in the Olympia. In the only AC appearance of his career in 2022, the athlete finished in eighth place in the Classic Physique Division. Two-time Classic Physique Olympia runner-up Terrence Ruffin won his second consecutive Classic Physique AC title at that edition of the competition.
It’s unclear what the future holds for Uribe as a bodybuilder. He seems to be prioritizing himself rather than the sometimes demanding rigors of competition, nutrition, and training. For now, the bodybuilding community will have to wait and see what the athlete might have in store.
Featured image: @uribe_darwin on Instagram
