Iain Valliere Fires Back at Critics after 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow Win
Canadian bodybuilder Iain Valliere is coming off a sensational performance at the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow, which wrapped up this past weekend. After dropping a step at the last Mr. Olympia, he managed to get back to his winning ways. In a recent Instagram story, Valliere issued a fiery response to critics for taking issue with his latest win.
Iain Valliere first gained attention for his impressive muscle mass, size, and symmetry as a Men’s Open competitor in 2015. He kicked off his run in the IFBB Pro League with a top-five finish at the Toronto Pro Supershow and continued to work his way up the ranks. In 2020, Valliere scored his first win at the 2020 New York Pro and cracked the top ten at the 2020 Mr. Olympia. He extended his run further by securing back-to-back gold at the 2021 Tampa Pro and Texas Pro en route to taking seventh at the Mr. Olympia competition.
Last year, Valliere missed the mark at the 2022 Mr. Olympia and fell out of the top ten. Following the contest, he revealed there were problems peaking for the show, which resulted in his physique looking visibly off on the stage in Las Vegas last December.
Valliere was determined to turn things around and got to work in the off-season. He parted ways with former coach Patrick Tuor to reunite with coach Matt Jansen for the season. Then, he targeted a return at the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow earlier this year.
Three months ago, Valliere gave fans a look into the changes and progress he made under Jansen. He revealed he tipped the scales at a lean 280-pounds. Also, he incorporated deadlifts and started following a high-protein diet in prep for the contest.
Iain Valliere reported positive updates nine weeks from the Toronto Pro Supershow. He was following a low-calorie diet in prep and was confident he could shed over 25 pounds in four weeks as he inched closer to the event since he kept his off-season weight at a reasonable level.
Olympia judge Terrick El Guindy heaped praises on Valliere’s immense potential in the sport last month. Guindy called on him to work on his back and calves development to improve his chances of being a major threat at any competition.
Valliere laid out the diet and supplements he utilized to get ready in the final two weeks before the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow. Then, he sent warning shots to his competition with a ripped physique update days later.
In the end, Valliere’s hard work paid off as he came out on top of the contest with a stunning performance on June 4. He managed to defeat the likes of Hassan Mostafa and Ross Flanagan to punch his ticket to the upcoming 2023 Mr. Olympia show.
Iain Valliere fires back at critics after the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow win
The organizers of the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow uploaded the results on Instagram. Many took to the comments section to voice their disapproval of the outcome and criticized Valliere.
“Hassan was robbed of this one,” wrote a user.
Another chimed in, “Hassan looked way better and I’m an iain fan. Of course they’d give it to the Canadian if it was close though.”
“Hassan should be the winner wtf,” commented another.
“Wow.. i am a fan of Iain but I really thought Hassan would take the W. I do think Iain makes a better competitor for the Olympia though,” a user wrote.
“Okay he won because he is a canadian ! no calves no lower lat no chest no tricep!!???” responded another.
In a recent Instagram story, Iain Valliere issued a fiery response to haters criticizing his victory at the 2023 Toronto Pro Supershow. He followed up with another story showing the scorecards and declared his ambitions to get back in the top eight at Mr. Olympia.
Iain Valliere’s coach Matt Jansen gave his take on the result and his student’s progression on Instagram.
“I want to put this weekend for @iainvalliere into perspective,” wrote Jansen. “ Iain and I started first working together first with training only in the fall of 2015, this then transitioned into full coaching in early 2016. When I recall Iain’s goals at that time, sure he wanted to be an Olympian…go on to place well there and all that but I clearly remember his main goal being to win Toronto one day. 2016 his physical body wasn’t yet there and I believe he placed 7th that year in our first attempt. 2018 was Iain’s first pro win but still no Toronto pro title. In 2019 we returned now with a pro win and an Olympia under his belt and he placed second. Here I fumbled the peak and this loss I hold on me, one that eats me up to this day or at least through this past weekend knowing we left one on the table and more importantly one that was very important to Iain. Shortly there after Iain and I stopped working together, athletes come and go but I’ve had a few athletes leave that really stung and this was one of them. I was going through some personal things at the time and I really felt us no longer working together could have really been avoided if I were able to be more present but I just simply wasn’t. Now we enter into this season, after the Olympia Iain and I spoke and we committed to getting back to what we used to do that worked so well. We discussed two qualifiers for this year pros and cons of both (the biggest con being less time to improve as we took a true health phase) but in my heart I knew what Iain’s choice would be. So about 12 weeks out of Toronto we committed to this show after a very brief off season. This win wasn’t just another win. It was accomplishing a goal, checking off a mark that we set out to do in 2016 that was left unfinished and also building back confidence in an athlete whose confidence had been lost. Iain has won bigger shows than what was won this weekend, he’s placed high at the two most important bodybuilding shows of the year, but sometimes you just can’t put a price on what accomplishing a goal to do for an athlete regardless of how long it took. Iain you did it this weekend and you did it with straight 1s.”
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Whether some agree with the decision or not, Iain Valliere has guaranteed his right to perform at 2023 Mr. Olympia where he will look to redeem himself among the very best of the Men’s Open category.
