Jeremy Buendia Says His 2024 Bodybuilding Season Is “a Wrap”

Just as his comeback was picking up momentum, Buendia’s return to the highest of the Men’s Physique division was snatched away.

On May 27, 2024, Four-time Mr. Olympia winner Jeremy Buendia announced across social media that he’d re-injured his Achilles tendondoubling down on trauma suffered earlier within the spring. More importantly, it derails his bodybuilding plans for the rest of 2024.

“The 2024 competition season looks like a wrap for me,” Buendia told his fans online. “I’m going to give attention to setting myself up for a superb 12 months next 12 months.”

Buendia’s reign over the Men’s Physique bodybuilding division led to 2018. Buendia placed fourth at that 12 months’s Olympia after which took a five-year hiatus from the competition stage — until recently.

In Sept. 2022, Buendia announced his official comeback to the Men’s Physique division. Buendia finished eighth overall on the 2023 Mr. Olympia. It looked just like the California native’s star shone again until tragedy struck.

Buendia’s Achilles Heel

On April 18, 2024, Buendia ruptured his Achilles tendon during a “running accident” — “I’m just gonna fight through this,” he remarked on the time. Buendia ultimately received surgical intervention wherein doctors attached a portion of a tendon from his toe onto his heel.

“I’ve been on the couch for the last 40 days,” Buendia said on YouTube. While you may think a torn tissue in a bodybuilder’s lower body won’t prohibit them from strength training altogether, the pathology of Achilles injuries varies dramatically:

• “The Achilles is the most frequently-ruptured tendon within the human bodyyet the [cause or causes] remain poorly understood,” a 2013 article within the journal remarked. (1)
• Incidence statistics on the re-rupture rate vary, with the identical article noting a four-to-eight percent probability of re-injury in patients who undergo surgery vs. those that don’t.
• More recent data from 2022 suggest that some athletes may “return to play” as soon as 16 to twenty weeks after the initial injury. However, that timeline may stretch depending on various recovery aspects and the athlete’s sport. (2)

Who Will Win the 2024 Men’s Physique Olympia?

Buendia went to the burden room during his announcement video despite the setback. He performed a modified “pull” workout, including common back exercises like lat pulldowns and modified moves like seated biceps curls with dumbbells. “I haven’t been within the gym in three or 4 weeks,” he said.

Buendia won’t battle on the 2024 Olympia on Oct. 10 to 13 in Las Vegas, NV. With Buendia down for the count (though he’ll surely regulate his colleagues), reigning Men’s Physique Olympia champion Ryan Terry’s task of defending his title just got a bit easier but not by much.

Terry finally bagged his first Olympia title in 2023 after eight previous attempts and is the Men’s Physique athlete to beat in Vegas this autumn. Expect Buendia to look at from the audience as Terry contends with the likes of Brandon Hendrickson, Erin Banks, and the numerous other top bodybuilders who would somewhat see the Olympia title of their hands than Terry’s — or Buendia’s, for that matter.

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References

1. Thevendran, G., Sarraf, K.M., Patel, N.K.  The ruptured Achilles tendon: a current overview from biology of rupture to treatment. 979–20 (2013).
2. LaPrade CM, Chona DV, Cinque ME. Return-to-play and performance after operative treatment of Achilles tendon rupture in elite male athletes: a scoping review. 2022;56:515-520.