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Flex Lewis pays tribute to Shawn Rhoden after his passing and believes “this life could have been saved.”
The bodybuilding community was shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of former Mr. Olympia Shawn Rhoden. While there has been no official announcement for the cause of his death – original sources speculated it was caused by a heart attack. Many bodybuilding fans, athletes, and coaches have paid their respects to the late pro bodybuilder. Including Men’s 212 legend Flex Lewis – who took to Instagram to not only pay tribute but think aloud on the recent deaths that have struck bodybuilding.
Flex Lewis made a lengthy post on Instagram – and it’s clear he took time to thoughtfully explore his thoughts not only on Shawn Rhoden’s passing but the many too-soon deaths in bodybuilding over the past year.

In the post, Lewis states that he took several hours to write the post and rewrote it many times before making it public:
“This has taken several hours to write/ rewrite deleted. Why am I writing another obituary for another close friend ? We only yesterday spoke about plans to meet up today, after 3wks on the road I was looking forward to catching up with my friend. I took the call about Shawns passing at 2am and not slept since. All day I have tried to make head n tails of it, but I started to think of some the wonderful memories I had with Shawn, we traveled the world competing together, working expos, shows, guest posings and I will hold on to them memories dearly. My heart goes out to his daughter who is around the same age as Adiena I have posted photos of our last win together were we got to celebrate with our Olympia trophies and our biggest trophies our daughters.”

Flex Lewis Pays Tribute to A Man, A Friend, And An Athlete

Flex Lewis was not simply a fellow athlete – but a friend to Shawn Rhoden and was set to actually meet up with Rhoden this very day (as of this writing). It’s clear that first and foremost Lewis wanted to pay respects to a man, a friend, and a legendary athlete.
And it seems Flex Lewis felt the need to make that specifically clear due to a swarm of online comments speculating on the cause of his death, connecting it with other deaths, and turning the passing of his life into some sort of anti-bodybuilding message. He goes on to express his frustration with some of the communities reaction to Rhoden’s passing:
“As the night turned to morning I started to see posts and read some of the most unbelievable things today, just like I did when Dallas passed away. I am deactivating comments because quite honestly I don’t wanna read opinions on how you thought he died, and what he should or shouldn’t done. Celebrate a man, a Mr Olympia champion whom you have cheered for, met at a expos taken photos with.”

A Call For Change
Despite this frustration, Flex Lewis does believe that something needs to change in the sport. While he doesn’t want Shawn Rhoden’s death to only represent talking points for health issues in bodybuilding – he does acknowledge that to completely ignore the past year’s growing list of young deaths cannot be an option.
Flex Lewis closes out his statement claiming that “something needs to be done for the future” of bodybuilding:
“I do agree that something needs to be done for the future, too many athletes are not having regular health checks, I feel lives can be saved if something is implemented or you can’t compete.We lost a good man today, a friend, a father and a champion, I say this with great sadness but I feel this life could of been saved.”

Most notable is the final sentence of Flex Lewis’ statement. He seems to believe that Shawn Rhoden’s death was preventable. We won’t know that for sure until more information comes out on the cause of his death. Regardless, calling for better health measures in any sport does not sully the lives already lost – nor does it matter if these deaths are strictly connected to bodybuilding. Better health measures is always a good thing. If this is what helps spark improvements then so be it.
Lewis makes this confidently clear in his post. He wants to mourn the man first, and hope for a healthier future second. Both can be respected equally.
It’s clear that Shawn Rhoden’s passing is still fresh in the community’s minds and each individual is reacting to the news differently. Generation Iron would like to once again send condolences out to friends, family, and anyone affected by this tragic loss.