Derek originally hoped to continue his high school success as a wrestler to college, but his university didn’t have a wrestling team. Thus, he switched to weight lifting, only to not see any significant gains. Undeterred, he found a personal trainer, James Brown, to guide him, and suddenly it all clicked. He won his first amateur competition he entered at age 22, and then won both the 2015 and 2016 NPC Junior Nationals. He earned his pro card in 2017 and a month later won the 212 division of the IFBB Tampa Pro. A month after that, he took fifth at the Mr. Olympia. He’s since won the Olympia title in 2021, along with runner-up finishes in 2018, 2019 and 2022. Lunsford took to the stage recently at the 2023 Mr. Olympia and became the first-ever two-division Mr. Olympia champion. In addition, he won the People’s Champ Award.