Sponsored by: Muscle Finesse
The 2008 Arnold Classic Bodybuilding show (29
th February to 2
nd March) is no longer simply a bodybuilding competition. In fact the 20
th ever Arnold Classic has become a lot more than bodybuilding and fitness. It is a sports festival and Expo including more obvious events link strongman and woman, powerlifting, weightlifting, karate, MMA, boxing and fitness pageants along with less obvious sports including dance, cheerleading and archery, as well as, of course, ladies' figure and physique and mens bodybuilding.
This is the first time I have visited the Arnold Classic, an opportunity I have to thank Bill owner of www.musclefinesse.com for. And we also have Bill to thank for most of the photos below. The event is held every year at the Convention Centre in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus isn't a large city, nor is it a particularly busy city, but it is a really pleasant and friendly place and the people are very accommodating. When the Arnold Classic hits Columbus, though, it is, as you'd expect, a very significant event and is the talk of the city. This year was the biggest ever and over 180,000 people descended on this usually quiet place who bring $millions to the local economy.
We arrived in Columbus in the evening of Thursday 28th February and checked into the Drury Inn Hotel which is attached to the Convention Centre. The main focus of the Arnold, other than the men's bodybuilding is the Expo. This runs during the daytime of Friday, Saturday and Sunday and it is a MASSIVE exhibition of all the big players in the US and international bodybuilding and fitness scene, along with a number of stands relating to fighting and other sports. It is the largest fitness related expo in the World, and is truly an experience, although overly packed and very tiring. All the familiar supplement brand names have stands there, and most are more then simply exhibition stands, with many have their own events staged. You can sample supplements and get promotional freebies, as well as watch lifting contests, models, interviews, photo shoots and much more. Of course, those top names that are sponsored were present at their sponsor's stand. These stands were mobbed and I struggled to get to see some of the stars, which included Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, WWE star Batista, Lou Ferrigno, Ed Corney, Dennis James and many, many more. Some pics are below.
Also at the Expo are the other events including the strongman, powerlifting, weightlifting, fights and ladies' bodybuilding. Due to the Expo being so packed, we didn't get chance to look at everything, but we did look in on some very impressive mens' and ladies' powerlifting lifts, fitness contests and a small part of the strongman.
It was great to meet up with the guys from AX, who have been sponsors of MT for a long time. AX took us out to a really nice steakhouse – thanks guys (Ronnie Coleman also fancied a steak that night as he sat across from us!) It was great also to meet and chat to some other big players in the industry who all knew MT. Thanks also to Tony of ProLab/MRI UK for lunch on Friday.
MT member James Llewellin (21gunsalute) (see interview) was in the light heavyweight category of the amature show. James' goal was to make it through the pre selection and make it into the top 5, which he was successful in. James came fifth but was against two past World champs – well done James, and it was great to chat with you at length over the weekend. James has a great attitude to bodybuilding and it's athletes like him who'll put the UK back on the bodybuilding map as a force to be reckoned with.
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James Llewellin at the pre-judging of the light heavyweight amature show |
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| James Collier with James Llewellin the day after the show |
The main show was held in the Veterans Memorial Centre a few blocks down the road in Columbus. It's held here because it's where Arnold won The Mr World in 1970. The show began with a tribute to Reg Park who died last November; Reg was Arnold's idol and friend and was pivotal in making bodybuilding the sport it is today. The show also included a lifetime achievement award to Ben Weider presented by Arnold himself.
The show also brought on all the men and ladies champs of the past 20 years with their cardboard cut-outs of them winning. It was great to see names like Victor Taylor, Rich Gaspari, Sean Ray and Mike Francois on stage with Cutler and Coleman. Past lady champs included Laura Creavalle and Kim Chizevsky.
Fifteen competitors were introduced and these are fifteen of the best in the World, obviously making it hard to judge. First up was Deshaun Grimez who was big, but smooth, compared to the others he was not particularly impressive, unlike Silvio Samuel who has excellent condition and was well proportioned.
David Henry is a good bodybuilder but came on slightly smooth; a classic shape but poor condition. Forth up from New Zealand making his pro debut was Moe El Moussawi; Moe is not there yet and has a long way to compete with the best of the best – he has great arms, but seems to lack chest ad general size and condition. Fair play though, it was his first big show.
Toney Freeman won the Ironman 2007 and is BIG. He had condition too, and with his height he has long arms which need to carry mass, and his forearm development is notably lacking.
Johnnie Jackson is another heavily muscled man with great symmetry. Johnnie was in top shape and impressed me, I felt it a shame he didn't place. Gustavo Badell also impressed me as he has clearly gained size in the past 12 months. Gustavo can now be classified as a 'freak' in my book along with the Cutlers and Colemans of bodybuilding. His routine was brilliant posing to a track paying tribute to the ten Olympians on the 40th Mr Olympia Anniversary; he gave a classic pose of each of them ending in a funky dance of Ronnie, adding humour to the routine. Maybe very slightly smooth compared to the five guys who placed higher than him, but impressive none the less.
Desmond Miller aka 'Wheels of Steel' from New York has huge hamstrings was followed by Ronnie Rockel from Germany; Rockel was smooth and was not up to the standard of the others – boring posing and came across very amateur.
Another guy making his pro debut at the Arnold was AD Cherry who was very smooth and no way big enough for a show of this standard – great posing though. Eleventh on was Dexter Jackson who the crowd support. Dexter is a very experienced competitor now and the winner of the Arnold in 2005 and 2006 coming second in 2007, he was pleased to win it this year.
Phil Heath took the Ironman two weeks previously to the Arnold. Heath looked good! The guy is a monster – heavily muscled and is simply brilliant …any he knows it too! Heath will be a big name in pro bodybuilding.
Branch Warren was the crowd's favourite – they love him and he does carry aggressive charisma. He seems to have brought his upper body in line with his phenomenal legs and is really trying to be a force to be reckoned with against the best of the best – he certainly achieved this at the year's Arnold.
Marvellous Melvin Anthony doesn't carry the size of some of the others and also came on smooth. He's looked better than this. He won the best posing routine though, like he has done many times before.
The man who really impressed me at the 2008 Arnold was Kai Greene. This man has come from nowhere over the past year or two and is more than a flashy hair style! He has mass, symmetry and definition with another enjoyable posing routine. He was clearly very pleased with third, though I had him down as higher.
The top six were:
First – Dexter Jackson
Second – Phil Heath
Third – Kai Greene
Forth – Branch Warren
Fifth – Silvio Samuel
Sixth – Gustavo Badell
Personally I had Greene or Heath as the winner, though Dexter did look brilliant.
We went to an aftershow party courtesy of ProLab (thanks guys) which was a great do. It's bizarre at these events as you're partying with some big names. Chris Cormier was giving it large on the dance floor, I met Dorian Yates and Shawn Ray was around too. I tried to collar Greg Valentino for an interview, but couldn't get to him. I did however meet Roland Kickinger of See Arnold Run fame. We chatted for over an hour; Roland is an up and coming Hollywood star and a lovely guy a pleasure to chat with. Other than the usual club stuff they had midget wrestling which was very funny.
The Arnold Classic is more than a bodybuilding show; it's a sports festival and an experience. I will definitely be back in future years.
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| The final six of the 2008 Arnold Classic |