Amazing Athletes at the 2008 Arnold Amateur

In February, I wrote about my waning interest in the professional bodybuilding scene and how I now have much more interest in the amateur shows. Even competitions like the Arnold Classic and the Olympia no longer appealed to me. As a result, I haven’t been to Las Vegas to see the Olympia since 2002, and before I went to this year’s Arnold Sports Festival, I thought that this might be my last trip to Columbus for a while. Luckily, that’s changed.

Prior to 2007, there were only pro bodybuilding competitions in Columbus – the Arnold Classic men’s bodybuilding competition and the Ms. International women’s event. Last year, though, an amateur bodybuilding event was added to the Arnold Sports Festival’s agenda in which they invited US-based athletes to compete. I was not interested in it because there were no Canadians competing. However, based on the success of the 2007 event, they expanded the scope in 2008 and invited competitors from all over the world. It’s now called the Arnold Amateur IFBB International Bodybuilding Championships. At last, a truly international amateur event on North American soil – something that we haven’t seen in years. Obviously, I went.

The event features men’s and women’s bodybuilding, as well as women’s fitness and figure. For bodybuilding, the competitors were divided into the classes according to the IFBB’s international rules. Many of this year’s competitors came from Europe, and quite a few from South America and Asia. In fact, the Lightweight winner at this event was none other than Brazil’s Jose Carlo, a multi-time world champion. Not surprisingly, there were quite a number of American competitors too. Overall, the quality of competitors was very high.

Canada, however, was not well-represented, at least not in bodybuilding (there were at least a dozen figure and fitness competitors). I recognized only one male competitor, Gil Ansah, and one female competitor, Marylynne McKenzie. Both athletes are from Ontario. I suspect the problem stems from the Canadian competitors not being provided with much information on their home turf. Furthermore, no officials from Canada were present to judge or assist. The Canadian press was lacking too – I think that I was the only Canadian photographer capturing the competition. I have no idea why this was so, as there were many bodybuilding officials and press from all over the world in attendance. Hopefully, Canada’s involvement will change next year, since the lack of involvement was a missed opportunity for our country.

However, the two bodybuilding competitors we had there did well. Gil placed eighth in the men’s Heavyweight class, while Marylynne took the runner-up spot in the women’s Heavyweight class.

The biggest winners, though, came from outside North America. Egypt’s Tarek Elsetouhi won the Super-Heavyweight class as well as the Overall title on the men’s side, while Mexico’s Mari Carmen Gomez Segura won the Heavyweight class and Overall title in the women’s division. Both competitors looked phenomenal and could hold their own on a pro stage. In fact, Mari is actually qualified to be a pro. She was the Overall women’s winner at the IFBB North American Championships last year. But, for whatever reason, she didn’t take her IFBB Pro Card (at least not yet) and continues to compete as an amateur. (Frankly, that’s not such a bad idea, since amateur competitions like this one can provide tremendous satisfaction for competitors, whereas there is often a lot of disappointment when competitors enter the pro ranks.)

To say I was impressed with the new Arnold Amateur competition is an understatement. I was so thrilled by the quality of the competition that I can’t give it anything but praise.

Without a doubt, the Arnold Amateur competition will continue to grow and attract even more competitors in the years to come. What’s more, they’re talking about making it a pro qualifier in 2009. You can be sure that I will be attending, and I hope that a lot more Canadians will be there too.

...Doug Schneider, Publisher
das@seriousaboutmuscle.com

Doug Schneider is the publisher and chief photographer for SeriousAboutMuscle.com, BodyBuildingLive.com, and SeriousAboutFitness.com.