2008 Arnold Blog

I’ve been meaning to post these since about 5 minutes after the men’s finals, and am now just finally getting around to it, LOL!

Here is the pro men’s scorecard and the official press release for your viewing pleasure!

Enjoy! 

The women’s show took place last night and there were a few surpsises. Let’s start with the women’s bodybuilding…

The biggest news hit fans when defending champ, Iris Kyle failed to make the top six. Iris finished in seventh place when the dust cleared. You may be wondering why the defending champ fell so far down in the placings. It was obvious when I shot the prejudging that there were more than a couple indications Iris could and should be knocked down in the judging. Why? Well, despite her being called out in the top 3-5 at the prejudging, the judges felt they needed to send a message. What message? I spoke with a couple judges after the show and they informed me that Iris was out of the top six because of the marks on her physique. If you look at the photos, pay attention to her shoulders and her buttocks… You’ll see what I am talking about.

Congrats to Yaxeni for winning the Ms. International. When I saw her at prejudging, I had her pegged as the champ. She looked great and brought the physique we have grown to love when she brings it. She was in excellent condition and brought great symmetry combined with just enough mass, to the stage.

As predicted, Gina Aliotti walked away with victory in the Figure International. I’m a huge fan of Gina’s and she never looked better than she did last night. She presented a balanced physique with just enough hardness to reign supreme. Jennifer Gates showed that a competitor can change drastically in three weeks. I had a sneak peak at what Jen was looking like before the show and I thought she was behind in her prep. I ate my words of predicting her fourth and knew when I saw her at the check-in Thursday that she was ready. Jenn presented a very balanced physique and look amazing. You can see her on the next issue of Muscle & Fitness Hers in a couple weeks. Paola Almerico grabbed a top six placing which was a tremendous accomplishment from her. The most overlooked competitor had to be Juliana Malacarne. I know the judges probably thought she was still too muscular but overall, she is still the most balanced competitor on the figure stage. She has it all from top to bottom when it comes to rock’n the figure stage. Amy Fry landed in third, as I predicted, and looked great. She towered over her competition but showed why she is one of the best competitors in the biz today by bringing a balanced physique to the stage.

Fitness super star Kim Schiedler rocked the stage in Columbus. I hope I spelled her last name right as her father corrected me a couple times backstage on her name. Those who aren’t aware, Kim has had a number of personal issues to deal with while prepping for this show. I won’t go into great detail but long story short, she is getting a divorce and dealing with the stress attached to that. Kim’s physique was much improved from the Olympia and you could tell she was much happier. Her routine was reflective of where she’s at in her personal life, check out the webcast to see it. Jen Hen was in second and I love Jen but I honestly wasn’t that impressed with what she brought this time around. She looked good in the physique rounds and her routine was funny and full of high energy but had too much dancing and booty shaking for my liking. I’d like to see more strength moves and less dancing out of her, but it was still fun to watch and photograph. The biggest gift in the show was given to Julie Palmer in my opinion. I love Jules as a person and this no knock on her but she was not a top three competitor in this show, at least from my vantage point. Her physique was good in prejudging and she placed well in those rounds. I thought her routine had too much set up and was a little hoaky. I didn’t feel as though her routine was that good and I would have her out of the top ten when it came to the routine rounds, but I’m not a judge and making those calls. The judges liked what they saw and placed her high in the routines. Julie Lohre has never looked better and brought a great routine and physique to the stage. She should have been second in my opinion but again I’m not a judge. Oksana was highly favored by many going into this show and while she performed a great routine her physique looked the worst I’ve seen from her since hitting the pro show. Her waist is a little too wide and it looked like she was overdieted. I’d like to see her add some size to her shoulders and improver her lats to give the illusion of a smaller waist.

I’m off to the expo to do some more videos with some of the IFBB’s hottest women. Check back for more info, photos and videos through out the weekend.

The Preliminary results from all 3 of the Ms International contests (Ms. Int’l, Figure Int’l, Fitness Int’l) are now available on our 2008 Arnold Results Page:

http://contest.bodybuilding.com/results/2542

Female Bodybuilding:

1 - Yaxeni Oriquen
2 - Dayana Cadeau
3 - Lisa Aukland
4 - Betty Pariso
5 - Brenda Raganot
6 - Cathy LeFrancois

Figure:

1 - Gina Aliotti
2 - Jennifer Gates
3 - Amy Fry
4 - Chastity Slone
5 - Sonia Adcock
6 - Paola Almerico

Fitness:

1 - Kimberly Klein
2 - Jen Hendershott
3 - Julie Palmer
4 - Julie Lohre
5 - Tracey Greenwood
6 - Regiane Da Silva

A heartfelt congratulations to IFBB Figure Pro Gina Aliotti and IFBB Fitness Pro Kim Klein for winning their respective Figure International and Fitness International contests!  =)

1) Victor Martinez
2) Dexter Jackson
3) Toney Freeman
4) Gustavo Badell
5) Phil Heath
6) Silvio Samuel
7) Branch Warren
8) Ronny Rockel
9) Markus Ruhl
10) Vince Taylor
11) Mark Dugdale
12) Marcus Haley
13) Hidetada Yamagishi
14) David Henry
15) Sergey Shelestov
16) Luke Wood

The Top 6 are back for the final decisions…

6) Silvio Samuel Saviour
5) Phil Heath
4) Gustavo Badell
3) Toney Freeman
2) Dexter Jackson
1) Victor Martinez - $130,000 and a handshake from Arnold!

We’ll two out of the three winners ain’t too bad. I called Iris Kyle and Mary Lado for victory but missed on the Adela victory. (I still think Adela should have won, but hey that’s for another time). Any who contrats to all the ladies and to the winners of their respective disciplines.

You can read my predictions here and how I matched up with the show.

A big shout out to my Colorado girl, Heather Policky, for placing THIRD in her first Arnold showing. A pro victory and placing third behind two Olympia champs, not too shabby. We brought you Heather’s pre-contest photos and videos here EXCLUSIVELY on bodybuilding.com.

A few pics for ya…

Congrats to the top ranking ladies in the 2007 Ms. International bodybuilding contest:

1) Iris Kyle
2) Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia
3) Heather Policky
4) Lisa Auckland
5) Betty Pariso
6) Dayana Cadeau

See more results here.

Congratulations go out to Kim Klein for winning the 2007 Fitness International!

Here she is chatting it up with Arnold!

Congrats also to Jenny Hendershott for coming in second, just like she wanted!  We’ll miss you!  (Jen announced her retirement in the post-show interview with Jamie Eason.)

3) Adela Garcia
4) Tanji Johnson
5) Julie Palmer
6) Tracey Greenwood

See more results here.

Well, it’s official - the 2007 Figure International results are in.  Congratulations go out to the following ladies:

1) Mary Elizabeth Lado
2) Amanda Savell
3) Sonya Adcock
4) Latisha Wilder
5) Valerie Waugaman
6) Gina Aliotti

See more results here.