2008 Arnold Blog

I am very happy to announce I have placed 3rd. at the Arnold’s Classic in Ohio  I greatly appreciate all of the ongoing encouragement and support from my family and friends on this allready joyous occasion.

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

I was driving on my way to Golds gym in Venice Beach today when I saw that I had missed a call from Cathy LeFrancois.  I had just seen Cathy over the weekend at the Iron Man where she was working at the Gaspari booth and drawing a great deal of attention with her shredded condition she was carrying two weeks out from the Arnold.

When I called Cathy she told me she would be filming part of her new DVD today and ask if I wanted to catch a workout with her.  I have trained with Cathy several times and she has always held her own ground, with pound for pound matching most guys or even stronger.  I met up with Cathy and Dave the owner of Max Muscle Venice at the store and we headed to Golds to hit shoulders. Since seeing Cathy this past Sat she looked even harder today with no fat and had veins running everywhere.  I was surprised at how full she also looked as most competitors tend to look flat the last week.

Cathy has done her homework and if she shows up in this same condition 2008 could just be her year.  Cathy started training with dumbbell side laterals where she seemed to go to failure.  I’ve seen a lot of Pro’s just coast in the last week as not to overtrain or risk injury before the show; however, thru the whole workout Cathy kept her rest time down to about 1 minute between sets and went to failure.

Cathy plans on doing several contest this year and a few months ago signed a contract with Gaspari so things look like they are improving for her.  The sport could use someone like Cathy to represent it as she is a very positive role model for others both on and off the bodybuilding stage.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the pleasure to get invited to compete in the Ms. International 2008, but I will still be at The Arnold Sport Festival to work and enjoy myself.

It will be exciting to see all events and watch my friends competing in the Ms. International.  During the weekend, I will be working with different companies such as 247bodybuilding.com, Jan Tana, Scivation and also from time-to-time with Bodybuilding.com.

For those that don’t know, I’m doing an Arnold Classic predictions live video chat segment along with my sexy husband Kris Gethin tomorrow for Bodybuilding.com.  It’s at one o’clock p.m. MST.  Stop by if you have a chance.

Make sure to come by and maybe get a signed picture, a DVD or just to say “hi!”  This is a great opportunity to network and meet friends with same interests.  Hope to see you there!

Marika Johansson
IFBB Pro Bodybuilder
http://www.247bodybuilding.com/marika_johansson.htm

Another big "Thank You!" to those who tuned into watch our Iron Man Predictions live video chat last Friday with NGA Competitive Bodybuilder Matt Biss.

This week’s scheduled live, interactive video chat is with industry insider Kris Gethin and his beautiful wife, IFBB Pro Female Bodybuilder Marika Johansson, who will be giving us their Top 10 predictions for the upcoming 2008 Arnold Classic!  This seventh weekly live video chat will take place Friday, February 22, 2008 @ 1:00 p.m. MST (-0700).

So stop by this Friday and chat with fellow BodySpace members Kris Gethin and Marika Johansson live, pick their brains about the upcoming 2008 Arnold Classic, and hear their AC predictions!  Here’s the link:

http://www.justin.tv/bbcom

See also: our Justin.tv Main Page for weekly chats:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/justintv.htm

Here is the competitors list:

Body:  No.; Competitor; Hometowns

Lightweight

1. Glenda Bozett Northport, New York
2. Millie Cleveland Smiths Parish, Bermuda
3. Ellen Ferra Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
4. Antoinette Gast. APO, AE
5. Maryann Glascock Fairfax Station, Virginia
6. Cindy Goodrich Seattle, Washington
7. Lisa Janusz Lewis Center, Ohio
8. Karen Jones Ft. Worth, Texas
9. Dee Lazard Houston, Texas
10. Genevieve Moreno Eugene, Oregon
11. Shona Pryce Riviera Beach, Florida
12. Penny Ruff Hiram, Georgia
13. Lori Snyder DuBois, Pennsylvania
14. Joanne Stewart New Zealand
15. Ebony Thomas Lansing, Illinois
16. Carrie Walend Lorain, Ohio

Middleweight

1. Barbara Barnowich Halethorpe, Maryland
2. Colleen Brock Lakewood, Ohio
3. Tammy Jackson Fresno, California
4. Alisha Morrow Peoria, Illinois
5. Holly Nicholson Las Vegas, Nevada
6. Christy Resendes Fairhaven, Massaccucetts
7. Ayeda Silent Clayton, Delaware
8. Carrie Simmons Philadelphis, Pennsylvania
9. Alicia St. Germaine Harrison Twp, Michigan
10. Becky West Malibu, California

Heavyweight

1. Marylynne MacKenzie Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada
2. Fie Ottosen Loesburg, Virginia
3. Evy Rustad Oslo, Norway

Glenda Bozett
http://www.glendabozett.com
Gold’s Gym Personal Trainer

We caught up with the very pretty Carla Salotti, IFBB Pro Female Bodybuilder, for a quick little peek at what the ProTan booth has in store!

Watch Carla flex for the camera!

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.

We caught up with Haitian-born Dayana Cadeau at the Bodybuilding.com booth at the Arnold Expo on Saturday.

Hear what Dayana had to say about finishing 6th at the Ms. International contest, and what she will place at the 2007 Olympia!

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.

We caught up with the hot and muscular Cathy (Priest) LeFrancois on the 2007 Arnold Expo floor.

See what Cathy had to say about the weekend and her women’s bodybuilding competition ranking!

Having problems with the video?  Click here for the downloadable Windows Media version.

Here are some pictures I took during the Ms International pre-judging.

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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…