2007 Arnold Classic Review by Juan Carlos Lopez and notes by Aleksey Kash

Columbus was raided, ransacked and pillaged by a large group of bodybuilding fans and UFC fans. The largest ever throng assembled within the walls of convention center, Veteran's Memorial auditorium and Nationwide arena. This led to total chaos in the both the city's downtown and inside the event's organization. It is common for the bodybuilding fan to skip events such as strongman or the fashion show but this year the Arnold added an NPC figure, fitness and bodybuilding amateur event that lead to a controversy.

Having the Amateur Arnold at 9am at the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium presented a huge problem, the show would be split into two. One being presented on the main stage and the other part at the Media Brehm Room which is also known at night shows for the finals as the "pump up room". This was only part of the problem as the Convention Center held the prejudging for the Pro women giving much less coverage to the NPC women and men. We had the assistance of Aleksey Kash for this event and only because of him is that the NPC show was given any coverage at all.

Mary Lado

Mary Lado did it again and took the first place bringing in a leaner package. Her shape with a small waist is surely what judges are looking for in these days. Amanda Savell who looked fuller (more carbs in her) than all her shows took second. Third went to newcomer Sonia Adcock who brought a similar package to what got her to the pro stage. Many people expected Gina Aliotti to take 3rd or second but Sonia crept up there and Gina took 6th. Latisha Wilder a local favorite with her nice shape took 4th. Valerie is another story apart, she came in her leanest but probably lost a good amount of muscle while dieting. It was a love/hate relationship with her physique great conditioning and flexing her quads but then not keeping that much muscle. She kept it pretty simple as far as the posing went. It was good to see Inga Neverauskaite place 10th which was mainly the only International competitor.

Kim Klein

For Fitness Kim Klein finally won and demonstrated what a great competitor is on the routine round. Jenny Hendershott edged 3rd place Adela Garcia. Tanji took 4th and keeps a steady pace in top fives for important shows. Julie Palmer and Tracey Greenwood took 5th and 6th respectively. Julie Childs came in a closer 7th and just missed the qualification for the Olympia. Debbie Czempinski was back and now living in Columbus will make her compete more and more often now. Notable was the appearances of newcomers Hollie Stewart and Amy Nelson who did pretty well at the show. Fitness always throws an extra curve in the routines and 45 second round. It is not as predictable as figure is. And we all know that judging is subjective in figure, so if you totally mess up your routine it will really affect you.

Iris Kyle

Ms. International was all to Iris Kyle and it looks the Olympia will be hers again. Yaxeni was close and Heather crept up there. All 3 are big girls and seemed to be decimating the decree of 20% muscularity reduction. Having no weight classes might have been a disadvantage but still there is room to do well at this show granted you have good conditioning. Lisa Aukland and Annie Rivieccio looked sharper at show than others that placed ahead of them. Both Antoinette Norman and Kim Perez are a great example of small waist and great conditioning. Some competitors had to compete at two shows in a row so their conditioning could have been better. But luckily the Sacramento Pro will be held after the Arnold next year.

On the Amateur side of things it wasn't very covered by anyone and only through the notes of my assistant photographer Aleksey Kash are we able to get any feedback from the show. Tiffany Underwood was in fantastic shape with both symmetry and balance in class B, followed by Ann Pratt from Arizona. Kara Flowers took the overall over her from class A. Nikki Warner made her come back and looked real well, she should be doing great at Nationals. Marie Gibbon took class C and is another experience National level competitor. Lisa Miles made a comeback and took her class D over Alicia Marie and Nancy Georges. It seems that the tall class is always the most debated and the one that has the most high level competitors.

Tiffany Underwood

The Fitness portion of the show as far as routines were done in the same small room and might have had a short stage from front to back. Sara Flom took the overall and class A topping a experience Maggie Blanchard. Sara was in excellent shape and should be getting her pro card soon. Class A had some great competitors but most of them didn't have as much size except for Rachelle Cannon and a few others. Class B had some National level competitors but no one was able to defeat Sara Flom in the overall. Betsy McNally is noted as a rising star if she keeps on working hard. Lilla Krafton with a sharp physique should be doing well if she gets her routine perfect. Shanay Montez has been to Nationals and performs a vivid routine and probably had one of the best.

Nikki Warner

As far as bodybuilding even before the show started finger pointed to Dianne Brown and she took her lightweight class and also the overall. Ann Caliri who is one of the most feminine FBBs took second . Shar Courtney took the middleweight and is probably going to compete at USA's. The Heavyweights were taken by Leigh Ann Bowen and topped Jody May who at some point had taken second on that same class at Atlanta 2005 Nationals. This show or National in Miami 2006 wasn't good for Jody May as rather to push her forward is pushing her back and judges are seeing that she isn't getting better.

Some amateurs elected not to compete as this show is a suicide mission if you are top level competitors you are expected to win if you don't it might just push your momentum down. Sara Flom took that risk and won it but like mentioned Jody May did the opposite to her momentum.

Back to Issues