2009 Arnold Classic Review by Juan Carlos Lopez
Columbus, Ohio finally allowed better weather around this competition and thermometers landed a surprising 73F at least on Saturday. For the first time you could see many photoshoots outdoors and more people being outside rather than in the snow.
For the figure pro portion Zivile Raudoniene took first and won the whole show. She was on the softer side and with smaller muscle so this gave a clear message that even when bikini is in effect they still want the look in figure which they were going for last year. Gina Aliotti took second with more muscle than Zivile but a bit less than last years win. Amy Fry took 3rd, Amy has streamlined her body and become smaller on her musculature.
Kristal Richardson took 4th, Felicia Romero 5th and Monica Brant 6th. All these ladies are now qualified for the 2009 Olympia. From the other competitors Heather Mae French always is favorite and Juliana Malacarne simply has the best body on earth right up with Monica Brant. Juliana has decreased her muscle but it doesn't seem to be what judges want.
On the fitness end Jenny Hendershott again won this show on her hometown. Being a crowd favorite and always in shape she took the show. Julie Palmer took 2nd and Tracey Greenwood 3rd. On the physiques most of the fitness has more muscle and conditioning and it seems more clear than in figure. Regiane DaSilva took 4th with an excellent routine and Tina Durkin 5th. Shannon
Meteraud sneaked 6th place to qualify for the Olympia. Other physiques that stood out was Mindi O'Brien and Oksana Grishna and both with excellent routines as well. Trish Warren also was looking very sharp and had a very good showing.
For bodybuilding Iris Kyle changed her hair and made her look a bit different perhaps more feminine but still her body speaks for itself and took the show. Debi Laszewski with her great looks was an asset to this show. Debi is simply a very marketable competitor that has
done very well since her pro card a few years ago. Yaxeni took 3rd, Heather Armbrust 4th, Dayana Cadeau 5th and Betty Adkins 6th. From Mexico Mari Carmen Gomez brought a very big muscled package which will do well later in shows, this was her pro debut.
For the Amateur women in Figure Class A was for Nicole Coleman over Lily Esparza from Mexico. Class B was for Jayme Galloway from Canada who took the class and the overall. She presented a small package with less muscle and conditioning.
Rachel Delmotte in 2nd and Christina Reider in 3rd who has a lot of potential. In Class C local Shonda Lewis took the class, Nina Cash in 2nd and Nancy Tremblay in 3rd. Class D was for Vegas Laura Pine, 2nd for Colorado's Heather Grace, and local Teresa Brant in 3rd. This class included Danish Kristina Dybdahl who was the HardFitness pick of the show. Even
though she brought a muscular package and her conditioning was perfect her placing didn't reflect her very complete package. In Class E Lee Ellison took 1st, Dannie Hogan 2nd and Jocelyn Langton in 3rd, Jocelyn has tons of potential on shows and shoots as well. Class F was Lori Mork, 2nd for Kimberly Lairet and Stephanie Billings 3rd.
Fitness was a bit smaller and Class A was for Silvia Tremblay who beat Allison Either. Class B was for Meredith Miller and class C for Autumn Edwards. In class C Tamee Marie ex-figure has now entered the fitness world.
Bodybuilding was very tricky but Johanna Dejager won the lightweight with her great conditioning and balance. She is already eligible to be a pro but she decided to compete at this show. Elena Shportun with a very classy physique took the middleweights and the overall. Rita Bello took heavyweights and her conditioning put to shame some of the male IFBB pros. Shportun won because of her symmetry and balance. But Rita could have also taken the show.
In Bikini many people were curious what kind of look they would go for. Gia Allemand won the short class but for myself Beth Roedersheimer really was the highlight of this class. If she reads this please email me at jc@hardfitness.com In class B Ali Sonoma won
her class and ended up with the overall. Ali is from San Diego and we have done a shoot with her. She surely is what the NPC wants to represent their Bikini Division.
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