2012 Arnold Sports Festival

March 3, 2012

Columbus, OH, USA - Arnold's statue went up on Saturday of the Arnold Sports Festival in one of his signature poses and it immediately become a photo opp for fans from around the world.  This year there were more than 200,000 drawn to Columbus, OH, not because of Super Tuesday and the pending American Presidential election with Republican Mitt Romney was in town, but for Schwarzennegger, one of the most recognizable persons in the world, according to Dr. Bob Goldman, who inducted Arnold into the International Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday.  That was one of the potentially under-the-radar events going on as once again the event has grown and included many new sports.  Last year Crossfit made it's debut and it was again a popular event, with a kids event included this time around.  We checked it out and shot with some of the crossfit athletes and plan to do more coverage in the near future.  What might have been one of the letdowns of the week/end, was the fact that womens bodybuilding, does, indeed, seem to be in decline.  While at the pro level, there are some amazing athletes, the depth of the quality competitors in the amateur competition was markedly down this year.  Whatever the reason (a super tough field last year, perhaps?) it was notable, and hopefully next year, more athletes will compete, since it didn't look like the field was as competitive as it could have been as an international show. 

In the Ms. International, with Iris Kyle out, Yaxeni Oriquen would be the default favorite going in and it was Oriquen who took the title, but a razor sharp Debi Laszewski was the fan favorite.  Tighter overall and looking crisp throughout, if Laszewski would have won, it would have been well deserved, but the judging panel seemed to favor Oriquen.  Rising star Alina Popa took third and made the final Olympia qualification.  While she said she wanted to win the show, she was extremely happy to be qualified for the O, so she can put all her focus on that show.  

For more detailed reporting on the women's pro lineup (we were backstage for a lot of the prejudging so don't feel as comfortable making judgements without having seen everyone from the press pit), check out Steve Wennestrom's coverage in RX Muscle. 

In the amateurs it was another Russian, this time, Olga Puzanova, who took the overall championship.  She was balanced and conditioned and edged out the lightweight winner, Lo Kit Ming, who had the best pecs of either class.  Wanda Keeler took second and was one of the thickest competitors in the amateur show and was followed by Christine Zadel, who made the show all the way from Australia. Behind Puzanova in the heavies was Federica Gastaldi, another international athlete, hailing from Italy, and Brazilian Gianni Almeida took third.  Former pro Maria Penteado took fourth but you could have argued that she could have placed higher.    One of the disappointments was that Kashma Maharaj couldn't compete after making the trip to the show and dieting for it.  Fortunately we were able to shoot with her and she looked amazing.

The rest of the weekend consisted mostly of folks exploring the expo, which this year, seemed even more overcrowded than usual.  If they don't open up the aisles more or expand the booths area, it seems like it's really reached capacity.  

Back to the International Sports Hall of Fame inductions, while Arnold was one of the inductees, readers here would be happy to know that Cory Everson was another.  She looks great still and has a great attitude and was gracious in receiving her award. [Click here to listen to the full audio of Arnold speaking.] We suspect that Lenda Murray (who was also in attendance) will receive the award next year.  The other inductees included Arnold's partner in putting on the Arnold Sports Festival, Bob Lorimer, former UFC Champion Randy Couture, former strongman and Olympian and now WWE personality Mark Henry. Posthumously, Jack Lalane was also inducted too, represented by his exuberant wife "Lala."  We hope that next year the international contingent (and Americans too) in the amateur womens bodybuilding represent better.  We know there are still terrific physiques out there!

Results

Ms International 1) Yaxeni Oriquen 2) Debi Laszewski 3) Alina Popa 4) Cathy LeFrancois 5) Kim Buck 6) Brigita Brezovac 7) Alevtina Goroshinskaya 8) Maria Rita Bello 9) Kim Perez 10) Monique Jones 11) Zoe Linsey 12) Maria Segura 13) Tina Chandler 14) Geraldine Morgan Fitness International 1) Adela Garcia 2) Camala Rodriguez 3) Oksana Grishina 4) Bethany Cisternino 5) Tanji Johnson 6) Myriam Capes 7) Kizzy Vaines 8) Tina Durkin 9) Danielle Ruban 10) Jodi Boam 11) Julie Palmer 12) Regiane Da Silva 13) Kayde Puckett 14) Allison Ethier 15) Sheri Vucick Figure International 1) Nicole Wilkins 2) Erin Stern 3) Candice Keene 4) Ava Cowan 5) Heather Dees 6) Teresa Anthony 7) Larissa Reis 8) Cheryl Brown 9) Gennifer Strobo 10) Krissy Chin 11) Jelena Abbou 12) Latisha Wilder 13) Sue Knott 14) Raquel Hernandez 15) Gloria Tarpley 2011 BIKINI INTERNATIONAL 1) Sonia Gonzales 2) India Paulino 3) Nicole Nagrani 4) Jamie Beard 5) Nathalia Melo 6) Julia Daniell 7) Diana Graham 8) Jessica Paxson 9) Candyce Graham 10) Monique Ricardo 11) Natalie Pennington 12 tie) Jennifer Andrews 12 tie) Lexi Kaufmann 14) Christina Vargas 15) Tianna Ta 16) Abigail Burrows

ARNOLD AMATEUR Womens Bodybuilding Overall: Olga Puzanova Lightweight 1) Lo Kit Ming 2) Wanda Keeler 3) Christine Zadel Heavyweight 1) Olga Puzanova 2) Federica Gastaldi  3) Gianni Almeida 4) Maria Rita Penteado 5) Maureen Donlevy Clary 6) Melanie Landry 7) Lucy Cerantola 8) Pamela Hannam 9) Luele Driescher 10) Rita Sargo DNP) Mona Johansson DNP) Caroline Byrd Fitness Overall:  Short Class 1) Melinda Szabo 2) Amy Nichols 3) Shannon Goering 4) Janaina Matos 5) Mary Stockbridge 6) Maria Cervelli 7) Samantha Kinnish 8) Toni Wheeler 9) Charmaine Davis 10) Gloria Mohninger Tall Class 1) Marta Aguiar 2) Fiona Harris 3) Olga Guryeva 4) Rebecca Clem 5) Shannon Gill FIGURE MASTERS Overall:  Short 1) Lynn Nichols 2) Marli Silva 3) Tracy Grogg 4) Angie Morales 5) Nicole Wilkenfeld 6) Shyrlena Bogard 7) Laura Cameiro 8) Jodie Luther-Kofod 9) Jennifer Berkowitz 10) Sabrina Sonner Medium 1) Tiffany Karnig 2) Brenda Lauver 3) LeNora Angles 4) Yvonne Melendrez 5) Vivian Smerilli 6) Vicki Mullins 7) Julie Keirse 8) Michelle Price 9) June Robbins Tall 1) Nina Richter 2) Emi Perez 3) Yolanda Slaughter 4) Valerie Richman 5) Sheila Salinas 6) Sherri Stokes 7) Keneese McNamer 8) Jenny Parr 9) Traci Helgerson 10) Terri Goins FIGURE Overall:  Class A 1) Jacqueline Thomas 2) Nelu Millican 3) Amber Miles 4) Kerlande Marcial 5) Mary Carriedo 6) Chie Terui 7) Patricia Perez 8) Alicia Leija 9) Anne-Marie Swisher 10) Brittney Koman Class B 1) Iara Vieira 2) Kelly Booth Hater 3) Kris Smith 4) Katie Noval 5) Sandra Zapata 6) Heidi McFrederick 7) Sarah Vanderstow 8) Helena Chansky 9) Yadira Dominguez 10) Jill Mock Class C 1) Olga Gallardo 2) Zory Garasimchuk 3) Bruna Costa-Miyagui 4) Jyl Stoltenberg 5) Tia Borbely 6) Sussety Gonzalez 7) Vanessa Silva 8) Kambi Pope 9) Christina Rivera 10) Laura Keddie Class D 1) Stephanie Matthews 2) Danielle Ferreira 3) Susann Cardot 4) Teagan Posey-Benson 5) Jessie Hilgenberg 6) Idianette Ortiz 7) Rosa Valente 8) Michelle Balcombe 9) Marie Carroll 10) Renata Guaraciaba Class E 1) Alessandra Pinheiro 2) Allison Moyer 3) Meni Moskowski 4) Samantha Dunbar 5) Caroline Zawadski 6) Jennifer Delgado 7) Alessandra Oliveira 8) Erna Bjornsdottir 9) Carol Whitenack Class F 1) Tia Trent 2) Viavra Centeno 3) Kelsey Boe 4) Tina Anderson 5) Dawn Bailey 6) Monica Richard BIKINI Class A 1) Francine Slobodnik 2) Elspeth Dana 3) Jessica Fletcher 4) Samantha Maycock 5) Kerin Mertini 6) Akia Jenkins 7) Tara Maher 8) Margaret Karsdottir 9) Monica Long 10) Pam Leather Class B 1) Gemmalyn Crosby 2) Lauren Russell 3) Danesa Robles 4) Melanie Velasquez 5) Rachel Greba 6) Lynn Sambuco 7) Charlotte Manley 8) Caroline Mahar 9) Jill Reynolds 10) Maria Parraga Class C 1) Catherine Textoris 2) Oksana Pavlova 3) Martine Gauthier 4) Midori Rutledge 5) Kristrun Sveinbjornsdottir 6) Alina Sewell 7) Sarah Ingmanson 8) Anjali Antani 9) Corrine Wakeman Class D 1) Ashley Kaltwasser 2) Marcia Goncales 3) Carrie Hensman 4) Magret Gnarr 5) Holly Barker 6) Nicole Genarella 7) Jeana Mullins 8) Cara Dukes 9) Cassandra McMichael 10) Mariana Gonzalez Class E 1) Nikola Weiterova 2) Olga Svyrydova 3) Magnea Gunnarsdottir 4) Rita Catolino 5) Laura Markle 6) Jana Majernikova 7) Kylie Conroy 8) Sigridur Omarsdottir 9) Jennifer Cullen 10) Christina Barrett Bikini Class A 1) Francine Slobodnik 2) Elspeth Dana 3) Jessica Fletcher 4) Samantha Maycock 5) Kerin Mertini 6) Akia Jenkins 7) Tara Maher 8) Margaret Karsdottir 9) Monica Long 10) Pam Leather Class B 1) Gemmalyn Crosby 2) Lauren Russell 3) Danesa Robles 4) Melanie Velasquez 5) Rachel Greba 6) Lynn Sambuco 7) Charlotte Manley 8) Caroline Mahar 9) Jill Reynolds 10) Maria Parraga Class C 1) Catherine Textoris 2) Oksana Pavlova 3) Martine Gauthier 4) Midori Rutledge 5) Kristrun Sveinbjornsdottir 6) Alina Sewell 7) Sarah Ingmanson 8) Anjali Antani 9) Corrine Wakeman Class D 1) Ashley Kaltwasser 2) Marcia Goncales 3) Carrie Hensman 4) Magret Gnarr 5) Holly Barker 6) Nicole Genarella 7) Jeana Mullins 8) Cara Dukes 9) Cassandra McMichael 10) Mariana Gonzalez Class E 1) Nikola Weiterova 2) Olga Svyrydova 3) Magnea Gunnarsdottir 4) Rita Catolino 5) Laura Markle 6) Jana Majernikova 7) Kylie Conroy 8) Sigridur Omarsdottir 9) Jennifer Cullen 10) Christina Barrett Class F 1) Dagbjort Gudbrandsdottir 2) Adalheidur Olafsdottir 3) Anna Virmajoki 4) Jessica Pendergrast 5) Nakita Nedd 6) Amy Orzechowski 7) Ann Sofie Berg 8) Nicole Miglis 9) Robyn Stone 10) Olivia Vaughn 1) Dagbjort Gudbrandsdottir 2) Adalheidur Olafsdottir 3) Anna Virmajoki 4) Jessica Pendergrast 5) Nakita Nedd 6) Amy Orzechowski 7) Ann Sofie Berg 8) Nicole Miglis 9) Robyn Stone 10) Olivia Vaughn