2008 Arnold Classic Weekend
Arnold
Classic - Ms International
Feb. 28 - March 2, 2008
- by gene x hwang
Columbus,
OH , USA - The
20th Arnold Classic was perhaps the biggest one ever with over 150,000
people checking out the expo and crowding the convention center over
the three main days of the competition. With the amateur
competition being opened up to International athletes, the figure
contingent was quite large.
The
fitness category was won by two Canadians - Chantal Dicaire in the tall
class and Allison Ethier who won the short class and overall titles.
There were many solid competitors in the fitness including
Brazilian Loana Muttoni and the rest of the top five in the short class.
Figure
was huge and expanded to six classes to accomodate all the competitors.
The overall went to American Candice Houston who continues to
place well and should be on track to her pro card this year. The short
class was won by Sweden's Linda Fodor-Egelstig who edged out Melissa
Froio. The B Class was Houston's and Pamela Soper won the C class and
is also primed to turn pro soon.
The
D class was won by Kristy McKinny, E was won by Natalie Waples and the
F Class was one by Sandy Helmig. A couple other outstanding
athletes were Jennifer Hoffman who was lean and had great delts, Casey
Jovan whos legs and shoulders were notable and presented a
very balanced overall look. Andrea Swanson may have
had the best glutes of all the competitors and Francisca Dennis'
v-shape was amazing.
The
bodybuilding competition was strong as well with 2007
North American champion Mary Carmen Gomez Segura again
dominating and looking like a pro - we're not sure if she decided not
to turn pro after the North American's or what. She beat out Mary Lynne
Mackenzie who was ripped as usual and looking big.
In
the middleweights, Alicia St. Germaine was competing for the
last time and looked awesome and finished second to Holly Nicholson who
may have presented her most balanced physique to date. Carrie
Simmons also looked the best she has and her routine really sparkled
too.
In
the lightweights, it was the Jo Stewart show as she came on stage
ready, with a well-balanced physique that was crisply conditioned.
She beat out Millie Cleveland to win the class title and
Glenda Bozett was third ahead of Maryann Glasscock and Dee Lazard.
On
the pro side in fitness it was once again Kim Klein and Jen Hendershott
as the 1-2 finishers respectively. Julie Palmer took third followed by
the hot Julie Lohre who's been placing better and better of
late. Tracey Greenwood took fifth and Germany's top fitness
athlete Regiane da Silva rounded out the top six.
On
the figure side it was going to be a new Arnold champ no matter what
and this time it was Gina Aliotti taking the title just ahead of Jen
Gates. Amy Fry placed a strong third ahead of Chastity
Sloan, Sonia Adcock and Paola Americo.
In
bodybuilding there was a bit of controversy as when Iris Kyle was not
among the top six. The buzz going in was that it was between
her and Dayana Cadeau with Yaxeni Oriquen also looking strong.
Those three were locked in a battle for the title, but when
the top six came out sans Kyle, everyone knew something was up.
In
the end, it was Yaxeni's show and she set the record for the most Ms.
International victories of all time. Cadeau ended up second, and Kyle
tied with Betty Viana-Adkins for seventh place. There were rumors that
Kyle was disqualified but looking at the score sheets she just didn't
make the cut for the third round to free pose. Regardless,
people will be interested to see if there's an official word on the
results since something was definitely up
Lisa
Aukland looked strong with a very balanced physique and continues to
improve while Betty Pariso was very well conditioned and took fourth.
Brenda Raganot's balance and shape make her a threat, but she
wasn't quite hard enough to place higher, while Cathy Lefrancois
presented the best physique she ever has with wicked conditioning
throughout.
Two
new pros made their debuts with Tracy Beckham and Kristy Hawkins
gracing the Arnold stage for the first time. While jumping into the big
leagues is tough, it is especially so at the Arnold. Look for
more from the new pros in future competitions and hopefully on the
Olympia stage as well!
The
expo was the highlight of the event for many fans, but as usual it was
so crowded that getting through was sometimes a huge pain. We
didn't cruise the expo as much as we usually do so there will be less
coverage from the floor, but there was not a lack of talent.
Check
out our
message boards to discuss and
follow the weekend live, post your thoughts and chat with the athletes!
Results
|
PRO
Ms.
International Bodybuilding Overall:
Iris Kyle 1) Yaxeni Oriquen* 2) Dayana Cadeau* 3)
Lisa Aukland* 4) Betty Pariso* 5) Brenda Raganot* 6)
Cathy Lefrancois* 7 tie) Iris Kyle 7 tie) Betty
Viana-Adkins 9) Annie Rivieccio 10) Rosemary Jennings 11)
Tazzie Colomb 12) Debbie Laszewski 13) Antoinette
Thompson 14) Kristy Hawkins 15) Colette Nelson 16)
Tracy Beckham
Figure
International 1) Gina Alioiti* 2) Jen Gates* 3)
Amy Fry* 4) Chastity Sloan* 5) Sonia Adcock* 6)
Paola Americo* 7) Latisha Wilder 8 tie) Catherine
Anderson 8 tie) Natalie Benson 10) Kristal Richardson 11)
Nicole Wilkins 12) Juliana Malacarne 13) Briana Tindall 14) Debbie Leung 15)
Bernadette Galvan
Fitness
International 1) Kim Klein* 2) Jen Hendershott* 3)
Julie Palmer* 4) Julie Lohre* 5) Tracey Greenwood* 6)
Regiane da Silva* 7) Stacy Simons 8) Bethany Gainey 9)
Mindi O'Brien 10) Oksana Grishina 11) Tina Durkin 12)
Tanya Merryman * qualifies for 2008 Olympia
| AMATEUR
Bodybuilding
Overall: Mary Carmen Gomez Segura
Lightweight: 1)
Joanne Stewart 2) Millie Cleveland 3) Glenda Bozet 4)
Maryann Glasscock 5) Dee Lazard Middleweight: 1) Holly Nicholson 2) Alicia St. Germaine 3)
Becky West 4) Carrie Simmons 5) Christy Resendes
Heavyweight: 1) Mary Carmen Gomez Segura 2) Mary Lynne
Mackenzie 3) Marcia Ferguson 4) Evy Rusted 5)
Fie Ottosen Figure
Overall:
Candice Houston
A Class 1) Linda Fodor-Egelstig 2) Melissa Froio 3)
Lindsey Bundy 4) Kandi Allen 5) Kelli Ann Correa
B Class 1) Candice Houston 2) Denise Marcus (sp?) 3)
Amber Hill 4) Jean Jitomir 5) Misty Schaffer
C Class 1) Pamela Soper 2) Casey Jovan 3)
Tina Davis 4) Daphne Bascom 5) Leah Berti
D
Class 1)
Kristy McKinny 2) Kenda McAdams 3) Karen Kimura 4)
Dixie Reynolds 5) Celeste Bonin - (please contact us) E Class
1)
Natalie Waples 2) Francisca Dennis <- (please contact us) 3)
Tami Delzenero 4) Gabriela Cioban 5) Jamie Meade
F Class
1)
Sandy Helmig 2) Jennifer Hernandez 3) Valerie
Richman 4) Jennifer Peckham 5) JoHanna DuBose
Fitness
Overall:
Allison Ethier Short 1) Allison Ethier 2) Sylvia Tremblay 3)
Megan Tennant 4) Loana Muttoni 5) Valerie
Brown-Stephens Tall
1)
Chantal Dicaire |
Last updated: March 3, 2008 @ 12:19 p.m. PT