How Russian athletes performed at the Arnold Classic Europe: pro-defeats and women's triumphs

general characteristics

The competition enjoys significant prestige among bodybuilders and is compared to the Mr. Olympia championship. It attracts significant attention due to the size of the prizes; in particular, the first prize is $100 thousand, a Hummer car and a Rolex watch.

The championship includes three nominations for women: Ms International

,
Fitness International
,
Figure International
. Also, many other sports are represented at the competition - gymnastics, wrestling, martial arts, powerlifting, etc. During the competition, the Arnold Expo [1] sales exhibition is held, which presents a variety of products related to bodybuilding.

Winners

Russia at the Arnold Classic

The Russian athlete Mikhail Koklyaev successfully competes in extreme strength competitions (English: The Arnold Strongman Classic), in 2006 (3rd place), in 2007 (5th place), 2008 (3rd place), 2009 (2nd place). 1st place), 2010 (4th place), 2011 (5th place), 2012 (6th place), 2013 (3rd place).

Dmitry Yashankin won the “Arnold Classic” in the “classical bodybuilding” discipline in 2012.[2]

In the Arnold Amateur World Strongman Championships 2013 tournament, Mikhail Shivlyakov from Omsk took first place[3]

In 2013, Krasnoyarsk resident Evgeniy Nechaev became the first absolute champion in the history of Russian powerlifting in the light weight category in the bench press among professionals, the Arnold Bench Bach tournament[4]. In the same year, two Russians from Tyumen - Yulia Ushakova and Elina Gook - became winners in the category “Figure” (body fitness) in the categories over 170 cm and up to 159 cm, respectively[5].

In 2014, Krasnoyarsk resident Evgeny Nechaev became a two-time absolute champion in the light weight category in the bench press among professionals, the Arnold Bench Bash tournament with a result of 338 kg (745 lbs) with a body weight of 90 kg.[6]

In 2015, Mikhail Yusev from Perm became the bronze medalist of the Arnold Classic in the bodybuilding discipline in the absolute masters category.

In 2015, Krasnoyarsk resident Evgeny Nechaev became a three-time absolute champion in the light weight category in the bench press among professionals, the Arnold Bench Bash tournament with a result of 336 kg (740 lbs) with a body weight of 90 kg. https://www.xpcpowerlifting.com /events/meet-results/2015-xpc-events/

Seliverstov Dmitry in 2016 became the winner of the Arnold Classic USA in the Men's Physique category[7]

In 2022, Novosibirsk athlete Olga Lutsenko became the winner in the body fitness category up to 158 cm.

In 2022 and 2022, Saratov resident Evgeniy Gavrilenko became the bronze medalist of the Arnold Classic Strongman in the category up to 105 kg.[8]

Arkady Velichko: absolute triumph of an amateur

Photo published by Arkady Velichko (@arkadyvelichko) Sep 27, 2015 at 12:58 PDT

But Russian athletes made an excellent debut among amateurs. Arkady Velichko became the absolute champion of the Arnold Amateur Europe 2015 tournament! On the first day of comparisons, Petar was first in points, but since amateurs do not add up scores for the final and semi-finals, the decisive day was the second. This gave Arkady the opportunity to receive an IFBB professional card. Probably, few people pay attention to the fact that for Arkady this is the first international tournament in which he takes part.

Arnold classic Europe

«Arnold classic Europe

"is held annually in Madrid. The first time it took place on October 8-9, 2011, the second sports festival was held on October 12-14, 2012 under the auspices of the IFBB[en].

In 2011, Andrey Sorokin took first place in the up to 100 kg category at the amateur “Arnold Classic Europe”, second place in the absolute category[9].

In 2013, Denis Gusev took first place in the category from 178 cm[10].

In 2014, Russian Vitaly Fateev became first in the over 100 kg category and also won the overall championship and became an IFBB professional.

In 2015, Arkady Velichko took first place at the amateur “Arnold Classic Europe” in the categories over 100 kg and the absolute category, receiving a professional card.

In 2022, Evgeniy Gavrilenko won the tournament in Barcelona among amateurs in the category up to 105 kg.[11]

PRO-athletes: What do the low places of Fedorov and Lesukov mean?

Of course, most people's attention was focused on the men's PRO tournament. The entire elite of male bodybuilding gathered there, smoothly migrating to Europe from the USA after Mr. Olympia. However, Russian fans were primarily waiting for the results of their athletes' performances. The country was represented by the “Russian Schwarzenegger”, Alexander Fedorov, who returned to the stage after a long break. Absolute European champion, winner of the Russian Grand Prix and the first participant in the Mr. Olympia competition from Russia. In 2006, he suffered a very serious chest injury and had to quit the sport. Of course, he did not stop training, and announced his intention not only to return to world bodybuilding, but also to enter the top 10. And here is his performance at Arnold. The judges took quite a lot of points off him. Many viewers noted his strange posing with many sudden movements, as well as the not very good symmetry of the muscles - the abs, legs when viewed from the front. I didn’t make it into the top six and ended up only 12th.

With Alexey Lesukov the situation was different. He has always been called “the hope of Russian bodybuilding” because of his initially good genetics. Yes, among juniors he had many victories and merits. He is the absolute European champion among juniors (2007), Arnold Classic champion 2011 and 2012 (heavyweight, amateur). However, with the transition from amateur to professional - in 2013 - he becomes only 16th in Europe. Now the result is a little better - but this despite the fact that, for example, Phil Heath, Kai Greene and some other athletes were not among the participants in the tournament.

Arnold Classic Europe 2015 results:

1. Dexter Jackson 2. Shawn Rhoden 3. Dennis Wolf 4. Mamdou Elssbyai aka Big Ramy 5. Roelly Winklaar 6. William Bonac 7. Victor Martinez 8. Juan Morel 9. Brandon Currie 10. Steve Kuklo 11. Fred Smalls 12 Alexander Fedorov 13. Michael Kefalianos 14. Alexey Lesukov 15. Zach Khan 16. Carlos Ascencio

Actually, a similar situation was observed at the Mr. Olympia tournament, which recently ended in the USA. Except that the winner, Phil Heath, was not in Madrid. Otherwise, the order remained the same.

The victory went to Dexter Jackson. The victory at the 2015 Arnold Classic Europe tournament was the 23rd in Dexter Jackson's career. Thus, Dexter is second only to Ronnie Coleman in the number of victories in professional tournaments, who has 26 victories. This athlete is capable of surprising: he won three Arnold tournaments this year - in the USA, Australia, and Europe. Only in Brazil did Big Ramy prevail - this is the nickname of the Egyptian athlete named Ramy Mamdou Elssbia.

Notes

1. Archived copy (unspecified)
   (inaccessible link). Access date: January 14, 2008. Archived January 18, 2008.
2. Results Arnold Classic 2012 “Classic Bodybuilding” Archived October 6, 2014.
3. Mikhail Shivlyakov - winner of the Arnold Classic - 2013
4. XPC-Powerlifting official website
5. Two Tyumen residents became winners of the Arnold Classic body fitness competition (unspecified)
   . tyumentimes.ru (03/04/2013). Access date: November 28, 2014.
6. 2014 XPC Bench Freak Results | XPC Powerlifting
7. Results 2016 – Arnold Amateur (English). arnoldamateur.com. Date accessed: March 5, 2022.
8. Amateur Strongman: Arnold Sports Festival USA
9. Andrey Sorokin is the champion of Arnold Classic Europe 2011, iron-club.ru. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015.
10. Arnold Classic Europe 2013: Final results (unspecified)
    (inaccessible link).
    Participant No. 485, 1st place in the category “Men’s Physique Over 178 cm”
    (October 10-13, 2013). Archived from the original on January 27, 2016.
11. Arnold Schwarzenegger supported and congratulated the Saratov strongman at the international tournament

↑ Results of the Arnold Classic 2012 “Classic bodybuilding” link does not work ↑ Mikhail Shivlyakov - winner of the Arnold Classic - 2013 link does not work

Nick Walker wins the 2022 Arnold Classic Bodybuilding Show and becomes the 19th winner

Author: ironman.ru

26.09.2021

Nick Walker is officially the nineteenth Arnold Classic champion in the festival's 32-year history. On Saturday, September 25, 2022, bodybuilding history was written in Columbus, Ohio. The Men's Open bodybuilder won the prestigious Arnold Classic 2022 title, facing runner-up Ian Wallier in the final comparisons.

The winner won $130,000 and the final qualifier for the year's biggest show, Mr. Olympia 2022, which will take place October 7-10 in Orlando, Florida.

Walker and Oliva Jr. (son of famed bodybuilder Sergio Oliva) won additional awards (and an additional $10,000). Oliva Jr. won the award for best posing (for the second year in a row), and Walker received the Franco Colombo award for most muscular figure.

Initially, 14 athletes were planned to participate in this festival, but four refused to participate before the start of the competition. Cedric McMillan was the first to go out with injury. Lionel Beike has faced travel restrictions from his native France. Rulli Winklaar then had to withdraw due to an undisclosed medical problem. Finally, defending champion and perennial Olympia contender William Bonac was unable to leave Abu Dhabi due to quarantine restrictions.

Walker has made significant improvements to his upper back since the 2022 New York Pro, which he won in May. His physical condition was the best he had ever been. As a result, he received the "Most Muscular" award and the title of Arnold Classic champion. Now he moves on to preparing for the 2021 Olympia to prove that he is worthy of entering the TOP 5 there.

Second place - Ian Vallier

Vallyr was heading into this festival hoping to establish his own three-game winning streak. But after the Tampa Pro and Texas Pro, their winner had to settle for only second place in Columbus. The Canadian was probably in the best shape of his life. However, Walker looked a little better in terms of fullness and clarity. However, finishing second at the Arnold Classic for the brother-in-law of two-time Classic Physique Olympia winner Chris Bumstead is no small feat.

Third place - Steve Kuklo

Steve would need this victory to qualify for Olympia. His upper body was incredible from every angle. However, at 285 pounds, he didn't look as good as Walker in the early rounds. This lack of separation was obvious from the judges, and Kuklo was unable to fight back in the final. The judges kept him firmly in third place this year. He will only be looking for opportunities for 2022. According to musclememory.com, Kuklo has eight career wins.

Other categories.

After the Arnold Classic was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Arnold Sports Festival (ASF) announced that the bodybuilding-only event, with a limited number of divisions, will return on September 25th. Here, all three of Saturday's champions became the first athletes to automatically qualify for the 2022 Olympia.