Yesterday, Saturday 25th September, Columbus, North America, hosted this year’s Arnold Classic, which is considered the second most prestigious competition in the world of professional bodybuilders competing in the IFBB Jim Manion Professional League, after the Mr. Olympia competition.
What made this year’s event unusual was not its venue, as it has been held here since its inception in 1989, but its date! Until now, we have been used to the fact that the competition, which is backed by bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger, is always held during the months of February or March, thus kicking off the season of the aforementioned federation every year.
However, this year was different. There were two options in play to deal with the restrictions and measures imposed in the USA, and consequently in the states themselves, to combat the Covid-19 Coronavirus pandemic.
One option was to cancel the competition altogether, the other was to postpone the date on the understanding that it would not be as spectacular an event as had been the custom in previous years.
However, Arnold himself did not want to hear about the first option! He didn’t want the competition, which has been held continuously since 1989, to be interrupted in any way! And this despite the fact that this year’s edition of this event will not be as profitable as it used to be, and not as crowded with competitors, or exhibitors and visitors of the otherwise connected EXPO fair, which is one of the biggest events of its kind in the world!
The Arnold Classic will be held in September!
2 minuty čtení
And how did this year’s 33rd edition of this competition turn out? The following lines of our report are about that.
Fourteen representatives of the Open category were invited to participate in this year’s competition. But as you could learn from us, not all of them presented themselves on the stage.
Cedric McMillan is still recovering from his hand injury, the pair of Lionel Beyeke and William Bonac could not deal with the conditions necessary to travel to the USA in time, and Roelly Winklaar decided to focus on the highlight of the season, Mr. Olympia 2021!
10 fighters fought for the triumph, and thus also for the qualification for the Mr. Olympia 2021 competition, while in the absence of the former winners of this event, which were the aforementioned pair Cedric McMillan – the winner of the Arnold Classic 2017 and William Bonac – the winner of the Arnold Classic 2018 and 2020, a completely new, the 19th champion should have emerged!
Right from the start, the semi-final bouts suggested it could be one of the foursome of Steve Kuclo, Luis Rodriguez, Iain Valliere and Nick Walker. In fact, these four fighters were given the opportunity in the first semi-final comparison!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF1m-2kKFyw
Arnold Classic 2021 – 1. semifinálové vyvolávání – Luis Rodriguez, Steve Kuclo, Nick Walker a Iain Valliere
The second semi-final call-up consisted of the rest of the starting field, namely Akim Williams, Sergio Oliva Jr, Max Charles, Hassan Mostafa, Mohamed El Emam and Lee Seung Chul.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaroiIWwvSg
Arnold Classic 2021 – 2. semifinálové vyvolávání – Akim Williams, Hassan Mostafa, Sergio Oliva Jr., Mohamed El Emam, Lee Seung Chul a Max Charles
For the third semi-final comparison, in which the Top 5 was contested, the judges kept the pair of Sergio Oliva Jr. and Akim Williams on the podium, which was completed by the pair from the first call-up consisting of Iain Vallier and Luis Rodriguez.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSJgn4bK0jk
Arnold Classic 2021 – 3. semifinálové vyvolávání – Akim Williams, Luis Rodriguez, Iain Valliere a Sergio Oliva Jr.
The last semi-final call was only for the pair of Nick Walker and Steve Kuclo. It was more than clear that one of them would be the new Arnold Classic champion!
Arnold Classic 2021 – 4. semifinálové vyvolávání – Steve Kuclo vs. Nick Walker
Steve is one of the best built bodybuilders of our time and you would be hard pressed to find the slightest flaw in him! His opponent, however, was Nick, who, although not as excellent in physique, had much more detail, excellent muscle separation, and an incredible “WOW” factor that we have only been used to with Roelly Winklaar!
So after the semi-final battles, Nick was clearly the winner!
But another part of the competition was not only the final comparisons, but also the free routines, which are only scored at the Arnold Classic! Thus, two thirds of the points were still in play, which could have shaken up the final standings!
Arnold Classic 2021 – Nick Walker – finálová volná sestava
However, there were no surprises here, and Nick Walker became the nineteenth champion of the prestigious Arnold Classic! At the age of twenty-seven, he was not only the youngest member of the entire starting field, but on paper also the least experienced! After all, he has only been a professional bodybuilder for a year, having only headed to the elite last year, thanks to his triumph at the 2020 NPC North American Championships. This fact can be considered without exaggeration as a complete sensation!
Nick has dominated this year’s event from the semifinals to the free lineup, despite not being one of the best-built fighters. Many of his opponents who finished behind him are much better with their physique, but this time they had to bow down to his massiveness, quality, fullness and hardness of muscles, and last but not least his professional presentation, as he managed to hold all the poses from start to finish. His mid-body work was also admirable as he showed off his deep abs during all frontal and lateral poses, making his excellent X-shape stand out!
Nick is very much looking forward to this year’s Mr. Olympia competition in just two weeks time, where he is expecting the opportunity to pose alongside last year’s champion, the monstrous Mamdouh Ellsbiay, and even hopes to finish in the Top 5!
Second place was surprisingly won by Iain Valliere, who pushed Steve Kuck to third place during the final part of the competition! Iain may benefit from an excellent physique, but he lost to the winning Walker especially in the area of muscle fullness and hardness.
Steve Kuclo had to settle for third place. During the announcement of the results he did not hide the fact that he was shocked that he did not finish second! Like Iain, although he has, as we have already mentioned, an excellent physique, he was losing to both of his opponents in terms of fullness.
A very pleasant surprise of the competition was Luis Rodriguez, who thanks to his toughness managed to take a very respectable fourth place here!
Akim Williams also managed to break into the Top 5. Although he offered quite admirable volumes, something we are used to with him, unfortunately, he seems to have returned to the days when he lacked the recipe for optimal final readiness, lacking many details.
Quite possibly, in light of the above, a sixth place finish for Sergio Oliva Jr. could be considered an injustice! He certainly wasn’t as massive as his rivals, although he has worked quite significantly on volume since his start last year, but he managed to defend last year’s title for best poser here. So at least the loose line-up should definitely put him ahead of Williams! Why this wasn’t the case in the end, even though, as mentioned, the free line-up is judged here compared to other events, is beyond comprehension!
Results:
1. Nick Walker
2. Iain Valliere
3. Steve Kuclo
4. Luis Rodriguez
5. Akim Williams
6. Sergio Oliva Jr.
7. Mohamed El Emam
8. Max Charles
9. Hassan Mostafa
10. Lee Seung Chul
Arnold Classic 2021 – vyhlášení výsledků
1. Nick Walker
2. Iain Valliere
3. Steve Kuclo
Other competitors
More photos can be found HERE, on npcnewsonline.com.
Source:
www.ifbbpro.com
www.npcnewsonline.com
www.youtube.com
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