Arnold Classic in Birmingham, UK dominated by Andrew Chinedu | Report
Author: On the weekend of 24th and 25th September, another of the planned bodybuilding festivals took place - this time it was the Arnold Classic in Birmingham, UK and despite the controversies, it was a very successful competition, which offered several balanced fights in nine different categories. The winner of the most prestigious open category was Andrew Chinedu, while the under 212lb category was won by Nasser Sayed.
Initial controversy and uncertainty
Before the Birmingham festival even started, a huge wave of uncertainty descended on competitors and fans alike. Stephen Michael Olexy, the director and one of the most prominent partners of the Arnold Sports Festival UK, is facing allegations of multiple frauds - including reportedly selling tickets to a seminar with Arnold Schwarzenegger last year, but he had no plans to attend the event. Tickets were sold for the same seminar this year, but on 23 September (just one day before the competition weekend), a statement appeared on the official website that Arnold would unfortunately not be coming to Birmingham this year.
At one point the Facebook page was even renamed from Arnold Sports Festival to Experience With Sports Festival UK, reflecting the name of the company owned by the aforementioned Olexyn. After a few hours, however, everything went back to the way it was, but a considerable amount of uncertainty managed to reign among the competitors. However, as the IFBB league management reassured on their instagram, all athletes will be paid. On the other hand, the question is who will replace the aforementioned Olexyn in the role of co-organizer of such a big event bearing Arnold's name. It is more than realistic that this may be the last edition of this bodybuilding festival on the territory of the United Kingdom.
The open category promised to be an even show from the start.
In the open category, which is usually the most popular, the starting list consisted of 11 fighters. They included such notable names as Andrew Jacked, rising social media star Marc Hector and local James Hollingshead, who is still waiting for his invitation to the upcoming Mr. Olympia. According to some predictions, Jamie Christian-Johal, who finished fourth in the Italian Yamamoto Cup, could still make his way to the top.
The races were marked by various complications from the beginning, and therefore the starting field of the royal open category was extended by Kuba Cielen, who did not meet the weight limit for the Classic Physique category, and he was also joined by Josh Maley, the winner of the British amateur competition. Lionel Beyeke, on the other hand, dropped out of the original line-up due to visa problems.
But once the competition started, everything went smoothly and the first call-up offered an incredible battle of athletes in top form. Fitzwater, Hector, Hollingshead, Chinedu, Johal and Johnson were the ones who fought their way in, with Chinedu and Johnson standing in the middle and (a little surprisingly to some) the battle for the top spot between them.
First place was eventually awarded to the aforementioned Andrew Chinedu, who brought absolutely incredible volume to the stage, but managed to combine it well with elegance and rightfully earned himself a qualifying ticket to December's Mr. Olympia. Second place was narrowly missed by Patrick Johnson, who made no secret of his ambition to win. Third place went to James Hollingshead, who was not matched by Martin Fitzwater in terms of volume. Fifth, the last spot, was taken by Marc Hector, who has worked hard on both aesthetics and volumes since last time, and it is quite likely that his moment on the podium is yet to come.
Ranking of the first five competitors
1. Andrew Chinedu
2. Patrick Johnson
3. James Hollingshead
4. Martin Fitzwater
5. Marc Hector
The 212 category ended with a surprise winner
Among the athletes who failed to meet the weight limit of the classic physique category were José Maria Mete Bueriberi and Peter Molnar. They therefore decided to move to the 212 division, as their chances in the open would not have been very good. Like the Open category, this category also offered a very interesting spectacle, in which from the beginning many experts attributed the victory to Radoslav Angel. For some it was quite a surprise when the judges called Nasser Sayed and let both athletes present a number of poses. After careful consideration, they decided to give the first place to the aforementioned Nasser, who brought a very good combination of volume and sculpting to the stage.
The second place went to the aforementioned Radoslav Angel, the third place went to Ahmed Wardany and the fourth place went to the Hungarian giant Peter Molnar, despite the change of category, who presented himself in perfect form. The final five was rounded off by veteran David Henry, who as the winner of the Olympia 202 Showdown in 2008 already has an invitation to the prestigious Mr. Olympia competition.
Ranking of the first five competitors in the category up to 212 pounds
1. Nasser Sayed
2. Radoslav Angelov
3. Ahmed Wardany
4. Peter Molnár
5. David Henry
The remaining categories also offered a nice spectacle
There was no shortage of entertainment in the remaining 7 categories either. The already mentioned Classic Physique category offered an interesting clash between Michael Daboul, who defended his title from last year, and the ambitious Christian Zagarella, who had to settle for second place. The Men's Physique category was won by Ali Bilal, while the bikini was dominated by the well-prepared Ashley Kaltwasser. The Czech Republic was represented at the prestigious Arnold Classic by Gabriela Linhartová, who rightfully took a great second place in the Figure category. Although it was a very close fight, the judges gave the first place in the mentioned category to Lola Monte.
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