B. Curry, V. Martinez, A. Williams, J. Lenartowicz, L. Sandoe and R. Brandao before the 2019 Arnold Classic.

Author: František Randáček

25.02.2019

4 minuty čtení

This coming weekend, the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus will host this year's Arnold Classic, a competition organized under the banner of Jim Manion's IFBB Professional League.

Below we can take a look at a few representatives of the Open category who will battle it out for the best possible placing in front of the strict eyes of the attributes.

Brandon Curry

Brandon has competed in this prestigious event twice before, in 2012 and 2015. In 2012 he finished seventh, which was not a bad result at all. In 2015, however, he didn't do well at all, having to settle for a tied 16th place.
However, he has two first place finishes in other competitions bearing the legendary Arnold's name, namely the 2013 Arnold Classic Brasil and the 2017 Arnold Classic Australia.
So he would definitely like to dominate this event as well!

And it may not be an unattainable goal. After all, as Brandon proved at last year's Mr. Olympia, where he came in a great fifth place, he can really do form!

Brandon Curry - chest and biceps training 1.5 weeks before the 2019 Arnold Classic:

Victor Martinez and Akim Williams

Victor Martinez is one of those fighters who can already boast a triumph from this second most prestigious event in the world. He was able to dominate it in 2007!
He was at the peak of his career then. Since then, unfortunately, he has not been able to repeat the same result.

And he is not expected to do so now that his opponents will include much bigger fighters, be it Roelly Winklaar, the aforementioned Brandon Curry, or Akim Williams, who was his sparring partner just three weeks before the event.

Victor Martinez and Akim Williams - shoulder training together 3 weeks before the 2019 Arnold Classic:

Joshua Lenartowicz

The Aussie has been reeling from the tragic death of his friend Dallas McCarver for a long time, and has long considered whether he will continue to pursue bodybuilding. In the end, bodybuilding, a sport that the two friends had a strong connection to, won out, and Joshua decided to continue.

However, he was aware that in order to be among the best, and to have any hope of winning, he needed to pack on more pounds of muscle to his frame, and work on his equally important final fitness.

The former he did without fail, as his weight during the bulking phase of his training stopped at a monstrous 145 kilograms, and even now he is hovering around 125 kilograms! We will be able to judge the latter in just a few days. However, we can definitely say that Joshua is an aspirant to be in the top 5.

Joshua Lenartowicz - arm training 2,5 weeks before Arnold Classic 2019:

Luke Sandoe

According to many, the British Luke Sandoe could also break into the Top 5. He already competed here in 2017, when he managed to fight for a respectable eighth place.

Luke Sandoe - form 10 days before Arnold Classic 2019:

Rafael Brandao

Also 25-year-old Brazilian Rafael Brandao is one of the aspirants for a very good result, at least according to the words of former top professional Milos Sarcev. The latter said that Rafael can win if the judges focus on all aspects of bodybuilding.