Chicago PRO 2023: Surprising win by rookies Shier and Jones. How Blessing Awodibu fared | Overall results and report

Although the bodybuilding season has been literally packed with all kinds of events in recent years, few of them have been able to maintain the prestige of Chicago PRO for a long time. After the competitions held last week in Vancouver, Canada, it was once again a chance for well-prepared athletes to compete across categories. This time, in addition to the open category, the under 212 division also got its chance, with the top finisher in each division earning a ticket to Olympia.

Bodybuilding up to 212 pounds

Bodybuilding up to 212 lbs. Thursday, as the first day of the competition, belonged mainly to the men's masters bodybuilding, but on Friday, among others, the bodybuilders up to 212 lbs. presented themselves, and on Saturday, as the highlight of the whole event, the men's open bodybuilding also came up. Specifically, Friday's competition of competitors up to 212 pounds promised an interesting spectacle from the very beginning, just because none of the competitors was supposed to be significantly better than the others on paper, so almost anyone could surprise. In the end, however, somewhat in line with expectations, the Egyptian Mohamed Khaled Embaby, who unlike the others had also had experience on the boards of the prestigious Olympia, got his chance in the first callout. However, the well-prepared Chris Jones also gradually made his way to the top from the first callout, and as the race progressed it looked like Jason Nguyen could also place well.

Kevin Johnson was also undoubtedly thinking of the podium, but although he was certainly confident of medals himself, he was visibly losing out to the other competitors in terms of lower body volume. The final didn't turn out quite ideal for him either (who ever raced, knows that many hours of delays can mess with the timing of form), so he had to settle for fourth place.

The top five was rounded off by Yumon Eaton, who, although he showed great form in terms of volumes, aesthetically he has a lot of catching up to do, and compared to the other competitors he had problems controlling his abs, giving a really bad impression in transitions and some poses. Third place went to the aforementioned slight favourite Mohamed Embaby, second place went to Canadian competitor Jason Nguyen and first place, including an invitation to this year's Olympia, went to the really well prepared Chris Jones, who did not lack aesthetics, massive volumes or great preparation. The result is all the more surprising as the first two places were taken by newcomers in the pro division.

Bodybuilding men open

Men's open bodybuilding The media attention in these competitions was of course attracted especially by the long-awaited debut of Blessing Awodibu, who did not show up at the promised Arnold Classic and was to make his debut in Chicago. For all the fuss about the athlete, who is called The Boogieman (i.e. "The Scarecrow") overseas, a number of other athletes on the start list were somehow forgotten. After more than three years, Jonathan De La Rosa, who even won the event in 2015, will be on the podium again.

High expectations were also placed on Stanimal, who took second place behind Hasan Mostafa last week, and Justin Shier, a newcomer among the heavyweights but trained by Matt Jansen, who has under his belt the likes of Mr. Olympia under 212lb winner Shaun Clarida and the legendary Nick Walker, was also worth watching, according to early reactions. Last year's defending champion Antoine Vaillant, on the other hand, chose not to defend his position, so it was more than clear that a new champion would be crowned at these prestigious events.

It was already clear after the prejudging that the number of favourites for victory would be reduced to three competitors from the original ten-strong starting field. Surprisingly, however, Blessing Awodibu was missing among them and his debut start definitely did not go as he had hoped. Even more so when among the favoured trio was a complete newcomer, Justin Shier, who has shown absolutely incredible progress since the NPC North America Championship 2021, where he earned his pro card, and his lower body in particular has been truly phenomenal.

His massive quadriceps, which possessed deep separation and yet really aesthetic appeal, left the other competitors far behind him. Second place went to Jon De La Rosa, who was also in great shape, with some commentators even talking about his lifetime form. The bronze medal was then taken by the very well prepared Stanimal and Blessing Awodibu had to settle for fourth place. Patrick Moore rounded off the top five competitors.