Arnold Classic Brazil 2024: Star Rafael Brandao shines in front of his home crowd!

This weekend was marked by the last race of the Arnold Classic series, with the prestigious trilogy concluding in Brazil's largest metropolis, Sao Paulo. A number of great competitors from a total of 4 categories finally gathered there, and besides qualifying for Olympia, there were also some very nice prize money. Let's take a look at how the races went and who won in the end in each category.

Bodybuilding Open

The biggest attraction of the whole competition was of course the men's bodybuilding open, but there were some major changes in the start list. In the end, neither Jon Delarosa nor Carlos Thomas, who were not among the absolute favourites to win, but were definitely a force to be reckoned with. In the end, the judges invited the five best bodybuilders to the first call-up, where as expected the American professional Tonio Burton, the local Rafael Brandao, Alan Bonadiman and William Martins appeared. However, the group of favourites was somewhat unexpectedly rounded off by Vitaliy Ugolnikov, for whom this was only the first professional competition of his career at the age of twenty-six.

As the races progressed, it was clear that it would be the trio of Brandao, Burton and Ugolnikov who would be in contention for the championship. Of course, for the last of the aforementioned riders, only TOP3 can be considered an achievement, but it is clear that given his huge ambitions, even this native Russian would have imagined qualifying for the Olympics. However, he currently lacked the necessary quality and sometimes even hardness of his muscles to do so, so it was clear that he would not qualify for the prestigious competition in Las Vegas for the time being.

But the fight between Brandao and Burton was very uncertain, because each of the competitors was more suited to different poses and, to be honest, neither of them was in 100% form as many expected. However, when it came to the announcement of the results, the judges favored the home favorite and Rafael Brandao was able to score another victory in the professional league.

The full results were as follows:

• Rafael Brandao
• Tonio Burton
• Vitaliy Ugolnikov
• William Martins
• Carlos Oliveira

Other categories

In addition, the Arnold Classic also featured competition in the wellness categories, where Rayane Fogal confirmed her role as the favourite, with her third career professional victory. There were no major surprises in the classic physique category either, as the favoured Fabio Junio completely dominated the starting field and showed great form. Kevin Secundino triumphed in the wheelchair bodybuilding category.