California State Championships 2024: How did the next race go for Šádek and Kvetona? Results and report

The New York PRO 2024, which are usually one of the highlights of the bodybuilding season, are already irrevocably over. However, many athletes, including the Czech duo Milan Šádek and Josef Květoň, have decided to continue competing. A week later, there is another competition on American soil, but this time we moved from New York to sunny California. And already from the start lists it was clear that there would be something to see at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim, California. Read more about it in this report.

Start list and pre-contest predictions

Although this was a competition that hosted a variety of categories including juniors and masters, the open category obviously had the most prestige. No fewer than 23 athletes were entered and with last year's defending champion Ross Flanigan not taking part this year, it was abundantly clear that the title and the associated qualification for Mr. Olympia would be up for grabs for someone new. And although Czech and Slovak fans would have been pleased if Josef Květoň or Milan Šádek were among the favourites, in reality the competition was really huge and so the various predictions of the experts favoured rather other competitors.

Probably the best chance was the American competitor Tonio Burton, who took the bronze medal from the mentioned New York PRO 2024. However, since none of the athletes who finished ahead of him in New York are participating in this event, he currently has the best chances. Stuart Sutherland, who took fourth place last week, will try to spoil it for him and would definitely like to return the favour. And in theory, the California State Championships could be the event that ends his wait for a professional win. It will also be interesting to see the return of Seung Chul Lee, who hasn't been on the boards since the 2023 California State Championships and since he also has experience from Mr. Olympia, he definitely can't be taken lightly.

Course of open category races

The bodybuilding season is going at a really incredible pace this year and if competitors have the time and desire, they can be at some competitions every week without exaggeration. While some people are happy with this model, some athletes obviously find it challenging to maintain their best possible form for this long. And it was that difference that was somewhat evident at the California State Championships, where the favored Tonio Burton was in truly top-notch form. However, it was clear from the start that his biggest rival would not be Stuart Sutherland, whose form was not so good this time around. Rather, it looked like a very interesting duel between two Central European riders, as the Polish rider Krystian Wolski and the German Emir Omegaric showed great form at the same time.

This time the form was also good for Pepa and the Czech fans who waited for the live broadcast of this stream were definitely treated to a great show. In a really packed competition of great competitors, despite the problems with his pectoral muscle, he made it to the second call-up and at times it even looked like he could get to the fifth place. In the end it came down to seventh place, but in such a packed competition it is still a great result. As he announced on his Instagram, he and his coach have to plan whether it is worth to prepare for more competitions. It is obvious that Pepa would benefit from a few extra kilos of muscle mass, as he visually loses a bit to the other riders due to his height. But he is always well prepared.

On the other hand, there was obvious frustration from Milan Šádek, who is not doing too well this season. In California, he was again waiting for the last callout in the semi-finals and it turned out to be the last 16th place, where he was together with other competitors. Even Milan announced on his Instagram that he has to plan his next steps, but he stressed that he is going to make up for his result at the New York PRO in the upcoming season, adding with a smile that maybe even in California.

The final standings therefore looked as follows:

Results

Because of the new scoring system, Tonio deserved direct qualification for Mr. Olympia, while other competitors were left out after the abolition of the scoring system. However, the more intense competition can be expected at the Olympia in October. And we can't wait to see Derek Lunsford, Hadi Choopan, Nick Walker or just Tonio on the same stage.

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Image source: npcnewsonline.com and Instagram