Japan PRO 2023: How did the competition in Tokyo with Pavel Beran's participation go? Results and report

Although Olympia is now irrevocably over, some athletes are already looking for more opportunities to qualify for the new edition. One such competition was the Japan Pro held in Tokyo, Japan. And along with twenty-two other athletes, Czech heavyweight Pavel Beran was there. However, there were also a number of competitors with experience from Olympia, and therefore a great show could be expected.

Open category

The open category saw the already announced 23 professionals, with Pavel Beran being the only Czech to make the trip to distant Tokyo, having only recently entered the season. The relatively wide starting field, however, also offered a number of big names, including French competitors Theo Leguerrier, Alfred Chiriac and Roman Fritz. And there is no point in beating around the bush, the best form of all competitors was finally shown by the aforementioned Theo Leguerrier, who showed really very good form and managed to outperform the other competitors, especially with good volume and strong muscle separation. This is what earned him his third professional victory in his career and interestingly enough, he is only the fourth qualified competitor for the 2024 Olympia. Because previous events, including the Prague EVLS, were won by Samson Dauda, the silver medalist at this year's Olympia.

The second place finally belonged to Alfredo Chiriac from Romania, who also showed great form this time and it is certainly disappointing for him that it was unfortunately not enough to take the first place. On the other hand, Liang Yan, for whom it was his debut among the heavyweights, was delighted to win the bronze medal. Only behind him, somewhat surprisingly, was the gigantic Roman Fritz, and Vitor Hugo Boff rounded out the top five. Pavel Beran finished in eighth place, which is certainly not a bad result in a competition of twenty-three riders, and it should be noted that Pavel is looking a bit better from race to race and given his height he has a huge potential once he manages to put on some extra mass.

The final standings were as follows:

1. Theo Leguerrier
2. Alfred Chiriac
3. Liang Yan
4. Roman Fritz
5. Vitor Huggo Boff

Other categories

In addition to the open category, this competition also featured competitions in the men's physique categories, primarily dominated by domestic competitors Jo Uezato, Yoonsung Lee and He Juxian. The bikini fitness category was dominated, as expected, by Ashley Kaltwasser, who won her 38th career victory less than six months ago. Now she has pushed her number of competition wins over 40 and still doesn't look like she wants to stop. The next places were again taken by local racers.