Wesley Vissers continues his ride! He adds a win from the Arnold Classic UK!

Although the Arnold Classic is one of the most prestigious competitions in the bodybuilding world, even this contest is not without organizational problems and if you still remember, last year's British version of the competition named after the legendary bodybuilder was even cancelled completely. This year, however, in Birmingham, UK, after changes in the management, everything could pick up from the previous year. Well, as expected, it attracted a number of big names - and no wonder, because besides the prestige of the whole competition, this time there were also quite fat financial bonuses to be given out. Let's take a look at what Friday brought.

Classic Physique

The highlight of Friday night could undoubtedly be considered the classic physique competition, where the starting field was eventually narrowed down to just 7 fighters. And if you had asked for a favourite a fortnight ago, you would probably have had to conclude that it was the sovereign Urs Kalecinski, one of the main competitors of the sovereign Cbum, who seems to be about to hang up his competition swimsuit. Since then, however, there has already been an Arnold Classic in Ohio, USA, and if you have read our separate report, Wesley Vissers won there absolutely sovereignly and so had to be reckoned with this time. Then Breon Ansley was definitely going to enter the battle for the medals as predicted.

And in fact this was the spirit of the whole competition. It could be said that both Wesley and Urs brought perhaps even slightly better form than at the previous American Arnold. In the first callout, the three aforementioned competitors were joined by the famous Michael Daboul, who also kept a very strict and successful posing.

It is not surprising that in the middle of the four-man callout all four fighters gradually spun and it must be said that from the spectator's point of view the competition was definitely much more attractive than the previous Arnold and the results were also much closer. The first place was again defended by Wesley Vissers, but it turned out that even he had nothing for sure, because the other fighters from the first invitational had a much more balanced physique and due to their narrow waist they looked visually perhaps a little better. Wesley, however, looked confident and came well prepared, which combined with his massive muscles was enough to win this time. The final standings looked like this:

Top 5

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Women's Fitness

The fitness category was expected to be the same as the classic physique category, as the clear favourite of the competition was the fresh winner of the American Arnold Ariel Khadr. She is famous for her elaborate routines and the great shape she usually comes to competitions in. And this time it was no different, but unfortunately for her the same could be said about her main competitor - Jaclyn Baker showed her lifetime form and the silver medallist from Ohio took gold this time. The final standings were as follows:

Top 5

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Women's Wellness

In the wellness category, the duel between the currently dominant Leonida Cioba and Juliana Mota, who last participated in Wellness Olympia 2022 and therefore had a great motivation to return to the podium of the most famous bodybuilding competition in the world, was expected. Although both athletes showed great form, only one could win. The final standings were therefore as follows:

Top 5

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