Wings of Strength Chicago 2021 - the clear winner is the favored Hunter Labrada!

Atlanta was the venue for the tenth edition of the Wings of Strength Chicago professional competition on July 23-25, where representatives of the Open category as well as their lighter colleagues from the 212lb division competing in Jim Manion's IFBB Professional League were given the opportunity to compete.

We take a look at how the fighters fared on the stage of this competition through our coverage.

Open Category:

Looking at the starting list that was gradually taking shape long before the competition, Hunter Labrada was considered the clear favorite. He had only two professional starts to his credit up to that point, but his very first one, which took place at the Tampa Pro 2020, was a winning one, and the second one was at the Mr. Olympia 2020, where he took a great 8th place!

However, when the name of the third man of Mr. Olympia 2018, Roelly Winklaar, appeared on the starting list of 15 names shortly before the competition, it seemed that Hunter would not have to go for his second professional victory at all!

Roelly has always been one of the most massive fighters on the current professional scene, and he was the only one who could compete with the huge Mamdouh Elssbia, the holder of the Mr. Olympia title for 2020!

But Roelly's version for 2021 was completely different than his version in previous years! Not only did he not possess any distinctive form, but his posing was literally disastrous! Add to all this the fact that he was voluminously far from his best seasons, it was clear that he simply could not threaten Hunter on his way to triumph, despite the fact that he possesses the absolute best arms in the history of professional bodybuilding!

Despite the above, Roelly immediately made it to the first semi-final comparison, with Hunter Labrada, Hassan Mostafa, Mohamed Shaaban, Max Charles and Brett Wilkin also posing at the judges' request.

The Labrada-Winklaar duo posed in the middle of the row at the beginning, but later on, Brett Wilkin replaced him and the first big surprise was born!

As expected, the winner was Hunter Labrada, the son of the two-time Mr. Olympia silver medalist Lee Labrada in 1989 and 1990, who watched his son's second professional triumph with the rest of his family on stage.

While Hunter wasn't as sharp as he was in his previous two professional starts, he came in nearly 4 kilograms heavier, weighing in at 116.5 kilograms on the day.

If he can maintain this weight for Mr. Olympia 2021, which he has of course qualified for with this triumph, he can again think of a very interesting result!

The second place, as we have already indicated above, was taken by Brett Wilkin, who became the biggest surprise of this competition! This was his first start among the elite, having earned his professional card in 2018 for winning the Classic Physique category at the NPC Jr. Nationals. Back then, at 175 cm tall, he started at around 88 kilograms.

Here he started off significantly more powerful, more complex, with absolutely perfect symmetry! As it seems, in his person professional bodybuilding has gained a new rising star!

The third place was earned by Max Charles, who was clearly one of the most massive fighters on the stage. However, as we are used to him, he still hasn't found the recipe for final readiness.

Mohamed Shaaban also faced the same problem, this time he was unable to offer the kind of form that earned him a great 2nd place at the Wings of Strength Puerto Rico Pro 2021 in June, taking 4th place in Atlanta.

The aforementioned Roelly Winklaar also made it into the Top 5. However, it was not a success for him, but a big failure, as he was not able to match his conquerors in terms of strength, form, and certainly not in terms of symmetry!

The second surprise of the competition, warming the heart of the domestic bodybuilding fan, was definitely the start of our Slavoj Bednar, who managed to break into the TOP 10!

Slavoj himself said about his performance:

Today I experienced one of the most emotional days when I saw with my own eyes the battle of incredible personalities of contemporary pro bodybuilding and could participate so closely and finish a few places behind such names.
After all, the incredible Roelly himself finished 5th and Hassan Mostafa 6th in a great phase.
I applaud everyone, I salute everyone and thank you for being there!!
I have never seen such a decision in 23 years of continuous competing!!! The judges were really worried and had a terrible job to be able to decide today!!! I thank them too and I am glad I chose the more challenging route...here in the USA!!!

Slavoj remains in the USA as we will see him on the stage of the Wings of Strength Tampa Pro 2021 in 14 days.

Results:

1. Hunter Labrada - qualified for Mr. Olympia 2021
2. Brett Wilkin
3. Max Charles
4. Mohamed Shaaban
5. Roelly Winklaar
6. Hassan Mostafa
7. Zach Merkel
8. Justin Maki

9. Matt Kouba
10. Slavoj Bednar
11. Phillip Clahar
12. Joe Mackey
13. Eslam Elmasry
14. Seth Shaw
15. James Culberson

1. Hunter Labrada

2. Brett Wilkin

3. Max Charles

4. Mohamed Shaaban

5. Roelly Winklaar

10. Slavoj Bednar

Other competitors

More photos can be found HERE, on npcnewsonline.com.

Categories up to 212 lbs:

Also in the lighter weight class were fifteen fighters, with last year's winner Keone Pearson, Ahmed Wardany, and the always well-prepared John Jewett considered the most likely candidates to win.

In the end, Keone Pearson, who has a great physique, took the win, as he did last year. However, this year he did not win by as much as he did last year, racing here in much worse shape, and with very poor abdominal muscle control! Although he was able to offer excellent vacuum in many poses, his abs were unnaturally spaced out in uncontrollable moments.

Second place went to Ahmed Wardany, competing in the form of his life. His form far outstripped the winning Pearson, but his physique put him behind, which was what robbed him of the win!

Third place was taken by Kerrith Bajjo. He has managed to work his thighs to a great extent, which are now his unmissable asset!

Fourth place was again taken by a well prepared John Jewett. He still holds the first place in the qualification ranking for the 212 Olympia 2021.

Oswaldo Gonzalez was able to break into the Top 5 and this is the best result for him.

Results:

1. Keone Pearson - qualified for 212 Olympia 2021
2. Ahmed Wardany
3. Kerrith Bajjo
4. John Jewett
5. Oswaldo Gonzalez
6. Jason Hebert
7. Esteban Fuquene
8. Martin Gomez

9. Jason Lowe
10. Raúl Sánchez
11. Kevin Johnson
12. Jermaine Todd
13. Daryl Young
14. Sealy Cruz
15. Kevin Simpson

1. Keone Pearson

2. Ahmed Wardany

3. Kerrith Bajjo

Other competitors

More photos can be found HERE, on npcnewsonline.com.

Source:
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