ARNOLD (CLASSIC) WEEKEND 2001

BY ROSEMARY WEDDERBURN_VERNON

All photos courtesy of Martin Pope of Hilliard, Ohio

This year's event was better organized than last, due in part to the fact that it was the second time that the Product Show, martial arts and other events were held at the Columbus Convention Center and the bodybuilding shows were held at the Veteran's Memorial Building. A sort of "practice makes perfect" type situation insured better transportation schedules. The Vet's Hall has also been completely refurbished which made for a much better forum.

The Product Show opened on Friday, March 1st to a larger-than-normal crowd for the first day. There were over 600 booths. Many exhibitors were new to the show, such as Biotest/Testosterone Magazine and ErgoPharm. Yet others, who had been in attendance in the past, were missing, like IronMan Magazine and Hearts Of Iron (the bodybuilding jeweler). The Martial Arts portion was not as large with evening events conflicting with both the Friday and Saturday night bodybuilding shows. Gymnastics and Gracie (a form of martial arts) events were added, although they consisted mostly of youngsters' competitions.

Once again, the bench press contest was held at the same time as the men's prejudging. Winners were Rob Fusner (298 pound class) who benched 705 pounds to win the Heavyweight Class, and George Halbert (198 pound class) who won the Lightweight Class with a 683-pound bench that was the highest co-efficient bench of all time! Amy Weisburger, who now competes in the 132-pound class (up from 125), locked out 314 pounds to win the Women's Class.

The women's prejudging for both the Ms. International and Ms. Fitness were held on the Product Show stage on Friday, making both very difficult to see because of extremely limited seating, noise from the crowd and poor lighting for this type of event. New this year was a large screen so at least one didn't have to attempt to watch from behind some guy who wears a 4XL! Even so, this doesn't give the fans a good opportunity to watch these pre-judgings or a good venue for the competitors. The women are still receiving the short end of the stick, which was a hot topic on the Product Show floor.
Both women's finals are held on Friday night, which is not enough time for both. All fitness women were allowed to do their routines, yet only the top six in both light and heavyweight classes of women bodybuilders were allowed to perform their entire routine. The rest had to settle for one minute in the spotlight, which I find appalling considering the time, effort and expense these contestants are required to make.

The final Fitness round is compulsories done wearing skimpy one-piece suits with stiletto heels. At least no one slipped this year! The latest and greatest is a new category called "Figure." This is for women who have great bodies, but no athletic ability. They will simply stand on stage in posing suits and show their wares. Say what!? Am I missing something here? I thought this was the Miss Budweiser T&A event. I'm sure a lot of the guys will enjoy this, and I realize that bodybuilding doesn't have the same athletic competitive twist as OL or PL, but one still has to have athleticism. The Southern California NPC promoter has decided to give Figure a try for the rest of the 2001 season to determine interest. I'll be viewing my first "competition" at the Orange County Muscle Classic on April 21 in Anaheim. I will keep an open mind and let the readers of Muscle Mob know what I think. If my husband's tongue gets stuck to the seat back in front of him, I shall consider the event a success.

Vickie Gates was again the overall winner of the Ms. International. Vickie looked great and presented a softer look with a less muscular lower body. Yaxeni Oriquen placed fourth in the heavyweights; I would have put her second. She has never looked better. Dayana Cadeau placed first in the lightweight category only to lose out to Vickie in the end. Women's lightweight Brenda Raganot looked better, from body shape to hair to posing suit choice. The sexy Denise Masino, Editor of Muscle Elegance (www.muscleelegancemag.com) placed sixth in the light-weights and again, I felt should have been given a higher placing.

Jenny Worth won the Ms. Fitness with last year's winner, Kelly Ryan (now Mrs. Craig Titus) placing second. This was a tough call. There were about six women who were marvelous gymnasts; the rest were marginal. Rather than being softer this year, the fitness contestants were the same to harder, with several of the women having delts that rivaled those of the bodybuilders. Somehow Poppa Joe just can't keep 'em down on the farm or at least not out of the candy barrel.

Ronnie Coleman was the first Mr. Olympia to compete in another show after winning that title, so it was well understood beforehand who would win. Rumor had it that
Muscle Mob

Chris Cormier would be given the nod for second. Probably because Ronnie was in the line-up, only 10 other men initially signed up to compete, but the promoters managed to increase the field to 15. Conspicuously absent from both the show and Product area was Flex Wheeler who has been in ill health for some time.

Ronnie deserved the win, although a lot of people felt it wasn't quite fair to the other guys. But when there's $100,000 and a new Hummer at stake, you can't blame the guy. Ronnie takes competing seriously, was in excellent shape, did a great deal of posing and acted like a gentleman throughout the entire contest.

When presented with the trophy by Arnold, he announced that he is now on reserve status with the Arlington, Texas Police Department after 14 years of active duty. After winning the Mr. O three years in a row, Joe Weider finally stepped forward with a contract. My question is why has this taken so long? Usually a winning Mr. Olympia is given a contract immediately, to provide him with monetary support. But Ronnie kept working as a police officer, and is still not any too trusting, saying at the seminar that the police job is his hedge against the uncertainties of a professional bodybuilding career. Can anyone blame him?

This and other remarks weren't lost on the crowd. There were quite a number of offhand comments made by Arnold on stage, who apparently had a prior confrontation with Ben Weider (according to an unnamed source on Arnold's staff) because no promoter is allowed to offer more prize money to a winner than what the Weiders offer at the Olympia. Arnold's way around this was to give the winner a Hummer (worth about US$70,000). It seems bad blood has ensued. It is doubtful the incident will be enough for Arnold to receive a fine or be kicked out of the IFBB, but signs of a strain were very evident. Negative comments were made as well by contestants (off-stage) and attendees alike, concerning the dominance of the sport by the Weiders. It will be interesting to see if the stranglehold is about to loosen. Of course, the rumors have been rampant since the early 1990's - will things ever change?

To no one's surprise, Chris Cormier placed second; Dennis James was given third; King Kamali, fourth (BIG surprise); Dexter Jackson, fifth; and Craig Titus, sixth. To my mind, Dexter and King should have placed second and third, respectively. Dexter was the epitome of the "X" shape without the big roid gut; the man was simply flawless. King presented the best posing routine of the evening, which took talent and practice. It seems the good posers are not being rewarded for their efforts. Fans seem upset that the new guys have to "pay their dues" just like Chris did for several years running. Melvin Anthony, J.D. Dawdou and Darrem Charles were completely overlooked, but the field was tight. Everyone was on.

Even with all the gossip and rumors, the show was extremely entertaining. Like the IronMan before it, the stage settings were spectacular (for all evening events), but not overwhelming. It seems that a run through the audience by the final six male competitors after the pose-down is going to be the rule. A credit to bodybuilding that seems to be lacking in other sports, is that these men, dressed only in posing trunks can run through a standing room only crowd and no one does more than takes pictures or cheers. Lonnie Teper, who once again served as MC, had a time getting Ronnie out of the audience and back up on the stage. Ronnie was also awarded the trophy for "Most Muscular" and another US$10,000. Although it would have been nice to spread the accolades around, no one could argue the decision.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented this year to Reg Park. Arnold said that Reg was his original bodybuilding idol. The man was in terrific shape, his broad shoulders straining at his suit jacket. Reg was also as modest as ever, apologizing to the audience for having to sit through Arnold's glowing assessment of his achievements. Reg ended his very short thank you speech by declaring that "Bodybuilding has always been a no-talk sport!"

As usual, the men's evening show and banquet produced a bevy of lovelies in various stages of undress. The best effort was a woman, who gave off a subtle dominatrix aura, in a long black gown, with cut-outs so that she just barely made it past the decency laws. The dress was slit to the waist on the left side and since the lady wore no underwear, every time she bent forward even the slightest amount (which she did with some regularity), one was well aware that she did not dye the hair on her head. Had the temperature not been below freezing, I would have sworn I was back home in Venice, California (where no one would have even given her a second glance)!

Wowie!! That's a place I'd have like to have been. Anyway up if you need telling who the bods are in these pictures you need to get out more often. SG