FigureRX Contest Preview: 2008 Arnold Fitness International
FigureRX Online Magazine Volume 3
January 18, 2008
Official 2008 Arnold Fitness International Preview
Welcome to the
FigureRX preview for the 2008 Fitness International, to be held in Columbus during the Arnold Sports Weekend. This show represents the kickoff of the fitness season for both professionals and amateurs, and we're starting a little early this year because we have some information to share and we also want to allow time for two major projects – our bonus preview coverage of the Arnold Amateur and our 2008 figure and fitness competitor media guide. Not to mention the fact that our New Year's resolution is more coverage on the fitness side of things, and earlier means it will get done!!
There's also some great additional athlete spotlights happening throughout the sport between now and the event, and one of the internet events we want to promote is the Arnold interview series at Living Beautiful Radio, with NPC star and supermodel
Nancy Di Nino. As soon as we know the schedule we will embed the dates and times under each athlete's section here. Since we're a little bit early with our preview this year, check back for any important updates over the next few weeks.
The Defending Champions
The Arnold stage is a little bit smaller than in years past, with only 12 athletes, but we're tremendously excited not only because of the veterans who always elevate their game for this show but the quality and talent of the newcomers. With so few competitors even the twelth place finisher should be very proud of her accomplishments. Of course we must start our discussion with the big two,
Kimberly Scheideler (formerly Klein) and
Jen Hendershott. Unless someone other than Kim and Jen scores an upset and wins one of the four rounds, we could possibly have one of the closest finishes in Arnold history. Last year Kim swept both physique rounds while Jen won both routine rounds unanimously. The difference in the placings was
Adela Garcia's second place finish in the physique rounds, which dropped Jen to third giving Kim the overall win.
FigureRX expects Kim to come out with guns (and quads) blazing for this show especially after finishing second at the Olympia. She will have an advantage in the physique rounds with all the attributes we have come to know and love about her, especially her tiny joints and incredible hip-to-waist-to-delt ratios - along with an ability to dial in her conditioning like clockwork. We also love her routines, and as a refresher, check out the famous motorbike performance from the 2006 Olympia by going
HERE. We've been betting on Kim for a while now and we were extremely happy to see her win the title last year, and she is our pick to retain the crown in 2008.
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Jen will not be making anything easy however, and we hear she is also fired up and ready to work her way back to the top. Her recipe for victory will be to win the routine rounds and to stay close in the physique rounds, which to us means coming in like she did on this stage last year. We like Jen best when she is tight and ripped in the lower body, with a wide back and delts and a pronounced V-shape. If she can create one of her signature high energy routines, which is very likely, then Jen has a real shot to recapture the jacket that she last won in 2005.
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Who Will Break Through?
For the first time since 2004 there is definitely an opening for someone new in the top three, and there are a few candidates for the position. The first is one of our favorites,
Tracey Greenwood, and she is the perfect example of how muscle maturity and routine practice can lead to improvements each and every year. Tracey's back shot, from her rear delts down to her calves, is so good we think it should be a fitness judging guide complete with arrows and "how to" instructions. Her routines continue to be some of the most entertaining on stage and we particularly liked the Spiderwoman routine at the 2007 Olympia.
And after all, Tracey was only one step away from the top three when she finished fourth at the Arnold in 2006. You can watch her routine from that show by going
here. The difference between 6th place in 2007 and 4th in 2006 seems to be the physique rounds. We preferred her harder look in 2007 but the judges might not have felt the same way. And one more thing .... since we're big Boxer lovers here at
Team FigureRX (hi Layla butts!!) we have to ask that you please support Tracey's efforts at pet rescue. You can find more details on her web site,
www.traceygreenwood.com!!
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We absolutely insist that a newcomer to the Arnold stage also has a realistic shot at the top three, because of her consistency and excellence at every level of competition.
Julie Lohre has been competing with one of the most wildly popular routines on the circuit, and we're eager to see the follow-up to the Monday Night Football extravaganza. That routine was not just entertaining, but it also had one of our favorite strength moves, a handstand turning into a straddle. To see
FigureRX video of the whole routine as performed at the Palm Beach Pro please go
here.
A competitor cracking the top five in an Arnold fitness debut has happened only one time since 2003 (
Julie Shipley-Childs in 2006), but if anyone can follow in her footsteps it is the gorgeous and talented Kentuckian Julie Lohre.
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-----Competing in 2008? Get the full state and local NPC contest schedule right here on
FigureRX.
-----Updated almost daily, click
HERE.
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-----When the show is over, just return to the schedule to find our links to the best coverage!!
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Another athlete who we feel will make a tremendous splash with her Arnold debut is Russian competitor
Oksana Grishina. She has a real chance at the top five as long as she gets recognized for her outstanding physique which we feel is potentially one of the best on stage. Russia is only sometimes considered to be part of Europe, but Oksana definitely brings it old school European style with a lot of muscle combined with outstanding good looks. At the Olympia she placed 10th in her one piece suit and outside the top ten in her two piece, while winning one routine round and placing top five in the other. In spite of those scores Oksana seems to have close to an ideal fitness physique, with amazing legs and capped delts, and while we expect an incredibly creative and athletic routine from her it will be improvements in her physique scores that will potentially send her skyrocketing to the top.
You can see Oksana's previous routine by going
here, but she is likely to unveil something that is very different at the Arnold. We'll know more next week because she is the first fitness competitor who will be featured on Living Beautiful Radio's countdown to the Arnold (
LINK). The broadcast will be in both English and Russian so be sure to tune in on January 20th, or later for the replay!
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Oksana Grishina photos official 2008 Arnold Fitness preview
Another candidate to fill the void in the top three would be Fitness Factory's
Julie Palmer, who placed a very solid 5th last year and has a recent pro show win (at the Palm Beach Pro two months ago). Julie has been placing near the top of her shows for a while now but has recently been coming in fuller and more shredded, which of course we like. As is often the case, as an athlete with small joints and long muscle bellies Julie seems to improve every year. She is always a home town favorite for the Arnold and she helps to promote and headline an NPC show in Ohio every year (see NPCschedule.com for more). And Julie was also the first recipient of the soon-to-be very prestigious "Living Beautiful Award."
Julie's physique scores have considerably outperformed her routine round scores, and if she can score higher on her routines she will move up. We're anticipating the follow-up to the 50's rock-and-roll themed routine! To see her
FigureRX routine video from the 2007 Palm Beach Pro, please go
here.
Stacy Simons, from New Jersey, went pro over ten years ago but has never been better. She is one of two competitors in this year's field (along with Regiane) to be absent from the Arnold for a year or more, and then to return, which is a difficult thing to do. Because Stacy is known for her incredible flexibility and entertaining routines, we were surprised to see her physique scores outperform her routine scores down in Palm Beach. This reversed a trend over the past few years, where Stacy was superior in the routine rounds. If she can bring the two together she will undoubtedly be a force to reckon with and a potential top five finisher.
Find out what all the hype is about by watching Stacy's
FigureRX routine video from the 2007 Palm Beach Pro, by going
here.
Georgian
Bethany Gainey is impressive in many ways, and since turning pro in 2005 she has improved her look and her routines and she really put everything together during a stunning performance at the 2007 Atlantic City Pro. Rumor has it that she's very strong in the gym, with a max bench that is twice her body weight, and it shows with her strength moves on stage. Bethany will have some of the best abs at the Arnold combined with excellent quads - can you tell that we are big Bethany fans at
FigureRX? She is a future breakthrough star who is certain to improve upon her placings at the 2007 Olympia and Arnold - and she may move up dramatically.
International Stars and Newcomers
Ontario native
Mindi O'Brien has the type of physique that we love to see at the top of the IFBB, with solid muscle, and some of her recent on and off stage photos show her looking her best ever. She has her share of pro show routine round wins over the past few years, and she won the 2004 IFBB Horizon award from Flex which has made us wonder if they still hand that one out. Mindi is a heck of a coach as well and Team O'Brien is well respected throughout the industry. When she gets on stage we just sit back, watch, and enjoy.
Mindi has a great blog that we're sure she'll keep updated on her way to the Arnold, and you can get there via our Links page under IFBB Fitness Professionals to check out her recent pics. And we don't typically advertise this type of content, but if you want to see Mindi's biceps in action then check out a video
here.
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Regiane Da Silva was a virtual unknown stateside when she first hit the Arnold stage in 2006, but since then she has put together some impressive performances including 4th place at the 2007 New York Pro. She is a native Brazilian who now lives in Germany, and she has an impressive background that includes wins at the IFBB European Championships and the IFBB Worlds in Spain. To see Regiane Da Silva's routine please click
here.
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The field this year is incredibly solid from top to bottom, including two athletes who will be making their IFBB pro debuts after turning professional at the NPC Nationals in Dallas this past November. Air Force reservist and all-around super mom
Tina Durkin won the overall title at that show, and to learn more about her we highly recommend listening to her recent interview with Terry and Elaine Goodlad on Bodysport radio (
LINK). One of the more difficult things to do in this sport is to come in ultra hard and conditioned in the quads and hip tie-in area, and Tina improved considerably in this area between Team Universe and Nationals last year. She's undoubtedly ready to compete in Columbus. You can see a video of her routine by going
here.
Tanya Merryman will also be making her IFBB pro debut, and her name should be familiar to you if you are a fan of fitness because of her many years competing in other federations. At
FigureRX we are very pleased that she decided to make a comeback in the NPC and IFBB, and she's a great addition to the pro stage. Tanya is absolutely gorgeous, and although she is known for her calve genetics she has some of the best quads on stage as well, especially in combination with her small knee and ankle joints. When she is fully healthy, she has the capability to put together one of the best routines on stage. We recommend taking a look at some retro footage of Tanya from our friends at Femflex (
LINK).
And a Few We Will Miss ...
With the stage smaller than ever, there are a few fitness competitors who we will especially miss this year and we want to recognize them as well. The first is of course the great
Adela Garcia, who won the Arnold fitness title in 2004 and 2006. Adela is at the top of the sport right now after her victory at the 2007 Olympia and she has assured
FigureRX that she will be back for next year's Olympia stronger than ever. We hope to see her on stage before then, and in the meantime if you are an aspiring fitness star you can learn from one of the best at her camp in Austin, Texas at the end of January.
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Heidi Fletcher, who we feel is now one of the biggest stars in the sport based on her performances and ultra-full and ripped physique at the Olympia and in Palm Beach, decided not to apply to the Arnold and will be setting her sites on the IFBB New York Pro Fitness on April 12th in one of our home neighborhoods, Tribeca. Heidi's goals for 2008 include winning an IFBB pro show and cracking the top six at the Olympia, and we wish her the absolute best and have no doubt she will succeed. In the meantime, you can get your Heidi fix by watching a newly released
FigureRX video of her long routine at the Palm Beach Pro by going
here.
Tanji Johnson, one of the most important ambassadors for the sport of fitness, will be sitting this one out for a much deserved break after competing four times in eight weeks and then going straight into auditioning, training and shooting for American Gladiators. Tanji we love you and wish you the absolute best!! And
Julie Shipley-Childs really impressed us with the story that was presented in her feature article, which appeared in the February 2008 issue of Muscle and Fitness. We're glad to see her practicing what she preaches, which is balance between her career and personal life as well as listening to her body. With her competitive drive we're sure we'll see her on stage again soon.
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Photographer Credits: Ironman Magazine, JC Lopez, Per Bernal, Bill Dobbins
Coming Soon: The
FigureRX Figure International and Arnold Amateur Event Previews!!
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FigureRX Exclusive Back Stage area is now open. For more details please go
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