But just seeing some of these names from yesteryear was a thrill all in it’s own, as the crowd at the Jackie Gleason Theater can attest. It has been years – and in some cases, decades – since some of these men donned the posing trunks.

In the bikini Olympia qualifier, India Paulino took first place, with Tianna Ta (second) and Juliana Daniell (third) following.

Huge ovations are sure to follow each of the routines by the following: Troy Alves, Lee Apperson, (MuscleSport Magazine’s) Samir Bannout, Andreas Cahling, Darrem Charles, Roland Cziurlok, Toney Freeman, Stan Frydrych, Pavol Jablonicky, Dexter Jackson, Tricky Jackson, Ed Nunn and Bill Wilmore.

There is also an IFBB bikini Olympia qualifier, with the line-up including: Theresa, Byrne, Jennifer Chapman, Missy Coles, Juliana Daniell, Kim DeArcangelis, Brittany Gaylord, Bernadett Matassa, Heather Nappi, Khanh Nguyen, Figen Oezdemir, India Paulino, Yeshaira Robles, Tianna Ta, Brittany Tacy.

For tickets and other information, visit www.worldpromasters.com. When Jarka is involved promoting a show, you know that it is going to be one of the best of the year.

“I’m excited that I found someone that believed in me,” he said last September. “I truly feel that I can get into the top 10.”

Although he did not fare as well as he liked at the O (15th), Alves was still on the map and a threat against a line-up that didn’t include the Jay Cutlers and Phil Heaths of the world. He proved that he still has what it takes by winning July’s Europa Show of Champions and tasted victory again this past weekend at the Phoenix Pro.

Alves, 43, was able to hold off a top-heavy line-up that included Hidetada Yamagishi (second), Ed Nunn (third) and Marcus Haley (fourth) and celebrate a key win in his home town.

After turning pro in 2002, Alves has competed in multiple shows each year. In 2003, he donned the posing trunks on 10 separate occasions and although he hasn’t kept that pace up, Alves is a regular at all of the top IFBB contests. In his rookie campaign, he finished in the top 10 at both the Arnold Classic and Mr. Olympia.

Now the real test comes for Alves to see if he can maintain the proper conditioning to have an impact in Las Vegas in two weeks. He has proven that he can rise to the top in that second tier-level contest, but he’ll need something extra to do that at The Orleans Arena.

TROY ALVES CONTEST HISTORY

“Confirmation one hundred percent,” Strydom told Ray. “It is confirmed already. Signed, sealed and delivered (that) I’ll be there. So hopefully all of the other guys will be there and the show materializes.”

Some of those ‘other guys’ Strydom referred to just happen to include three former Mr. Olympia winners in Ronnie Coleman, Samir Bannout and Dexter Jackson. Also on the list are Vince Taylor (2001 Masters Olympia winner), Andreas Cahling, Chris Cormier, Pavol Jablonicky, Milos Sarcev, Toney Freeman, Troy Alves, Dennis Newman and Darrem Charles. Guest posers like Tom Platz, Robby Robinson, Tony Pearson and Juliette Bergman also jump off the page. This will be a very memorable evening, for sure.

The news of Strydom’s comeback is not much of a surprise, as the soon-to-be 51-year-old had announced that he was going to compete again back in 2009, as reported right here on MuscleSport Mag:

http://www.musclesportmag.com/2009/07/09/gary-strydom-49-may-be-planning-olympia-comeback

That did not materialize but this time it does seem genuine, as Strydom has a few business projects that will obviously benefit from his comeback. He has a supplement line called Strydom Professional Series and an upcoming launch of his own clothing line. Strydom has previous experience in the latter with Crazzee Wear, one of the most popular brands in and out of the gyms worldwide in the 1980s and 90s.

Two years ago, Strydom had visions of qualifying for the Mr. Olympia, but this appears to be a much better strategy. By going up against similar competitors, he has a good chance to place well and come full circle.

GARY STRYDOM’S COMPETETIVE CAREER

• 1983 NPC Florida Championships, Junior – Heavyweight, 1st and Overall
• 1984 NPC USA Championships, HeavyWeight, 1st
• 1986 NPC Nationals, HeavyWeight, 1st and Overall
• 1987 Night of Champions, Winner
• 1988 Chicago Pro Invitational, 2nd
• 1988 Mr. Olympia, 5th
• 1989 Arnold Classic, 3rd
• 1989 Grand Prix France, 1st
• 1989 Grand Prix Germany, 2nd
• 1989 Grand Prix Melbourne, 1st
• 1989 Grand Prix Spain (2), 2nd
• 1989 Grand Prix Spain, 2nd
• 1989 Grand Prix Sweden, 1st
• 1989 World Pro Championships, 2nd
• 1990 Grand Prix England, 2nd
• 1990 Grand Prix Finland, 3rd
• 1990 Grand Prix France, 2nd
• 1990 Grand Prix Germany, 4th
• 1990 Grand Prix Italy, 3rd
• 1990 Houston Pro Invitational, 2nd
• 1990 Ironman Pro Invitational, 4th
• 1991 Night of the Champions
• 1991 WBF Grand Prix, 1st
• 1992 WBF Grand Prix, 1st
• 1996 Night of Champions, 12th
• 2006 Colorado Pro Championships, 7th

But that all changed six weeks later when Yamagishi stood in the winner’s circle at the second annual Europa Show of Champions in Orlando, Florida. The native of Japan was looking much sharper than he did in Ohio and was rewarded by the judges. Marcus Haley and Evgeny “Eugene” Mishin – two bodybuilders that needed a strong show at this point in their careers – finished second and third, respectively.

Eduardo Correa Da Silva won the 202 class and was followed by Roc Shabazz and Jose Raymond. Erin Stern prevailed in the figure category, with Marcy Porter and Cheryl Brown next. In fitness, a few surprises occurred with Erin Riley and Nicole Duncan not even placing, while Camala Rodriguez was named the winner. Regiane Da Silva was the runner-up while Myriam Capes finished third. Nathalia Melo Moreira won the bikini division and Jamie Baird (second) and Missy Coles (third) right behind her.

Haley, 37, had his highest placing as a professional and also took home the Best Poser award. Last year, the Florida resident finished ninth at the Iron Man Pro, 13th at the Arnold, 10th at the Tampa Pro and 12th at the Europa Super Show. The Russian Mishin has always had the size at 6’2″ and 300 pounds, but had only one top-10 placing since his pro debut at the 2003 Night of the Champions. That came at his previous show, the 2009 New York Pro, at which he finished eighth.

By earning his first pro win, Yamagshi can finally let the three second place finishes behind him. He was the runner-up to Troy Alves at the inaugural Europa Show of Champions, Gustavo Badell at the 2009 Atlantic City Pro and Melvin Anthony in January’s Phoenix Pro.

How does Yamagishi get prepared for so many shows in a calendar year? “It doesn’t bother me because I am used to it from being an amateur,” Yamagishi said. With three shows already behind him in 2010, you have to figure that Yamagishi will compete at the Mr. Olympia. The top three in all the categories (minus bikini) at the April 17 show qualify to take the stage in Las Vegas come September.

And now when people talk about a stacked competitor list, Yamagishi will be amongst that group.

MEN’S BODYBUILDING

4th Place – Mike Kefalianos

5th Place – Constantinos Demetriou

MEN’S 202

4th Place – James Llewellin

5th Place – Michael Valentino

FIGURE

(Only the top three were placed.)

FITNESS

4th Place – Erin Reily

5th Place – Kristina Rojas

BIKINI

4th Place – Kira Rivera

5th Place – Janet Harding

The giant from  Germany did not even place and finished tied for 16th with Troy Alves, Darrem Charles, Martin Kjellstrom, Bill Wilmore, Joel Stubbs, Michael Kefalianos and Ahmad Haidar. Perhaps the hernia injury and subsequent surgery that kept him out of the Arnold Classic had more of an effect on Wolf’s preparation than anyone knows.

He did not appear to be anywhere near contest shape and one has to wonder if the 5’11″, 270-pounder has missed out on his best opportunities already. Wolf switched to a low-carb diet in 2008 and came in looking flat, but still placed one higher than the previous year. This time around, he went back to a regular diet under the impression that he would fill out better. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Because his offseason was cut short by the injury and recovery period, Wolf did not have the same time frame to get himself ready for this show. Even if he had competed in March, Wolf would have been in better condition to bulk up and cut down by September.

Because he will now need to qualify for next year’s Olympia, Wolf must decide on what show he chooses to compete in to get there. It will not be an easy road back but he is going to be one of the biggest names at a show such as the Iron Man Pro or Europa. If he has any expectations on becoming a legitimate Olympia candidate again, he needs to dominate at one of these ‘second tier’ competitions and also place high at the Arnold.

As bodybuilding fans all know by now, Badell took home the winner’s purse of $18,000 at the AC and now has set himself up for another run at the Olympia, where he finished in the top 10 last year. “The Freakin’ Rican” was not a surprise and anyone who feels that he was did not do their homework.

Badell has 11 years experience on the pro circuit and has won two shows (2005 Iron Man Pro, 2006 San Francisco Pro). In 2008, he finished second at the Iron Man, sixth at the Arnold Classic and 10th at the Olympia. He came into this year’s Arnold a little off and placed 11th but had plenty of time to prepare for this contest and obviously used it well.

In case you need further convincing, this is a guy who placed third at two consecutive Olympias only five short years ago.

At 5’8″ and 240 pounds, Badell had the size to get more than noticed. He came in condition and took the top spot against some quality competition in Hidetada Yamagishi, Troy Alves, Melvin Anthony and Leo Ingram.

• 1991 Junior Caribbean Championships, overall winner
• 1997 Caribbean Championships, overall winner (received pro card)
• 1997 World Amateur Championships Heavyweight, 10th
• 1998 Grand Prix Germany, 9th
• 1999 Grand Prix England, 17th
• 1999 Night of Champions, Did Not Place
• 1999 [[World Pro Championships, 14th
• 2000 Ironman Pro Invitational, 18th
• 2000 Night of Champions, Did Not Place
• 2000 Toronto Pro Invitational, Did Not Place

• 2000 World Pro Championships, 11th
• 2001 Grand Prix England, Did Not Place
• 2001 Ironman Pro Invitational, 16th
• 2001 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 11th
• 2002 Ironman Pro Invitational, 13th
• 2002 Night of Champions, 10th
• 2002 Mr. Olympia, 24th
• 2002 Southwest Pro Cup, 6th
• 2002 Toronto Pro Invitational, 3rd
• 2004 Arnold Classic, 7th
• 2004 Ironman Pro Invitational, 3rd
• 2004 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 4th

• 2004 Show of Strength Pro Championship, 3rd
• 2004 Mr. Olympia, 3rd
• 2005 Arnold Classic, 3rd
• 2005 Ironman Pro Invitational, 1st
• 2005 Mr. Olympia, 3rd
• 2006 Arnold Classic, 4th
• 2006 San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st
• 2006 Mr. Olympia, 6th
• 2007 Arnold Classic, 4th
• 2007 Mr. Olympia 8th
• 2008 Ironman Pro Invitational, 2nd
• 2008 Arnold Classic, 6th
• 2008 Mr Olympia, 10th
• 2009 Arnold Classic, 11th
• 2009 Atlantic City Pro, 1st

In 2008, Badell, 36, finished second at the Iron Man Pro, sixth at the Arnold Classic and 10th at the Olympia. So far this year, he has only competed once and placed 11th at the Arnold. This is a man who won the Iron Man in ’05 and the San Francisco Pro in ’06. Badell has also finished third at the 2004 and 2005 Mr. Olympias, so he has done well against the big boys in his career.

In his 11th year competing, the 5’8″, 240-pound Badell may not have many chances left at winning quality shows such as the Atlantic City. His experience and size will be pluses for him against a line-up that he should be able to handle. He must come in to the contest in top condition and having since March to prepare, there is no excuse if he does not.

2009 Atlantic City Pro IFBB Championships
Friday & Saturday, September 11&12th
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Promoted by
Stokley Palmer & Ron Goldstein

Men’s Open

1 Almohsinawi, Khalid (Netherlands)

2 Anthony, Melvin (USA)

3 Apperson, Lee (USA)

6 Chacon, Marcos (SPAIN)

7 Cohen, Simon (UNITED KINGDOM)

8 Dexter, Oscar (Tahiti)

15 Ojex, Bola (Nigeria)

16 Pelletier, Jocelyn (Canada)

17 Piotrkowicz, Robert (Poland)

23 Alves, Troy

Hidetada Yamagishi was the runner-up and many people felt that he should have won the show. The two other popular names, Darrem Charles and Sergey Shelestov, finished third and fourth, respectively.

In the fitness competition, Shannon Meteraud finished in first place for the second time in two weeks after also winning the New York Metropolitan on April 11. After placing in the top six at the Ms. International (Arnold Classic), she has continued to impress with her performance and appearance. 

The placings after that were a bit on the puzzling side if you go by what happened in New York City recently. In Orlando, Myriam Capes took second after finishing fifth at the New York Metro, and Tina Durkin fell two spots from third to fifth. Mindi O’Brien, who did not participate in Manhattan, made the top three at the Europa. Erin Riley actually moved up from sixth to fourth against a stronger field of competitors.

Nicole Wilkins Lee won the figure, with Heather Mae French and Monica Brant-Peckham following. Lee did well for herself after placing eighth in Ohio, as did French (seventh) and Brant (sixth) from back in March. The figure was, perhaps, the only predictable top three throughout the whole weekend in Florida.