Prejudging is over at the Europa Super Show in Dallas, Texas, with some big names in the mix as we wait for the final results tomorrow.
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MEN’S BODYBUILDING
Shawn Rhoden won the first contest of his three-year career last week in Tampa, and he looks to be the front runner once again in Dallas. Just like last week, Toney Freeman and Hidetada Yamagishi are hot on his heels should Rhoden slip over the next 24 hours.
Rhoden looked his all-time best in Tampa, but he may have one-upped himself this week. Slighty sharper and just as full, if he can hold it until tomorrow and win for the second straight week, Rhoden will head to Las Vegas next month as a bonafide thread to crack the top six in his second Olympia appearance.
Freeman and Yamagishi is a toss up, as both look comparable to how they did a week ago in Tampa. Either way, a top-three finish will vault Freeman into the lead in the Olympia Qualification Series standings and assure him of a qualification. Yamagishi, who managed to hold his extreme conditioning from Tampa, would move into the top five in the standings with a second-straight top-three placing and put himself in good position to qualify for his fifth Olympia in the past six years.
Roelly Winklaar and Ed Nunn should round out the top four should things stay the same between today and tomorrow.
Go here to see the prejudging photos!
212 MEN’S BODYBUILDING
David Henry took all of last season off due to military deployment and returned to Dallas looking for his first win since the 2010 Jacksonville Pro. Henry – the 2008 Olympia Showdown winner and runner-up in both 2009 and 2010 – will first have to get past Tricky Jackson, who went toe-to-toe with Henry for most of the prejudging and in the final callout.
Henry holds the edge in size and dominated in most of the front poses, but Jackson’s sharper conditioning – especially in the hamstrings and gluteus – gave him the edge in the side and back comparisons.
With no points in the Olympia Qualification Series, Henry will likely need the win and the automatic qualification to guarantee his spot in the 212 Showdown. Jackson is already qualified due to his win at the 2011 Iowa Pro.
Go here to see the prejudging photos!
FIGURE
It’s a logjam at the top of the order in Figure, with none of the top three jumping out as the clear-cut winner. Alea Suarez, Tatiana Koshman and Larissa Reis all brought something different to the stage, and each could walk away as the winner tomorrow.
Reis is the only one of the three with a pro win on her resume, having won the Atlantic City Pro in 2009.
Suarez, who already has two top-three finishes this season, and Koshman – a rookie competing in her first professional show – are both looking for the first wins of their pro careers.
Suarez currently sits in a tie for second with 7 points in the Olympia Qualification Series, and a top three finish would all but guarantee her of a qualification for the second straight year. Reis currently sits at No. 10 in the OQS standings with three points.
Go here to see the prejudging photos!
