Australia - Bodybuilding .com

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The 2009 Australia Grand Prix will be held on March 14 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Prize money will be $20,000 and top 3 qualify for the 2009 Olympia.

With months to go, we only have mere speculation and reports, but will be updating as more information becomes available.

For online ticket sales please see www.dohertysgym.com

We heard from a very reliable source in July 2008 that top ranking Aussie IFBB pro Lee Priest will be skipping prior shows and will make his comeback to the IFBB pro stage on Australian soil at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.

Australia’s top pro has not been seen onstage for some while as he was suspended from the IFBB for 2 years, and his suspension was lifted on June 09, 2008.

In a poetic twist, Lee’s last IFBB competition was also the Australian Pro in 2006 [2^nd] and Lee won the show in 2005.

Will he return to the IFBB stage in early 2009 in Australia or not? Yes, Lee confirmed that he will..

Michael Kingsnorth of New Zealand is looking likely to compete in 2009. He made his pro debut last year at the 2008 Australia Grand Prix placing 12th.

Michael is pictured 2nd from the right below:

Aussie pro Luke Wood stated he would compete, but announced in early November 2008 that he retired from competitive bodybuilding.

He has competed in the Australian Grand Prix five times before, placing as high as 6th.

• 2001 - 10th
• 2002 - 7th
• 2003 - 6th
• 2004 - 11th
• 2007 - 9th

Three time and defending champion Dexter Jackson looks to be out of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix after his well deserved Olympia win. Reliable sources have Dexter taking the year off and defending his Olympia title in 2009.

Is this 100% fact, no people do change their minds - but realistically Dexter is probably out of the 2009 Australia show.

With all due respect to other competitors, this leaves a wide open path to victory for Australia's own Lee Priest who will most likely make his comeback at the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.

In March of 2008, Flex magazine's website had an interview with Ronnie Coleman, 8 time Mr. Olympia, where he mentions a possible appearance at the 2009 Australia IFBB Pro Show.

"Yeah," Coleman told Flexonline.com this afternoon, "I'll come back and probably be doing the Arnold [Classic] or something like that. Or some big European show. I’m really big in Europe and people appreciate me a whole lot over there. I'm really thinking Australia [for the Australian Grand Prix], that’s a big possibility."

Although Ronnie has made appearances in Australia before, and also won the 2001 New Zealand Grand Prix, he has not entered the Australian Grand Prix prior.

We think that Ronnie competing is a long shot, but time will tell.

Japan’s top IFBB pro Hidetada Yamagishi has stated he will compete in the 2009 Australia Grand Prix.

On Hide’s blog [link here, mostly in Japanese] he states “I promise to show up with much improved condition on the stage of 2009 Australia GP"

Hide competed in the Australia Pro Show before; taking 5th place in 2007.

One must wonder if due to prior legal issues if the Japanese bodybuilder will have any issues with legally entering Australia, which is widely known for strict border control.

Hide was arrested at Los Angeles, USA airport after traveling from Japan on December 8, 2007 and charged with nine counts of steroid possession and distribution.

He was incarcerated for a number of weeks, and on an immigration hold with $180,000 [US] bail. The thumbnail to the left [click on it for full view] shows his arrest details.He was scheduled to compete at the 2008 Arnold Classic, which was rescinded soon after his arrest.

We hope to be able to see Hide on the Australian stage in 2009.