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2009 Australia IFBB Grand Prix

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For the most up to date coverage/info please see the IFBB Australian Pro Show category on our blog. Our 2009 report is below, and the info below that is now "out of date" - previews etc.

2009 Australian Grand Prix Report

Here is our comprehensive wrap up of the competitors at the 2009 Australian IFBB Pro Show. Promoter Tony Doherty as always put on an excellent affair, and fans flew in from various places including Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand and every state of Australia for the Muscletech sponsored event. As expected, Kai Green won the event and was said to dominate from the outset. Below are the observations of two time NABBA Universe Champion and IFBB Olympian John Terilli, who was kind enough to lend us his expertise for a live play by play on our site

Prejudging Callouts:
1st callout: Kai Green, Toney Freeman and Silvio Samuel
2nd callout: Ivan Sadek, Mike Kefalianos, Rusty Jeffers
3rd callout; As above, with Rusty taken out and Oscar Dexter in
4th callout: Rusty Jeffers, Con Demetriou, Oscar Dexter and Grant Pieterse
5th: Toney Freeman and Silvio Samuel
6th: Ivan Sadek, Oscar Dexter, Rusty Jeffers and Mike Kefalianos

Please click all photos to enlarge to full screen size.

Comparisons: 1st Callout:

4th Callout:

Lineup:

1st – Kai Green [USA]

Making his first appearance in the Australian pro show, Kai just won the 2009 Arnold Classic so came in as the heavy favourite. He turned pro in 2004 and won his first show in 2007. Kai grew up in the foster case system in the USA and is a former natural pro bodybuilder.

Our expert said that it was a clear Kai victory from onset of prejudging. John said his quads are "out of this world", he had incredible arms, and that his hams/glutes were "incomparable" and that no other competitor could compare to him from back. In the first callout with Silvio and Toney, John said Kai simply owned the callout from the back, that the competitors were quite comparable but when they turned around Kai dominated from the back and "it was over for the rest of them". John said all in all a “incredible, very good looking body” with the only minor negative being you noticed that Kai’s added size had added slightly to his waist.

2nd- Silvio Samuel [Spain]

Silvio Samuel was born in 1975 in Brazil, then moved to Nigeria and now represents Spain. He speaks 8 languages, and has set a number of powerlifting records. He came to Australia coming off a 5th place finish at the 2009 Arnold, which he seemed to be not happy about; removing his medal onstage.

Our expert said that that Silvio Samuel was getting harder as the show went on, and it ws hard to find many faults with his physique "can't pick any faults", although he could use some more calves. John said he had an incredibly good physique, hams/glutes good condition with a Christmas tree. John also said the most impressive thing is "the way skin sits on muscle".

3rd Toney Freeman [USA]

42 year old Toney is one of the bigger competitors onstage at 6ft 2" [188cm] and close to 300lbs. He competed at the 2008 Australia Pro Placing 4th and has previously won 5 pro shows. Toney made the trip down under coming off a 4th place finish at the 2009 Arnold Classic.

Our expert said that Toney Freeman was huge with an incredible waist and looked good all over. John said that he wasn't in his best condition although not far off though, and his waist looked a touch bloated from the side. John says he was very full, maybe a touch too heavy and slightly missing sharpness. All in all, John found him “very very impressive” and said Toney was hardening up as the show progressed and that "literally every pose he did he was getting harder"

4th Mike Kefalianos [Australia/Greece]

Mike is an Australian/Greek and this was his pro debut. He is about 5ft 6" and competes at 220lbs. He recently competed at the Amateur Arnold 2009. John was very impressed with Mike overall and said that he continued to harden up as the show went on. As the top 3 were already qualified, Mike earned an Olympia qualification in his pro debut - quite a impressive feat.

5th Ivan Sadek [Australia]

A native son, Sydney resident Ivan Sadek earned his pro card in 2004 and this was his pro debut. A larger man, Sadek competed at a reported 115kg [253lbs].

John said he improved alot since he saw him, and the moment he came onstage John expressed exactly how impressed he was with him. He said Ivan had a very good back double bicep pose and actually looked better from the back. He said he had very impressive triceps with a decent "pair of abs" and “lots of beef” in the most muscular pose which was very impressive. John said he held his own against the American pros, and the crowd response [that we could hear on phone] was tremendous; a homegrown bodybuilder making his pro debut and holding his own against some of the best in the world was a special treat for the heavily Aussie crowd.

6th Oscar Tua Dexter [Tahiti]

This was Oscar Tua Dexter’s second time competing in Australia, having placed 10th at the 2008 Australia Grand Prix. The big Tahitian went pro in 2006 and is 6ft 2" and gets up to 340lbs in the offseason.

John said his legs and backs were incredible and he looked better from the back then front with a very detailed upper back. He said Oscar was sweating and looked better as show progressed and had “incredible calves”.

7th Rusty Jeffers [USA]

This was Rusty's first time competing in Australia. Well known for his classical posing, he is his mid forties and earned his pro card in 2004 at the NPC Masters. His highest pro placing is 5th. John Terilli said he looked significantly younger then his years and had a very pleasing physique with excellent presentation. John says he has seen him look better, and if you saw him by himself he was very impressive, but in the lineup his hams/glutes were a touch soft.

8th Con Demetriou [Australia]

Another Aussie in the mix, Con Demetriou made his pro debut last year, and has achieved quite a lot of success offstage with modeling and magazine work.

John reported that Con Demetriou had a nice shape with a pleasing physique but needs to be dialed in more and said "one has to wonder if Con Demetriou could dial it in a little better he wonders how well he could do". He also said he has brought his legs up and his arms look good.

9th Grant Pieterse [New Zealand]

One of the youngest bodybuilders in history to ever achieve IFBB pro status, young Grant Pieterse made his pro debut. Only in his early 20's, Grant was the sole rep for New Zealand with Mo El Moussawi withdrawing at a late stage.

Our expert said he had a well shaped upper body, with a nice waistline but needs to be leaner and bring up legs.

All photos above by Daniel Reynold of bigshotdan.com you can see many more images on our brand new forum. Scorecard from the IFBB site:

Slideshow Photo Compilation of Results:

Brief Prejudging video:

Above from left to right:

Oscar Dexter [Tahiti] 7th
Grant Pierterse [New Zealand] 9th
Ivan Sadek [Australia] 5th
Silvio Samuel [Spain] 2nd
Kai Green [USA] 1st

We don't have many clips as [done each year] the entire show, backstage, pros training and much more was filmed by GMV productions who will be putting out a DVD very soon covering the entire event, keep on eye on gmv.com.au for that!

Ticket Sales

Tickets for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix contest are now on sale at Doherty's gym pro shop website section.

VIP $299

Package includes:
Best front /centre reserve, prejudging and finals.
Free workouts at Doherty’s 24:7 Gym for contest weekend. (Fri 13th - Mon 16th)
Free entry to exclusive All-star pro seminar, meet & greet. (Sunday 15th)
Exclusive Photo opportunities
Pro Grand Prix T-shirt
Official GMV Contest DVD

ALL DAY PASS $135

Prejudging General admission Finals Reserve (Save time and money)

FINALS RESERVED SEAT $99

Best Value Finals seats ever.
All Finals reserve seats are one price. 1st in = best seats!
FINALS 7PM
You will feel like you are part of the action with reserve seats at Dallas Brooks Centre.

PREJUDGING TICKETS $40

Prejudging includes:
Pro League prejudging
All States Championships complete show.
Pro King of the Bench
Trade show.

Stage level is Stalls - Level 2 is Lounge - Level 3 is Gallery Seating plans available here [PDF]

Poster, click to enlarge

Competitor List

Scroll down for previews of all the confirmed competitors.

Confirmed as of March 4th

Con Demetriou [Australia]
Dennis James [USA/Germany]
Kai Green [USA]
Silvio Samuel [Spain]
Toney Freeman [USA]
Ivan Sadek [Australia]
Oscar Dexter [Tahiti]
Rusty Jeffers [USA]
Grant Pieterse [New Zealand]

Prior Probables/Possibles

Ahmad Haider
Ronnie Rockel
Hide Yamagishi
Fadi Zaazaa
Beat Meschberger
Ricky Welling
Moe El Moussawi

Con Demetriou: Confirmed

Con Demetriou is one of five confirmed Australian IFBB pros. This will be his second time competing in the Australia Grand Prix, as he made his pro debut at the 2008 show placing 11th. For photos, videos, bio and much more on Con please click here for his profile.

Dennis James: Confirmed

Dennis "The Menace" James turned pro in 1998. He competed in the Australian Grand Prix once prior - in 2001 and placed 2nd to winner Chris Cormier. Dennis has one pro win under his belt, the 2001 Grand Prix Hungary. Born in Heidelberg, Germany on 31 May 1969, Dennis has competed in a total of seven Mr. Olympias, with his highest Olympia placing being 4th in 2003.

Professional contest record:

1999 Night of Champions, 15th
2000 Arnold Classic, 4th
2000 Grand Prix England, 3rd
2000 Grand Prix Hungary, 3rd
2000 Ironman Pro Invitational, 7th
2000 Mr. Olympia, 11th
2000 World Pro Championships, 4th
2001 Arnold Classic, 3rd
2001 Grand Prix Australia, 2nd
2001 Grand Prix England, 3rd
2001 Grand Prix Hungary, 1st
2001 Mr. Olympia, 7th
2002 Arnold Classic, 7th
2002 Grand Prix England, 2nd
2002 Grand Prix Holland, 4th
2002 Mr. Olympia, 10th
2002 Show of Strength Pro Championship, 5th
2003 Mr. Olympia, 4th
2003 Show of Strength Pro Championship, 4th
2004 Mr. Olympia, 8th
2005 Charlotte Pro Championships, 2nd
2005 Mr. Olympia, 6th
2006 New York Pro Championships, 3rd
2006 Mr. Olympia, 9th
2006 Grand Prix Austria, 4th
2007 New York Pro, 2nd
2007 Colorado Pro Championships, 8th
2008 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro, 2nd
2008 IFBB Europa Super Show, 2nd

Dennis James Posing Video from the 2007 New York Pro:

Silvio Samuel: Confirmed

Silvio turned pro in 2006 after winning World Championships in both WABBA and NAC. Having never competed professionally in Australian before, Silvio will be a top contender bringing two pro wins and two Olympia appearences with him. At a height of 5ft 7" he competes at a reported 225lbs [100kg]. Born in Brazil, he later moved to Nigeria, then Spain

Professional contest history:

2006 New York Pro Show -14th
2007 Ironman Pro - 4th
2007 Sacramento Pro - 2nd
2007 Arnold Classic - 6th
2007 New York Pro Show - 5^th
2007 Europa Supershow - LightWeight, 1st
2007 Keystone Pro Classic - 5th
2007 Olympia - 7th
2008 Arnold Classic - 5th
2008 Houston Pro Invitational - 1st
2008 Ironman Pro Invitational - 4th
2008 Olympia - 7th

Posing at the 2007 Arnold Classic:

Toney Freeman: Confirmed

Toney has competed once prior at the Australian Grand Prix, taking 4th in 2008. With five pro wins to his credit, and two Olympia appearences Toney will be one of the top contenders. The 42 year old American pro is 6ft 2" tall and competes at a reported 295lbs [134kg].

Professional Contest History:

2003 IFBB Night of Champions, 11th
2003 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 9th
2004 IFBB Night of Champions, 10th
2004 IFBB Show of Strength Pro Championship, 8th
2005 IFBB Arnold Classic, 10th
2006 IFBB Arnold Classic, 9th
2006 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 7th
2006 IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 5th
2006 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st
2006 IFBB Mr Olympia, 7th
2007 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 1st
2007 IFBB Sacramento Pro, 1st
2007 IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd
2007 IFBB Mr Olympia, 14th
2008 IFBB Ironman Pro Invitational, 8th
2008 IFBB Arnold Classic, 7th
2008 IFBB Australian Pro Grand Prix, 4th
2008 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro, 1st
2008 IFBB Europa Super Show, 1st
2008 IFBB Mr Olympia, 5th

Toney posing at the 2008 Olympia:

Rusty Jeffers: Confirmed

44 year old Rusty Jeffers is a former training partner of Lee Priest, and gained pro status in 2004 after winning the NPC Masters. This will be his first appearance at the Australian Grand Prix.

Rusty's pro contest record:

2005 Iron Man Pro Pro 12th
2005 San Francisco Pro Pro 16th
2005 Charlotte Pro Pro 12th
2005 Mr. Olympia Wildcard Showdown Pro 5th
2006 Masters Pro World Championships Pro Masters 8th
2007 Iron Man Pro Pro 12th
2007 Sacramento Grand Prix Pro 11th
2008 Iron Man Pro Pro 17th
2008 Atlantic City Pro Pro Masters 11th

Rusty posing at the 2007 Ironman Pro:

Photo click to enlarge:

Grant Pieterse: Confirmed

New Zealand's newest pro Grant Pieterse is confirmed to be making his IFBB pro debut at the 2009 Australia Grand Prix. For more on Grant see his profile, photo below click to enlarge:

Oscar Tua Dexter: Confirmed

Oscar Dexter is a 24 yr old pro from Tahiti. At 6ft 2" tall, he gets over 300lbs [135kg] in the offseason.

Professional contest history:

2007 Montreal Pro Championships - DNP

2008 Grand Prix Australia - 10th

2008 Grand Prix New Zealand - 8th

Oscar posing at the 2008 New Zealand Show:

Lee Priest: Out With Injury

Edit Feb 2009: Lee Priest will NOT compete as he will be getting shoulder surgery, he will be there to meet and greet fans however.

Australian IFBB pro Lee Priest planned to skip 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.

Sergey Shelestov: Was Probable, Not Confirmed Yet

From Russia, Sergey Shelestov competed at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix placing 7th.

Professional contest history:

1997 Grand Prix Russia - 10th
2006 Grand Prix Romania - 3rd
2006 Santa Susanna Pro - 7th
2007 Arnold Classic - 15th
2007 Ironman Pro Invitational - 16th
2007 Olympia - DNP
2007 Sacramento Pro Championships - 12th
2008 Grand Prix Australia - 7th
2008 Grand Prix New Zealand - 4th
2008 Grand Prix Romania - 4th
2008 Olympia - DNP

Photo, click to enlarge:

Photo credit: www.gmv.com.au

Sergey posing at the 2007 Arnold Classic:

Mike Kefalianos: Was Probable, Not Confirmed

IFBB Pro Mike Kefalianos, appears to have just received his pro card late 2008. He is 5ft 6" and competes at a reported 220lbs [100kgs].

Posing routine:

Michael Kingsnorth...Out with an injury

Michael Kingsnorth of New Zealand was a possible in 2009, and had made his pro debut last year at the 2008 Australia Grand Prix placing 12th. He is now a definite out due to injury. Best of luck to Michael with that.

Michael is pictured 2nd from the right below:

Luke Wood...Retired

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

Defending Champ Dexter Jackson looks to be Out

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.

Hide Yamagishi to Compete in 2009 Australian IFBB Pro Show?

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.

Ronnie Coleman: "Australia is a Big Possibility"

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.

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