2010 Arnold Classic Finals
Kai defends his title!
Report by Ron Harris
In a very closely fought battle that I am sure will be revealed to have been down to a mere few points, Kai Greene won his second consecutive Arnold Classic title against a best-ever Phil Heath and an out-for-blood freak of a man named Branch Warren. As I noted earlier today, Phil was looking like the man to beat with his astounding muscle fullness and sliced-to-ribbons condition. In the end, Kai’s superior width and overall greater thickness triumphed. Still, had Phil won there would have been a lot of happy Heath fans. Branch once again received the Most Muscular trophy, bringing his total now to four. In years past, the Most Muscular award seemed to always go to the show’s winner, but more recently it appears to have taken on the role of a consolation prize. Branch was massive, thick and dense, and gnarled with crazy veins and striations. I suspect it was his lack of aesthetics that led to both Kai and Phil preventing him from winning the title he has been working so hard to win for several years now. The many Branch fans in the audience were quite unhappy to see him place third. Dexter was clearly not happy to place fourth, and his fans echoed that sentiment with a chorus of boos. As good as The Blade was, his relative lack of mass is what knocked the former Mr. Olympia and three-time Arnold champ down to fourth against much larger men. Toney Freeman was fifth place, based largely on his dominant height and structure, since I could have easily seen Ronny Rockel, the eventual sixth place finisher, placing above him.
In Kai’s onstage interview with Arnold, he let us all know that he hoped his win would help us all think about doing that thing we’ve been wanting to do for so long but putting off, and also that nothing is impossible. Not long ago Kai couldn’t get a second look on the pro stage, and now he’s a two-time Arnold Classic winner and once again poised to give Cutler and company a strong run for the Olympia title in September.
Kai also won the Best Poser award and $10,000 check for that distinction. As expected, his routine was truly original and creative. At one point, he utilized part of the stage set to assist in a handstand for one unique pose. Melvin Anthony had promised to outdo himself this year to show everyone that he and not Kai was the best poser in the business, but it didn’t seem to me like he put a whole lot of effort into achieving that goal. I’ve seen better routines from him many times before.
Arnold Schwarzenegger also presented this year’s Lifetime Achievement award to fellow movie action hero Sylvester Stallone, who drew several standing ovations from the crowd. I’m sure much of the audience, like me, got a lot of our early inspiration to train from the Rocky movies as well as Sly’s physique in the Rambo films.
In closing, I have to say that this was one of the closest Arnold Classic shows I have ever seen. The top four men all brought their A-game and were all worthy of winning tonight. Sadly, in bodybuilding only one man can stand victorious at the end. Tonight, Kai L. Greene was that man. Having spoken with both Kai and Oscar several times leading up to this event, I know how hard he worked for this and I am happy that it all paid off. Congratulations, Kai!
Top six results and prize money
First Kai Greene $130,000 plus $20,000 watch
Second Phil Heath $ 75,000
Third Branch Warren $50,000
Fourth Dexter Jackson $30,000
Fifth Toney Freeman $15,000
Sixth Ronny Rockel $10,000
http://www.musculardevelopment.com/news/breaking-news/2101-2010-arnold-classic-finals.html
