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by Christian Duque
The world of bodybuilding and fitness was treated to yet another great competition in the final Arnold Classic of the year, the Arnold Classic South America. Here we saw Rafael Brandau win the big title in a much deserved contest. He brought tremendous condition and fantastic symmetry and flow. Rounding out the top three we had Tonio Burton and Good Vito who was making his pro debut.
Now there’s been a lot of talk about the comparisons particularly with regards to second and third place but there’s also a lot of talk on the message boards about conspiracy theories and which competitor really should have won. What I loved about this show is that every guy in the top three had fans that said he should have won the contest. We call this a nail biter. Everybody had somebody and the promoters hit it out of the park with fans all over the world chiming in.
I will say though that the right person won the contest in my opinion. Even though he is from Brazil, I feel that’s a minor detail, when talking about who should have emerged with the title. Rafael was bigger and more conditioned than the other two guys but that does not mean that it was not a tough battle all the way around. That’s what we love about bodybuilding. As fans we hate going to a show where there’s a clear-cut winner and a clear-cut runner-up and everything just sort of falls into place. You want there to be speculation and you want the judges to be stumped. This is why I think they had to call out the top three as often as they did but they really didn’t call out the top three – they called out second and third way more than they would have had they called out all three guys. And a lot of the media outlets picked up on this because that generally doesn’t happen. So why did the judges do it?
I think that how you score competitors is very important in a subjective sport like bodybuilding. Judging panels oftentimes take a lot of grief for the placings after the fact and if they haven’t done enough comparisons then they really don’t have much in terms of a rebuttal to angry fans that think their competitor should have won. With regards to this particular show I think first place was locked and secure. I think Rafael wanted to win this show very badly given that this was his hometown crowd.
Brazil has become a driving force in the sport of bodybuilding and it is single-handedly the birthplace of wellness. Even though the division flourished in Europe no one can argue the fact that Brazil is the home of that particular division and it’s also a hotbed for classic physique.
Every country is different. In the United States physique-based sports will always be dominant in terms of the Olympia and the Arnold Classic but in regards to mainstream appeal I would say that Brazil is substantially farther ahead than the United states. In Brazil bodybuilding is hardly a niche sport. it is far more acceptable and I think countries get behind competitors.
This is because in some parts of the world when a bodybuilder wins a competition they’re not doing it just for their team or for their gym but for their country. Look at how Egypt treats Big Ramy or how Iran treats Hadi. We can’t say the same about the United States and Ronnie or Jay. As I said each country is different and each country has a different type of fanbase for the sport. When it comes to Brazil the whole country comes out and this is why it was so important for Rafael to win this competition. I believe he brought his A-game and was able to keep both Tonio and Good Vito at bay. The problem is the judges couldn’t decide who should be second and who should be third without bringing out those two guys for a series of comparisons that hopefully put their doubts to rest.
I have to commend Nick’s Strength and Power for pointing out the obvious. We oftentimes see the top three brought out and posed extensively but we have very rarely if ever seen second and third posing against each other to the extent that we saw. Also to give kudos where kudos are deserved, Nick pointed out that by comparing second and third place as much as they did, it gave Rafael a tremendous amount of breathing time backstage. While Tonio and Good Vito were posing their hearts out to show the judges which one deserved the higher placing, Rafael was backstage chillin like a villain.
This is important because he would eventually take the top spot but he honestly wasn’t working nearly as hard as second and third place. This is noteworthy because in the grand scheme of things we don’t normally see this kind of comparison. I have been covering the sport for well over 15 years and I had never seen as much of a comparison between second and third place as was seen at this particular show. And what that means is that Good Vito gave his all and so did Tonio. To be quite honest with you I was under the impression that we were going to see Tonio emerge victorious but I can totally see why Rafael got the win.
Was it politics?
We are not supposed to talk about politics in the sport of bodybuilding. It’s like that 10,000 pound elephant in the room that everyone knows is there but it’s also a topic that can get you in a lot of trouble if you decide to start talking about it. The Federation would like it to be a moot point but the fans will talk about it endlessly.
There is always a reason why a fan’s particular bodybuilder did not walk away with the victory. We have heard it all the way back to the days of Larry Scott and Sergio Oliva. The fans do not take well when their favorite bodybuilder does not win a competition. and I will tell you that Tonio is the kind of bodybuilder that a lot of competitors want to get behind. He rose the ranks of the 212 and was able to break into the open category and win shows there as well. Very much like Shaun Clarida and Derek Lunsford, Tonio is one of those guys that would not accept any kind of limitation on his physique or the goals he set for himself. When you think of underdogs his name comes to mind.
That being said Rafael was just too good this past weekend even for Tonio. I will tell you that Tonio was definitely on his game and was able to keep Good Vito in that third place spot. Tonio does not have the fanbase at GV has nor does Rafael and this is why we have so much blowback on the message boards, Facebook groups, and even in gyms across the country and around the world.
The one thing you can count on when you have a competitor with a big social media following is that no matter where they place unless they win their fans are going to be absolutely out of their minds furious. GV is a phenomenal bodybuilder that has tremendous wheels and once his upper body catches up he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. That being said, I think it’s very important to point out that getting top three in a pro debut is incredibly impressive. This doesn’t happen everyday and this competitor should be very proud of his accomplishments. He clearly worked very hard during his prep and it showed on stage. And that is something else that is also noteworthy when it comes to a pro debut.
A lot of guys will look phenomenal a week or two out on social media and then look like a pile of crap on stage on game day. That’s not what happened with Good Vito. He had a great prep and he kept the fans and the media updated throughout his social media feeds. Then he hunkered down and flew right into Brazil and everything came together. Even though he took third to Tonio it should be noted that he was so on the judges had to compare the two guys like they had never compared two guys that placed second and third before. This is a tribute to both Tonio and GV because it shows just how conditioned, proportionate, and muscular both guys were. it is the ultimate compliment to stump the judges in the way that both of these guys did.
What this also says is that Rafael clearly dominated the competition. The judges had him first and didn’t second guess it very much at all. If they had they would have made more comparisons between Tonio and Rafael but they really didn’t. Tonio was only in the middle for a brief amount of time towards the end of the competition. This is a compliment to him that the judges thought of him in first place even for a split second. Like I said he really brought his game and looked phenomenal. But at this particular contest it just wasn’t enough to knock out Rafael. I know that a lot of people want to talk about politics and I certainly don’t shy away from the topic but I think that it’s in this particular competition the judges did their due diligence and I really have no problem with the scoring especially in the top three.
As always we are talking about a very subjective sport and everybody will have their own opinion. I will say though that I like the judging here and I think that they did a good job. I also like the lighting which I think is very important and I like the fact that the competitors were not rushed through the mandatory poses. All in all I’m very happy with the competition but it isn’t just about what I think, it’s a lot about what you think. Do you agree with the scoring? Do you think Rafael should have won? Do you think Tonio should have been second? Or do you think a GV should have been placed higher? Maybe you had somebody totally different as the winner. Who knows? I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at Iron Magazine and I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Who knows maybe I’m the one that’s totally wrong!
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