The III Innar Mardo Memorial is already history: 16 Estonian championship titles and 2 Fitness.ee Cup winner’s trophies have found their owners.
Wanting to give more support to potential future Olympic disciplines, fitness and classic bodybuilding, the EKFL decided to stop organizing the bodybuilders’ Elite Tour stage and to offer an international competition with prize money instead, one where our athletes would also have more of a say. Another key factor in reaching this decision was the Elite Tour operators’ unwillingness to introduce doping control.
This year, turnout of foreign competitors suffered because of a short advertising campaign and relatively poor timing (1 week before the classic bodybuilding World Championships).[/p]
[p]The plan is to add a bodybuilding category next year and, in the future, perhaps bodyfitness as well, and to build the event into a good-quality international competition.
Below I will briefly comment on what I saw, mainly from a coach’s point of view.
Bodybuilding, youth. Five entrants is not so few, but unfortunately the athletic preparation was rather poor. Whatever the physiques, these are very young men, but posing can surely be learned. Anton Ostroglazov beat Andres Malleus convincingly (6:1), but it is sad that a young man with good physical potential has not progressed noticeably, especially in terms of contest condition. Both men should train hard. In a few years, something could come of it!
Bodybuilding, juniors. Three athletes showed a decent level (by our standards). Ilja Siimon won the up to 75 kg category convincingly on debut. The heavier juniors’ title and the overall title went to Mikk Raudsepp, whom quite a few people consider the heir to Ott Kiivikas’s mantle. This is without doubt an athlete with good potential who could reach the international level in bodybuilding, a discipline in which few manage to break through.
Eiko Rapur also showed progress, and I see good prospects ahead in classic bodybuilding. In a situation where veterans dominate our national team, the emergence of every young athlete is a welcome event! Of course, reaching that level takes time (and effort!), but these young men still have time.
Bodybuilding, men. With the rise of classic bodybuilding, the number of our competitors in the bodybuilding category has logically dwindled quite a lot. In the up to 80 kg category, 45-year-old Valter Olonen surprised with a clear win and one of the driest physiques of the whole competition; a body weight of 68 kg would allow thinking about competing in classic bodybuilding as well. For the first time in a while, Valju Jagomäe showed decent shape by personal standards, and a solid silver medal was the reward. Third place went to the biggest and heaviest of them all, Andrei Abrossimov. Unfortunately, preparation was lacking once again: you don’t climb higher with big arms alone. Ott Kiivikas had to settle for gold and the fate of being the only competitor among men up to 90 kg. Ott was at personal-best level, and it was needed in the overall category contest![/p]
[p]Marek Morozov weighed 90.1 kg, comfortably beat Marek Liiva and took first place in the 90+ category. The price was poorer condition, because two or three kilos were left in “reserve”. We will have to wait and see when MM realizes that potential.
Bodybuilding, women. Two of the three athletes competed in their proper discipline. With the judges’ votes at 4:3 in the physique assessment, the better free routine tipped the scales more firmly in Merike Sula’s favor. With sharper condition, Gerbel Mikk could have won too.[/p]
[p]Bodyfitness. As in the rest of the world, so in Estonia: the number of competitors in this discipline keeps growing. Eight competitors is already a number that creates some excitement. It’s nice that this time nobody had come just to joke around. In the up to 163 cm category, Laura Reisalu won clearly and showed the best form so far. There were six taller women and, as you might expect, the judges’ scores tended to fluctuate more than usual. The top three deserved their medals! Christina Alev had clearly stepped forward over the year, and first place in the overall category was a logical result. In the tight battle for the remaining medals, Annika Summel came out on top, showing good “homework”, i.e. condition, in a first competition. Katrin Pärt paid dearly for falling behind in the swimsuit round.[/p]
[p]I wish all the women persistence and strength for hard muscle training, without which there is nothing to be done on the international stage.[/p]
[p]Fitness. Two foreign competitors, from Latvia and Lithuania, made the competition tighter here. It was a “1 + 3” contest. Natalia Nazarenko-Kiivikas showed what a fifth place in the world is worth. Liisa Otsus fought it out with the guest competitors, and in the end just one point separated 2nd and 4th place. A third-best physique and a third-best routine added up to fourth place this time.
To one day turn that potential into a medal at adult-class championships, there is still a lot of hard training and development ahead!
Classic bodybuilding. Six of our own competitors were joined by Finnish champion Utti Hiatala, who could not manage more than fourth place in this field of competitors but was the best poser. The handing out of medals in this category was certainly one of the more exciting moments of the competition evening, and Marek Kalmus emerged from it as the winner with a “clean score”, having shown incredible progress over the year, in both muscle mass and condition. A well-deserved second place went to Taavi Koovit, who had taken a 10-year break from competing and whose upper body is fantastic. I wonder what it would be worth in big international competition!? Imre Vähi was at his familiar good level, but this time simply lacked “horsepower”; the reward was the Estonian championship title in the up to 180 cm category. Indrek Viska’s potential (classic proportions!) is waiting to be realized: more muscle mass is needed, and that takes time.[/p]
[p]Overall category. For the first time in several years, Ott had to push hard and show up at peak form to win the historic tenth championship title. It came narrowly, but securely. Well done!
Unfortunately, Marek’s and Taavi’s fate was decided by their legs.
The best free routine title went deservedly to Ott, but I must say that several other routines stood out too, ones that had clearly had work put into them. Whether MM earned extra points from the judges with the routine remains open, but the audience was not bored.
See the photos from the III Innar Mardo Memorial on the forum, here!
Bodyfitness -163 cm
1. Laura Reisalu
2. Vitaliya Dmitrieva
Bodyfitness +163 cm
1. Christina Alev
2. Annika Summel
3. Katrin Pärt
4. Natalja Song
5. Svetlana Filippova
6. Natalja Zubkova
Bodyfitness overall
1. Christina Alev
Bodybuilding youth
1. Anton Ostroglazov
2. Andres Malleus
3. Sander Jürgenson
4. Sander Kuusk
5. Sergei Mihnevit¨
Bodybuilding juniors -75kg
1. Ilja Siimon
2. Taavi Talah
Bodybuilding juniors +75kg
1. Mikk Raudsepp
2. Eiko Rapur
3. Mihhail Gorjat¨ev
Youth and juniors overall
1. Mikk Raudsepp
Women’s bodybuilding
1. Merike Sula
2. Gerbel Mikk
3. Kristina Voronova
Men’s bodybuilding -80kg
1. Valter Olonen
2. Valju Jagomäe
3. Andrei Abrossimov
4. Ahti Jakson
Men’s bodybuilding -90kg
1. Ott Kiivikas
Men’s bodybuilding +90kg
1. Marek Morozov
2. Marek Liiva
Women’s fitness
1. Natalia Nazarenko-Kiivikas
2. Liisa Otsus
Classic bodybuilding -180cm
1. Imre Vähi
2. Aleksei Zavjalov
Classic bodybuilding +180cm
1. Marek Kalmus
2. Taavi Koovit
3. Indrek Viska
4. Jüri Leinvald
Classic bodybuilding overall
1. Marek Kalmus
Men’s overall
1. Ott Kiivikas
2. Marek Kalmus
3. Taavi Koovit
4. Imre Vähi
5. Valter Olonen
6. Marek Morozov
Clubs
1. Reval Sport
2. Sparta
3. University of Tartu Academic Sports Club
Best free routine
Ott Kiivikas
Best veteran
Valter Olonen
Classic bodybuilding – open category – Fitness.ee Cup
1. Marek Kalmus
2. Taavi Koovit
3. Imre Vähi
4. Utti Hietala (Finland)
5. Indrek Viska
6. Jüri Leinvald
7. Aleksei Zavjalov
Women’s fitness – open category – Fitness.ee Cup
1. Natalia Nazarenko-Kiivikas
2. Olga Aleksejeva (Latvia)
3. Irina Nikitina (Lithuania)
4. Liisa Otsus
Author: Indrek Otsus
Come and train! ArtGym
