Mediterranean muscle

Flex, Sept, 2008 by Andrew Michalak

Playa de Aro in Catalonia, Spain, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, played host May 16-19 to two major EBFF events: the 2008 European Men's Bodybuilding Championships and the EBFF annual congress, run by the EBFF (and IFBB) President Dr. Rafael Santonja. These championships, which included contests for classic bodybuilding and amateur mixed pairs, were held in the spacious Palacio de Congresos and brought a record 137 athletes representing 28 countries competing in 13 different categories.

Men's bodybuilding began with the lighter classes. In the bantamweight division, Spaniard Miguel Ramirez proved unbeatable, receiving perfect scores in all rounds. Vyacheslav Makogon of Ukraine impressed the judges with his muscle mass and separation, bringing him a win among lightweights. Two-time (2006-07) welterweight winner Nikolay Chernetsky of Russia staved off all challengers, taking his third victory in that division. He had landed just outside the top five at the Elite Tour contest in Blagoveshchensk, Russia, last fall, but was in top form here. Igor Losev, the computer programmer from Moscow who won the light-middleweight division in 2007, defended his title against a determined effort by Oscar Marin of Spain, who repeated his 2005 achievement of taking the runner-up spot in this class.

2008 EUROPEAN MEN'S BODYBUILDING CHAMPIONSHIPS

May 16-19,2008; Playa de Aro, Spain

COMPETITOR            COUNTRY

   Bantamweight

1  Miguel Ramirez                 Spain
2  Michal Hlinka                  Slovakia
3  Grzegorz Sochacki              Poland

   Lightweight

1  Vyacheslav Makogon             Ukraine
2  Aydin Bicen                    Turkey
3  Ignacio Valera                 Spain

   Welterweight

1  Nikolay Chernetsky             Russia
2  Hamida Ghiles                  Spain
3  Francesco Melis                Italy

   Light Middleweight

1  Igor Losev                     Russia
2  Oscar Marin                    Spain
3  Beila Balog                    Ukraine

   Middleweight

1  Josep Merino                   Spain
2  Marian Cambal                  Slovakia
3  Juan Gimenez                   Spain

   Light Heavyweight

1  Vugar Verdiyev                 Azernaijan
2  Prierre Chamoun                Sweden
3  Andriy Kukharchuk              Ukraine

   Heavyweight

1 Manuel Manchado (and overall)   Spain
2 Roman Dusushkin                 Russia
3 Rafael Barrios                  Spain

   Super Heavyweight

1 Dimitar Dimitrov                Bulgaria
2 Ramzes Tlyakodugov              Russia
3 Marek Oleijniczak               Poland

   TEAM RANKINGS

1 Spain
2 Poland
3 Czech Republic
4 Russia
5 Ukraine

Then came the heavier classes. Appearing extremely massive onstage, Josep Merino of Spain won all three rounds and the middleweight title, but the next two positions were hard-fought. It seemed that Marian Cambal of Slovakia, who placed third in this class in 2007, would repeat, but he moved up one slot to take runner-up honors. Juan Gimenez of Spain took third.

Vugar Verdiyev of Azerbaijan, who placed second as a middleweight in 2007, moved up a class to win his first gold medal. He was followed by Pierre Chamoun of Sweden, second-place winner in the light heavyweights at the recent Arnold Amateur Championships, and by new Ukrainian star Andriy Kukharchuk, who took the third spot.

Manuel Manchado of Spain dominated the heavyweights, making his mark after a few years of relative obscurity. He was rewarded with the overall bodybuilding title, as well. The silver went to Roman Dudushkin of Russia. A surprise challenge for the third spot arose in the form of AnotoUy Kudlay of Ukraine-the 2007 World Amateur masters overall champion--but Rafael Barrios of Spain outshone hs

The super heavyweights proved to be an interesting battle, particularly between Bulgarian giant Dimitar Dimitrov and new Russian "pyramid" Ramzes Tlyakodugov. Dimitrov had a rough start in the first two rounds, and it seemed the shorter yet very muscular Tlyakodugov might come out on top, but he settled for second and Marek Olejniczak of Poland held onto third place (as he had done in this division in 2007).

COMPLIED BY JAMES RILEY