Australian Grand Prix - Forerunner of the Arnold Classic Australia
#TBT 2001 Australian Grand Prix
Forerunner of the Arnold Classic Australia
The second staging of the Arnold Classic Australia takes place in Melbourne this coming weekend, March 18-20. In fact this contest is an extension of the Australian Grand Prix, which was launched in 2001 by bodybuilding’s man-about-the-globe, and ace promoter, Tony Doherty. This 16th consecutive antipodean extravaganza now stands as the third longest established bodybuilding contest on the IFPB Pro calendar. Numbers one and two being, respectively, the Mr. Olympia (est. 1965) and the original Arnold Classic (est. 1989), which takes place annually in Columbus, Ohio.
The resourceful Tony has been a fixture on the internationals bodybuilding scene for some 25 years. I first met him in 1990 in New York, just prior to that year's Night of the Champions. He was accompanying an unknown Sonny Schmidt, while I was accompanying another nonentity called Dorian Yates. (Yates finished second and Sonny sixth in New York and a year later replicated those finishes at the 1991 Olympia.) Tony and I struck up an immediate friendship based on our humor, roots and the fact that nobody knew who the bloody hell we were.
STARTING WITH A BANG
Proof that Tony wanted that first ever Australian Grand Prix to go off with a bang was underlined by the fact that he started the evening finals with a pyrotechnic display wherein a line of explosives detonated on stage. The close proximity of the athletes to this fiery display seemed to threaten their safety, and asked why he decided on such a explosive beginning, Tony, in typical fashion, replied, “You have to be mad in this game, mate.” That first-ever Aussie Grand Prix was staged on March 17, Saint Patrick's Day, and Tony has been rolling in the green ever since.
The winner of the event was Chris Cormier, who earlier that spring had won the Ironman, the San Francisco Pro and had finished second to Ronnie Coleman at the Columbus Arnold bash. However seven days before his Melbourne assignment he had finished second, behind Dennis James, at the European Pro Championships in Budapest, Hungary, so he wasn’t exactly the favorite as he journeyed toward Southern Hemisphere climes.
Tony and his figure competitor wife, Amanda, are the consummate hosts as the jet lagged competitors learned as they arrived in Melbourne to be whisked to a carb-replenishing and energizing giant barbecue feast sizzling outside Doherty’s Gym – then his sole workout emporium but now part of a chain.
In the end Cormier took top spot (as he did for the next two years) relegating Dennis James to second with Dexter Jackson in third. After the event Cormier spoke for all athletes as he said, “This is the best time I’ve ever had at a bodybuilding contest: The food, the show production, the hotel, the food, Tony's gym, the food, the atmosphere, everything was first class – did I mention the food.”
That summed up the whole experience for everyone and those sentiments have echoed down the years throughout the past 15 stagings of the Melbourne event. For all the news on the 16th rendition stay tuned to musculardevelopment.com
2001 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX: FULL RESULTS
1. Chris Cormier: USA
2. Dennis James: USA
3. Dexter Jackson: USA
4. J. D. Dawodu: UK
5. Jaroslav Horvath: Slovakia
6. Oleg Zhur: Czech Republic
7. Melvin Anthony: USA
8. Garrett Downing: USA
9. Stan McCrary: USA
10. Luke Wood: Australia
11. Christian Lobarede: Chile
12. Mark Lampard: Australia
13. Matt Mclean: Australia
14. Anthony Wingett: Australia
Withdrew: Andrei Cadariu Romania