This weekend is the 30th Arnold Sports Festival event. It has evolved over the last 30 years and has reached several continents, but the main show is always the one in Columbus, Ohio, which this year's event will be this weekend (March 1-4). We haven't done this in a while, but we thought we would give our predictions for the pro female events. Just to be clear...THESE ARE MERELY PREDICTIONS so PLEASE don't get into your feelings, people. On that note, read and enjoy. (NOTE: Due to some new information we received over the past 24 hours, we made some changes to the article)
Fitness International
This show begins the new era of the fitness divsion, because one of the greatest of all time Oksana Grishina retired at the 2017 Olympia, leaving room for a new queen of fitness to emerge. In addition to no Oksana, Myriam Capes (who many consider to be a frontrunner for the Fitness Olympia title later on this year) is also not competing, so it's safe to say that this year is the first time in a long time the Fitness International title is wide open. Based off this year's list and their previous performances, we could see either Bethany Wagner, Regaine Da Silva, or Ariel Khadr taking home the fitness title this year. Kristine Duba has been bringing it year after year and could easily be champ as well. We're happy to see Whitney Jones return to the stage after an injury sidelined her last year. One of the most powerful-looking physiques in the division, we expect her to return to top form and make a run for a top spot. Ryall Graber is also a consistant competitor who is no stranger to placing high in shows, so we think she could be a top-6 placer. Many will be bringing in new routines, so it will be interesting to see how the judges will place everyone this year with Oksana and Myriam not in the line-up.
Our predictions:
1. Regaine Da Silva
2. Bethany Wagner
3. Ariel Khadr
4. Kristine Duba
5. Whitney Jones
6. Ryall Graber
Figure International
For the first time in a while, the top three will NOT be Cydney Gillon, Candice Lewis-Carter, and Latorya Watts. The main reason?! Latorya Watts will not be competing this year. Cydney and Candice are though, as Candice will be defending her Figure International title, and Cydney will try and join Latorya, Jenny Lynn, and Nicole Wilkins as only the fourth woman to win BOTH the Figure International and Figure Olympia titles in their careers. Heather Dees is coming off one hell of a breakout year and could challenge Cydney and Candice for the title easily. Bojana Vasiljevic, the 2017 FitGems Nation Pro Figure Competitor of the Year, has been looking insane during her Arnold prep and could easily be top 6. Ivana Ivusic and Sandra Grajales had amazing shapes last year and are threats in any competition they enter, and this will be no different.
Our predictions:
1. Cydney Gillon
2. Candice Lewis-Carter
3. Heather Dees
4. Bojana Vasilijevic
5. Ivana Ivusic
6. Sandra Grajales
Bikini International
Coming out of her first-ever Bikini Olympia win, we see Angelica Teixeria, our 2017 Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year winner), continuing her winning ways and adding the 2018 Bikini International title. The remining top 4 from the Olympia (Jennifer Ronzitti, Romina Basulaso, and Casey Samsel) will also be competing and there's a good chance they will occupy the top 6 and maybe even challenge Angelica for the title. Frida Paulsen Stern has a very strong presence that we love a lot and could also be a top placer as well this weekend. Justine Munro has one of the most consistantly best physiques in the bikini division and is a top placer in nearly each contest she competes in, and this year's Arnold should be no different.
Our predictions:
1. Angelica Teixeria
2. Jennifer Ronzitti
3. Romina Basualdo
4. Casey Samsel
5. Frida Paulsen Stern
6. Justine Munro
Women's Physique International
There are a lot of great competitors in the women's physique division, with Juliana Malcarne as the reigning 4x Women's Physique Olympia champion. And honestly, anyone has a shot at the Women's Physique International title, as we have seen some surprise placings since this event began in 2015. However, we gotta be honest, it's gonna be downright impossible to beat Natalia Coelho and Shanique Grant this weekend, assuming they are on. If they are, the best everyone else can fight for is third place. Natalia and Shanique are two of the most gifted women in not only the IFBB Women's Physique Division, but in the entire IFBB as a whole. What's scary about the both of them is they are not even at their peak. Let's take Natalia. She competed in a women's physique show WEEKS after competing at the Olympia as a figure competitor. She had been training for figure and not women's physique and DESTROYED the competition. No one was at her level. She's had time to add size and refine her shape for women's physique now. PONDER ON THAT FOR A BIT. After you do that, let's talk about Shanique for a bit. Shanique competed in figure a couple of years ago and was great there. Weeks after that, she did women's physique (again, was training for FIGURE at the time) and dominated HER competition as well. Many called Shanique the biggest threat to Juliana in 2016 AND 2017, but due to unfortate circumnstances (cowards nearly ending her life in 2016 and a injury in 2017) we didn't get the Shanique/Juliana showdown. Now 2018, we could see Juliana vs Shanique AND Natalia in one of the craziest Women's Physique Olympia battle in history. This weekend could be witness to the most insane Women's Physique International showdown to date (and to us, quite possibly the future of an entire division) in Natalia and Shanique. Kira Neuman has been doing her own share of putting in work and could be a top 3 finisher, especially after her previous performances as of late. Rounding out our list is Diana (who has made crazy gains ever since jumping from figure to women's physique), Priscila, and Brooke.
Our predicitions:
1. Natalia Coelho
2. Shanique Grant
3. Kira Neuman
4. Diana Schnaidt
5. Priscila Cavilha
6. Brooke Walker
Those are our predictions for the female pro events at the 30th Arnold Sports Festival. We expect top-tier performances that will be the best you'll see all year sans the Olympia. We are looking forward to seeing how each division kicks off 2018! If you want to watch the event but won't be in Columbus for it, Generation Iron will be broadcasting most of the prejudging and finals from the event here: https://generationiron.com/generation-irons-arnold-classic-2018-live-stream-schedule/, as well as ASF TV, which is sponorsed by REDCON1, who will be providing more than 50 hours of live streaming content throughout the weekend: http://www.arnoldsportsfestival.com/asftv/. If you have any predictions, leave a comment below this post. Best of luck to all that will be competing!
