THE 20TH ANNUAL IRON MAN PRO!  HISTORIC FINAL IM EVENT

This annual Californian Pro event was held, along with the LA FITNESS EXPO, in the Los Angeles Convention Center on January 24th. 2009.

The show opened with Lonnie Teper’s tribute to the winners of the Iron Man contests over the past 19 years as a prelude to this the 20th year of the event. The past winners who were present were then presented on stage such as Shawn Ray, Chris Cormier, Flex Wheeler, Jay Cutler, Dexter Jackson and Phil Heath.
This was a special moment for a group photograph with contest promoter John Balik.

There were 28 competitors from 14 countries making this an extremely even lineup. The top five were as follows:

1.    Silvio Samuel – Spain
2.    Moe Elmoussawi – NZ
3.    Ronny Rockel – Germany
4.    Hidetada Yamagishi – Japan
5.    Ahmad Haidar – Lebanon

All five are eligible to compete in the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest.
Not surprisingly the lighting by Mike Neveux and his crew was outstanding. It is always the best contest stage lighting I see at any event each year.

These top 5 champions were all in superb condition, hard and shredded.

This 3 hour dual layer DVD includes all the highlights from Prejudging through to posing by all competitors at the Finals, plus the awards. Also includes the Special Presentation to John Balik.

Silvio Samuel of SPAIN goes into the record books as the Final Winner of the 20th Iron Man Pro contest.

Highlights & Extra Scenes:
Past IM winners – from the last 20 years
Award to John Balik and special tributes from Arnold & Cory Everson
R.I.P. bodybuilding icons
Closeup footage from second camera
BodySpace Spokesmodel Search
Photo Gallery
Running time of Extra scenes: 35 mins

Testimonial:

Hi Wayne:
I received the order Sat. March 28th. The 2009 Iron Man Pro DVD is awesome.  The coverage was great.  I loved the closeups. I would not have wanted to be a judge for this contest.
Thanks,
Ron Carlson
USA

Wayne’s HARD NEWS REPORT on the event.

Here are the complete Results:

2009 Iron Man Pro:
January 24th, 2009, Los Angeles Convention Center, California.

1. Silvio Samuel SPAIN  (Photo Gallery)
2. Moe Elmoussawi NEW ZEALAND  (Photo Gallery)
3. Ronny Rockel GERMANY  (Photo Gallery)
4. Hidetada Yamagishi JAPAN  (Photo Gallery)
5. Ahmad Haidar LEBANON  (Photo Gallery)
6. Eddie Abbew UK
7. Mohamad Bannout LEBANON
8. Mark Dugdale USA  (Photo Gallery)
9. Marcus Haley USA
10. Johnnie Jackson USA  (Photo Gallery)
11. Troy Alves USA  (Photo Gallery)
12. Oliver Adzievski SWEDEN
13. Martin Kjellstrom SWEDEN
14. Thomas Benagli ITALY
15. Con Demetriou AUSTRALIA  (Photo Gallery)
Rusty Jeffers USA
Tamer El Shahat EGYPT
Don Long USA
Fedel Clarke USA
Cesar Mendible VENEZUELA
Adorthus Cherry USA
Oleg Emelyanov RUSSIA
Aiman Faour LEBANON
DeShaun Grimez USA
Marc LaVoie CANADA
Daron Lytle USA
Evgeny Mishin RUSSIA
Omar Deckard USA

Bodybuilding.com Online People’s Champion: Silvio Samuel

Special Surprise Presentation:

To John Balik for promoting the Iron Man Pro event for the last 20 years, with  the help of his partner Mike Neveux and all of his loyal staff and helpers. John gave an outstanding speech thanking all who had  contributed to this wonderful contest over the years.

Photography courtesy Iron Man Magazine: Michael Neveux, Savanna Neveux, Roland Balik and Michael Jude Adelmann. Title sponsor was ProFight Supplements with Presenting Sponsors Bodybuilding.com and Gaspari Nutrition.

We are very sad to say that this was the last Iron Man Pro contest. It has been our privilege at GMV to be closely associated with this event.