A MINUTE OF THE 2006 EURO ELITE TOUR
Andrew Michalak
EBFF Press Commission

The Euro Elite Champions Tour was initiated by the EBFF in 2006 to show the best European bodybuilders in a new style and give them the possibility to win money. Each show includes one open category for men and, optionally, one open category for women fitness. This “tour” consists of a number of contests intended to athletes who already have good results in amateur international competitions and who could eventually turn pro. The thing is that the professional world is completely different from the amateur’s one and competitors need a little practice before diving into the pro division world. The European continent is currently lacking pro and amateur Invitational contests and European competitors who want to compete overseas have only little chance to meet success in the US.
Yet we’ve always had efficient promoters, highly qualified officials and judges; we have big venues and big sponsors.
Now we have the Euro Elite Tour.

The Athletes

The series is opened to all amateur bodybuilders; however they need to clear their status with their National Federations first. Then, National Federations nominate athletes to the Elite Tour series and, after arranging the EECT License (EUR 100 per year) they are entitled to participate in the series of shows.

The Judges

The best IFBB judges judge the shows, nominated by the Elite Tour Management Committee, run by Pawel Filleborn, who has been recently elected to the position of IFBB Judges Committee Chairman. There are seven judges in the panel but no more than two from the host country. This guarantees that the judging is fair and disinterested. Judges have much more time for scoring as there are four rounds (instead of three at the championships), a special individual presentation at the beginning (each competitor performs several poses) and all athletes are allowed to perform their posing routine (not only the top five finalists).

The prizes

The minimum prize money has been established at the level of EUR 10 000 but in Kiev it was raised to EUR 12 300 and in Moscow to EUR 18 000. The winner received EUR 4000 in Moscow, EUR 3200 in Kyiv and EUR 3000 in other shows. The total prize money awarded in all five events reached EUR 62 300.

The most successful competitors in the 2006 Elite Tour:

The sites

The 2006 shows were held in the biggest European metropolis like Moscow, Kiev, Prague and Tallinn. The other one was held in the beautiful British spa, Portsmouth, but the organizers already declared to move it to a bigger city in order to attract a much bigger audience. The most impressive show was held in Kiev, where the “Ukraine” Concert Hall with 3500 seats was packed with viewers and the world top fitness girls delivered a great artistic experience.
The biggest prize money was offered in Moscow (over EUR 18 000) and Tallinn offered a memorable contest, combined with the 40th anniversary of the Estonian bodybuilding Federation. Each host city tried to do something special, something extraordinary and this trend will be continued in 2007.
This type of show is so attractive that all five 2006 organizers have already declared they would repeat the event in 2007. And many others, when they saw the first events, also declared they would organize this type of show in their countries. Spain, Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Austria and one Nordic country will soon join the group of promoters, so the total number of ten events will be achieved.

Coming Next

The 2007 shows will take place prior or after the European Men Championships (May 4-7 in Baku, Azerbaijan) and prior or after the World Men Championships (November 25-29, Jeju City, South Korea). 2006 showed that the Elite Tour organizers prefer the dates after the continental or World Championships, when the top competitors are in top shape. Some organizers already confirmed their 2007 Elite Tour shows:

Nov. 03 Moscow, Russia “Ironman” Elite Tour USD 20 000 USD 20 000
Nov. 06 Blagoveshchensk, Russia “Amur” Elite Tour USD 20 000 USD 20 000
Nov. 10 Tallinn, Estonia “Innar Mardo” Elite Tour EUR 10 000

Wow! The stake-money is going up. Several others promoters are making their final arrangements yet and will be added soon.

IFBB President, Dr. Rafael Santonja drew his first conclusion about the Euro Elite Champions Tour: “With this concept we are giving to national federations and organizers all over Europe the opportunity to place superb quality events to be offered to the national fans and to be joined by their best national athletes that will have a golden opportunity of competing with the top European competitors at home, surrounded by their public. The concept has already proved to be a very successful formula, and the future is plenty of opportunities for everybody.”

Simply, Europe needed this type of show!

ELITE TOUR GALA IN KYIV
Kyiv, Ukraine, June 3rd, 2006

By Andrew Michalak
EBFF Press Committee Chairman
Photos by

Euro Elite Champions Tour is new series of contests for the best European amateur bodybuilders. It was long-awaited, intriguing and great unknown. Who will come to participate in, who will come to judge, who will come to see this event?

Kyiv is one of the oldest towns in Europe, celebrated its 1,500th anniversary in 1982. Last year Kyiv was the host city of the biggest European Eurovision Song Contest, this year it is a place of the first Euro Elite Tour bodybuilding contest.

Among the invited competitors we could see there groups. The first group included athletes who participated in the 2006 European Men Championships like Dariusz Karpinski (heavyweight and overall European champion), Marek Borowicz, Eric Castagnet (bronze medal winners) and Ott Kiivikas. The next group consists of the former European or World Championships participants, who specially prepared top condition for this event: Vyacheslav Pilikov, Arvydas Mickus, Vitaly Grechukhov, Jakub Potocki, Stefan Orosz, Pedro Villa. And the last group was formed with competitors coming from the other organizations or new faces at the international level: Manuel Manchado, Sergey Dukhota, Dmitry Golubochkin, Oleg Konovalov, Anatoly Kudlay, Dmitry Rameyko.

“Ukraina” Concert Hall, the biggest one in the country, was selected as a venue site. The Hall is very impressive, with big amphitheater audience of over 3500 light-blue seats for spectators and stylish lobby. Exactly at 6:00 pm professional announcer, dressed in a classic tuxedo, began the opening ceremony, which included speeches of Sergey Bubka (Ukrainian Olympic Committee President), Pawel Filleborn (EBFF Vice-President) and Andrey Dolgokir (Ukrainian Bodybuilding Federation President).

It was clear from the first comparisons that Orosz, Karpinski, Villa and Dukhota will be in the top group. Orosz, 1995 world champion, is a bodybuilder with almost perfect body structure and muscularity. In Kyiv he had a very demanding rival, current European heavyweight and overall winner Dariusz Karpinski. Orosz won two muscularity rounds 6:9 over Karpinski but in the routine round they both were tied 8:8. It seems that the routine is not Orosz’s strongest point.

The first Euro Elite Tour in Kyiv was a come back of Sergey Dukhota to the IFBB. Dukhota, 33, was massive but had problem with thigh definition. He had to struggle with Pedro Villa to keep the 3rd place. Villa is not very big but very proportional and symmetrical. He was one of the hardest, if not the hardest competitor on stage in Kyiv but lack deeper separation in some areas (thighs, back).

Vitaly Grechukhov was the second Ukrainian in the finals but he had not the easy way to get to the finals. He had to struggle with two giants: Dmitry Golubochkin and Arvydas Mickus as well as with the second competitor from Spain, Manuel Manchado. They all had 32 - 36 points in the first round and Mickus was the leader of this group but Grechukhov is a real posing routine champion, so he moved up after the second round.

The first Elite Tour was great: the venue was great, the organizers were great and the athletes were great. Next emotions will be in Moscow, Tallinn and Portsmouth. Show must go on!

Some organizers want to combine men bodybuilding contest with women fitness. Of course, flexible and lean girls, performing artistic, attractive routines are always wanted. In Kyiv we saw seven women but of the highest level, with world and continental champions: Svetlana Kotchkina, Natalia Mikhaylova, Margarita Belinska and junior star Maria Alexeeva. Fitness fans were delighted. Now we can only wish the next promoters to maintain the level of the inaugural event what will not be an easy task.

KIRILENKO AND POCIUS AT THE TOP
“IRONMEN” ELITE TOUR IN MOSCOW
Record prize money of US $ 22 900!

By Andrew Michalak
EBFF Press Committee Chairman
Photos by Vladimir Dubinin
Saterday, 4th November

After Kyiv, Moscow was the next large East European metropolis to stage the second Euro Elite Tour series bodybuilding show. We have seen 16 new competitors, compared to the Kyiv inaugural event and there would be even more, but several athletes failed to arrange Russian entry visas on time. All of them were taken from the airport to the “Izmaylovo Hotel”.

The contest took place in the Moscow Government Concert Hall at Novy Arbat – the new street illuminated during the night in the style of the Las Vegas streets. The Russian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation, in cooperation with the main sponsor – “Ironman” – prepared a record prize money of US$ 22 900 and an additional US$ 2000 for the best routine.

Two competitors run a very tough battle on the stage in Moscow: Pavel Kirilenko of Russia and Rolandas Pocius of Lithuania. Pocius displayed much sharper definition in Moscow and his incredible mass (118 kg) was very impressive, so he could battle point by point with perfectly prepared Kirilenko. After the first two rounds the result was 8:9 for Kirililenko – the minimal possible difference!

Moreover, they were tied 8:8 in the routine. What a close battle! You can imagine the level of emotions in the third – the last round, which decided about the title and US$ 5000 trophy. Very massive Pocius, fantastic in the “Most Muscular” pose and “Side Triceps” pose, against shorter but very full and cut-up to the bones Kirilenko, with his “flag ship” bodypart – the legs – rounded, hard and striated. Who will win? Judges still hesitated and the result of this round was 7:8 for Kirilenko;

The third place and US$ 3 000 went to the current 100 kg category world champion Robert Piotrkowicz of Poland. As usual, very hard and with deeply separated muscles (legs!) but not enough mass to make an impact to the top two.

Yuri Leonov of Russia and Lukas Osladil of the Czech Republic struggled for the fourth place. Leonov has not been known at the international level, focused mainly on the national contests. He developed very proportional and complete muscularity and showed good condition in Moscow. This was the decisive factor as he won two physique assessment rounds.

The contest was perfectly prepared by the Russian Federation under the leadership of its president, Mr. Vladimir Dubinin, who is well-experienced in organization of this type of events and is supported by the team of highly qualified administrators and judges. The next chance for the Elite Tour athletes to battle for trophies and money will be in the middle of November in Prague, Czech Republic.

2006 NUTREND EURO ELITE CHAMPIONS TOUR – PRAGUE
ROLANDAS POCIUS’ FIRST WIN!

Andrew Michalak,
EBFF Press Commission Chairman
Wednesday, November 15th, 2006

Prague, Czech Republic. The weather in Central Europe was nice. Legendary “Golden Prague” (“Zlata Praha”) seems to gracefully display their gold, red and yellow, covering this historical city, full of the medieval “pearls” of architecture.
The “Nutrend Euro Elite Champions Tour”, autumn series, took place ten days after the meeting in Moscow (November 4th). Most of the top competitors came to Prague. The goal : win bigger money. The question was – how big?
Radoslaw Slodkiewicz, from Poland, super heavyweight class bronze medal winner at the recent World Men Championships in Ostrava, joined the group to challenge the second competitor from Moscow, the Lithuanian athlete Rolandas Pocius.
Event promoter Stanislav Pesat (EBFF General Secretary and Czech Federation President) could organize this contest just two weeks after the World Men Championships in Ostrava thanks to the great support of Eva Sukupova (IFBB Women’s Committee Chairwoman) and his business partner Jiri Patyk.
It was clear from the first poses that nobody could do any damage to Pocius. Big (118 kg at 178 cm), full and hard, he is improving his condition from contest to contest, coming better to Moscow and much better to Prague. This time his legs were hard and presented deeper separation but Rolandas still can have them better.
Slodkiewicz is the opposite. Legs are his premier body part and he knows how to display them to make an impression on the viewers and judges. He couldn’t challenge Pocius for the top trophy this time and had to run heavy combat with the other two competitors: 100 kg class world champion Robert Piotrkowicz and 90 kg class world runner-up Lukas Osladil.
Slodkiewicz was second in both muscularity assessment rounds and lost 3 points to Osladil in the routine round but finally kept the second position. Osladil showed the best separation and definition at this contest but he needs a bit more overall mass to be competitive to the giants. Piotrkowicz lost a bit of definition compared to his World Championships condition and it was the main reason of his minimal defeat from Slodkiewicz and Osladil. The next pair of competitors: Dalibor Hajek and Arkadius Szyderski battled for the 5th place finally granted to Hajek.
This was the first Elite Tour show won by the super heavyweight champions. Stefan Orosz (winner in Kyiv) and Pavel Kirilenko (winner in Moscow) represented lighter categories. Also Lukas Osladil and Robert Piotrkowicz proved in Prague that being in top condition could be dangerous to the giants.

2006 INNAR MARDO EURO ELITE CHAMPIONS TOUR – TALLINN
SHABUNIA ENTERS THE GAME

By Andrew Michalak,
EBFF Press Commission Chairman
Saterday, 25th November
Photo: Lee Williams, Eric Bui

Ten day passed from the Elite Tour in Prague and competitors were in their route to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. It was the first international bodybuilding event in this country. The revival of the Estonian bodybuilding has been possible due to the personal energy and work of the new Estonian Federation President, Mr. Arnold Tokko, surrounded by a group of very resourceful officials like Indrek Otsus, Ergo Metsla or Erik Jassi.

Competitors and foreign guests came to Tallinn on Friday, November 24. The same day the Press Conference with the champions and officials was held in the hotel in the evening hours. New IFBB President Dr. Rafael Santonja, came to Tallinn to participate in the Elite Tour and meet with the Nordic Bodybuilding Federation officials in the luxury “Rewal Olympia Hotel”, where all athletes and guests were accommodated in.

The main celebrations of the 40 anniversary of the Estonian bodybuilding took place during the opening ceremony at the contest. Estonian Federation prepared a special commemorative medal, which was presented to the President of IFBB, Dr. Rafael Santonja, Mr. Toomas Vitsut, chairman of the Tallinn Town Hall, Mr. Juri Tamm, Vice-President of the Estonian Olympic Committee, top officials of the Estonian Federation as well as many distinguished former administrators, judges and athletes. On the other hand, the President of IFBB, Dr. Rafael Santonja presented IFBB silver medals to Mr. Arnold Tokko – “the real ambassador of our sport”, as he titled Arnold. Mr. Indrek Otsus was honored with the IFBB Bronze Medal.

All viewers and other competitors waited with great emotions to see Aliaksey Shabunia, the top European bodybuilding star from Belarus, who entered the Elite Tour for the first time. His main rivals in Tallinn were well-know from earlier Elite Tours in Moscow and Prague. Among them we saw two super heavyweight giants: Rolandas Pocius of Lithuania (winner from Prague) and Radoslaw Slodkiewicz of Poland (second in Prague), Robert Piotrkowicz of Poland (3rd in Moscow) and Lukas Osladil of the Czech Republic (3rd in Prague).

Shabunia, 123 kg, was big, full and hard. He looked fantastic, specially his rounded thighs and big shoulders. He won easily all rounds and became the fourth Elite Tour Champion this year, following Stefan Orosz, Pavel Kirilenko and Rolandas Pocius. Rolandas Pocius took the 2nd place in all rounds. He was in his best shape in Prague but he failed to maintain top definition till Tallinn.

An incredible battle took place between two Polish bodybuilders: Slodkiewicz and Piotrkowicz for the third place and EUR 1000 trophy. Slodkiewicz lost a bit of his definition, compared to Prague and Piotrkowicz the opposite – improved it significantly and regained the third place won in Moscow. Slodkiewicz finished fourth, just ahead of Lukas Osladil, like in Prague. Osladil lost a bit of his hardness and definition and he had do his best in the routine to defend his fifth place against strongly attacking Sergey Kozin of Russia. Kozin is a very tall bodybuilder, 191 cm, and despite the current bodyweight of 125 kg he needs more mass.

CNP EURO ELITE TOUR IN PORTSMOUTH
SHABUNIA’S SECOND VICTORY!

By : Wanda and Bill Tierney
Photo: Lee Williams, Eric Buy
Sunday, 26th November

Portsmouth has seen many battles in the past and although this was a friendly one, it was still a big battle. It has been a long time since the UK has seen top European amateurs competing on stage, but thanks to promoter Kerry Kayes from CNP Sports Supplements and Wanda and Bill Tierney, EBFF officials, the audience was treated to the first Euro Elite show in the UK and what a show it was!

After competing in Tallinn on Saturday 25th November, 7 athletes and 2 officials travelled the very next morning to Portsmouth to compete again at the CNP Euro Elite Champions Tour Cup. Twelve countries and 22 athletes, it was the biggest line-up of all the Euro Elite series up to now.

When the show started, it was clear from the very beginning that Aliaksey Shabunia would be hard to beat. He had won the day before in Tallinn, Estonia and had the complete package. Poland took the second and third place home, with Robert Piotrkowicz and Radoslaw Slodkiewicz battling till the very last round. In this last round the judges decided that it was Piotrkowicz who deserved to be the runner-up and Slodkiewicz had to settle for a third place.

Fourth place went to Rolandas Pocius, who has a wonderful balanced physique but needs to be in better shape. These changes of places from contest to contest showed us how the rivalry was tough and how small alterations of body conditions influence the results.

Zoltan Toth from Hungary was the new face on the Euro Elite Tour series. He showed top quality upper body, hard and striated but his legs were smaller and smooth. He tied with a very well balanced Lukas Osladil. Both Round 1/2 and Round 3 saw them head to head and the 5th and 6th place were only decided by the Relative Placement Method. In the end there were more judges, who placed Zoltan Toth higher than Osladil and Toth took fifth place.

All 22 athletes had something to give and make this a show to remember. CNP Elite Tour event in Portsmouth closed the 2006 series. With record number of participants and positive opinion of promoters and officials it was a happy end and now we can only await bigger and more emotional shows in 2007.

Chief Judge: Pawel Filleborn (Poland)
Panel judges: Stanislav Pesat (Czech Republic); Jose Ramos (Spain); Dianne Bennett (United Kingdom); Tone Opheim (Norway); Walter van den Branden (Netherlands); Dennis Christopher (United Kingdom); Philippe Lefelle (France).