2024 Arnold Classic Saturday Night Recap
After a very interesting prejudging of the 2024 Arnold Classic, the fans and livestream audience were ready to see who would leave Columbus, OH as the Men’s Open champion. The Men’s Physique and Bikini titles were on the line as well. Here is a small glance of the historic night in the Battelle Grand Ballroom.
Hadi Choopan Wins 2024 Arnold Classic
The conclusion of prejudging last night was defending champion Samson Dauda and former Mr. Olympia Hadi Choopan, who was clearly focused on leaving that stage with the bronze Arnold trophy. The comparisons tonight was intense to say the least, and other men like Rafael Brandao and Akim WIlliams were added to the mix as well.
Before the top six were announced, other awards were presented. Dauda won the Best Poser award and Choopan took the Most Muscular honors. Then it came time for the big moment, and Choopan was named the 2024 champion, giving him all sorts of momentum going into the Arnold UK in just 2 weeks, and then onto the 2024 Olympia. Dauda took runner-up honors.
- Hadi Choopan
- Samson Dauda
- Rafael Brandao
- Jon Delarosa
- James Hollingshead
Lauralie Chapados Three-Peats in Bikini Division
Many people expected Lauralie Chapados to win her third straight Bikini International title in Columbus, but it turned out to be a much closer contest than she thought it would be. Only one point separated her and runner-up Aimee Delgado. The Canadian champion also placed ahead of former Olympia winner Angelica Teixeira, who was making her return to the stage after 3 years. Chapados has now beaten six past Olympia winners in her career, and she’s now qualified for the Olympia this year as well.
- Lauralie Chapados
- Aimee Delgado
- Vania Auguste
- Angelica Teixeira
- Phoebe Hagan
Diogo Montenegro Wins First Arnold Men’s Physique Championship
After several years of trying to win a major title, Diogo Montenegro finally has his Arnold Classic win. He took the Men’s Physique title on Saturday night over runner up Vinicius Mateus Vieira Lima. Montenegro is now also added to the 2024 Olympia lineup as well. Vitor Chaves made it a one, two, three finish for Brazil. Kyron Holden and Corey Morris rounded out the top five.
- Diogo Montenegro
- Vinicius Mateus Vieira Lima
- Vitor Chaves
- Kyron Holden
- Corey Morris
Wheelchair Upset
The biggest upset of the day came earlier in the Arnold Expo. Many fans expected either Harold Kelley or Gabriele Andruilli to win the Men’s Wheelchair title, but India’s Rajesh John shocked the world with his conditioning to become the third different winner in the contest’s history. Andruilli finished in second place. Kelley took fourth place, which shocked the crowd. The rest of the top five are as follows.
- Rajesh John
- Gabriele Andruilli
- Josue Fabiano
- Harold Kelley
- Gaylon Grigsby
Big 2025 News
At the end of the evening, promoter Arnold Schwarzenegger shocked the crowd by announcing that he would be bumping up the Arnold Classic prize money in 2025 from $300,000 to $500,000, which is $100,000 more than the Olympia as of this writing. It remains to be seen if Jake Wood will match that number.
Make sure you tune in to the Muscle Insider YouTube channel to see more great content and interviews with champions from the 2024 Arnold Sports Festival weekend.