Winners Announced for Sixth Annual Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Bikini and Men’s Physique Championships

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       March 8, 2012

Winners Announced for Sixth Annual Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding,

Fitness, Figure, Bikini and Men’s Physique Championships

Columbus, Ohio – About 600 of the top amateur competitors from around the world and USA competed in the Arnold Amateur IFBB International Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Bikini and Men’s Physique Championships at Veterans Memorial Auditorium and the Greater Columbus Convention Center March 1-4 as a part of the Arnold Sports Festival.

Overall winners in each division include:

• Men’s Bodybuilding – Stefan Havlik of Slovakia
• Men’s Classic Bodybuilding – Alessandro Galli of Italy
• Women’s Bodybuilding – Olga Puzanova of Russia
• Fitness – Melinda Szabo of Hungary
• Figure – Olga Gallardo of Mexico
• Figure Masters – Nina-Marie Richter of South Africa
• Bikini – Ashley Kaltwasser of USA
• Men’s Physique – Josh Bowmar of USA

“Athletes represented 50 different countries this year making it one of the biggest international events of its kind,” said Bob Lorimer, owner of MetroFitness Gyms and the events co-producer with the Fitness Factory’s Mike Davies.   “We are fortunate to collaborate with such fantastic partners like Rafael Santonja, President of the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Jim Manion, President of the Nation Physique Committee who help us bring together so many talented competitors,” Lorimer added.

Overall winners at the Arnold Amateur contest in men’s bodybuilding, women’s bodybuilding, fitness, figure and bikini divisions may petition their national federations for pro status in the IFBB Professional League.  Arnold Amateur winners who earn Pro cards will be invited to compete in a future Arnold Classic, Ms. International, Figure International, Fitness International or Bikini International.

Overall winners received an Arnold VIP ticket package and were recognized on stage with Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Overall winners were also recognized at the sponsor luncheon and at the Arnold Morning Weekend Review.

The winner of each weight or height class received a Tony Nowak Arnold Classic jacket.  The top five competitors in each weight or height class received trophies.  All competitors received a sponsor gift bag, 3-day admission to the Arnold Fitness EXPO and tickets to the Arnold Fitness Training Seminar.

Page-2

The top five competitors are listed for each division and weight class.  For a complete listing of competitors, they’re numbers and how they placed, see the official score sheet.

Overall Amateur Men’s Bodybuilding winner:  Stefan Havlik of Slovakia

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding Men’s competition include:

• Lightweight, up to 70kg: 1^st Nazin Ilya, Russia; 2^nd Lee Lap Chi, Hong Kong; 3^rd Jose Carlos Sousa Santos, Brazil; 4^th Luciano Karim, Brazil; 5^th Lin Shu Qing, Hong Kong.

• Welterweight, up to 75kg: 1^st Roman Cortuna, Philippines; 2^nd Francisco De Assis, Brazil; 3^rd Bader Ebrahim Sultan, Bahrain; 4^th Javier Martin De La Cruz Miranda, Peru; 5^th Kevin Gan, Philippines.

• Light Middleweight, up to 80kg: 1^st Mahmut Irmak, Turkey; 2^nd Luiz Carlos Sarmento, Brazil; 3^rd Chris Jones, United Kingdom; 4^th Masahi Suzuki, Japan; 5^th Hernan Dario Alvarez Lugo, Venezuela.

• Middleweight, up to 85kg: 1^st Charles Mario Soares, Brazil; 2^nd Cengizhan Igdir, Turkey; 3^rd Esequiel Alves Conceicao, Brazil; 4^th Ahmed Osman Raslan Al Zayat, Egypt; 5^th Mark Grech, Australia.

• Light Heavyweight, up to 90kg: 1^st Jose Angel Bustamante, Venezuela; 2^nd Brian Hart, USA; 3^rd Jon Griffith, United Kingdom; 4^th Tony Searle, Canada; 5^th Abdullah Mubarak Hemdan Al Rahby, Oman.

• Heavyweight, up to 100kg: 1^st Stefan Havlik, Slovakia; 2^nd Oleksandr Slobodyanyuk, Ukraine; 3^rd Miha Zupan, Slovenia; 4^th Igor Vybornov, Russia; 5^th Fontana Paolo, Italy.

• Super Heavyweight, over 100kg: 1^st Dalibor Hajek, Czech Republic; 2^nd Aliaksei Shabunia, Belarus; 3^rd Daniel Toth, Hungary; 4^th Sergey Bazarov, Russia; 5^th David Titterton, United Kingdom.

Overall Arnold Amateur Men’s Classic Bodybuilding winner:  Alessandro Galli of Italy

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Men’s Classic Bodybuilding competition include:

• Up to 175cm: 1^st Dmitry Yashankin, Russia; 2^nd Aleksander Barbashin, Russia; 3^rd Damian Witkowski, Poland; 4^th Bobby Khan, United Kingdom; 5^th Marcello Rafaelli, Brazil.

• Up to 180cm: 1^st Alessandro Galli, Italy; 2^nd Michal Sitter, Czech Republic; 3^rd Aleksei Shaev, Russia; 4^th Oleksandr Kyslyi, Ukraine; 5^th Denis Maleev, Russia.

• Over 180cm: 1^st Gerardo Samaniego, Paraguay; 2^nd Amando Xavier Moura, Brazil; 3^rd Luiz Vinicius Exaltacao, Brazil; 4^th Takis Venios, Australia; 5^th Roberto Andre De Meirelles, Brazil.

Page-3

Overall Amateur Women’s Bodybuilding winner:  Olga Puzanova of Russia

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Bodybuilding Women’s competition include:

• Lightweight, up to 55kg: 1^st Lo Kit Ming, China; 2^nd Wanda Keeler, USA; 3^rd Christine Zadel, Australia.

• Heavyweight, over 55kg: 1^st Olga Puzanova, Russia; 2^nd Gastaldi Federica, Italy; 3^rd Bento De Souza Gianni, Brazil; 4^th Maria Rita Penteado, USA; 5^th Maureen Donlevy Clary, USA.

Overall Amateur Fitness winner:  Melinda Szabo of Hungary

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Fitness Championship include:

• Up to 163cm: 1^st Melinda Szabo, Hungary; 2^nd Amy Nichols, USA; 3^rd Shannon Goering, USA; 4^th Janaina Barbosa De Matos, Brazil; 5^th Mary Stockbridge, USA.

• Over 163cm: 1^st Marta Aguiar, Uruguay; 2^nd Fiona Harris, Canada; 3^rd Olga Guryeva, Russia; 4^th Rebecca Clem, USA; 5^th Shannon Gill, USA.

Overall Amateur Figure winner:  Olga Gallardo of Mexico

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Figure Championship include:

• Class A, up to 155cm: 1^st Jacqueline Thomas, USA; 2^nd Nelu Millican, USA; 3^rd Amber Miles, USA; 4^th Kerlande Martial, USA; 5^th Mary Carriedo, Canada.

• Class B up to 159cm: 1^st Iara Vieira, Brazil; 2^nd Kelly Booth-Hater, USA; 3^rd Kris Lynn Smith, USA; 4^th Sandra Tacza Zapata, Peru; 5^th Katie Noval, USA.

• Class C, up to 163cm: 1^st Olga Gallardo, Mexico; 2^nd Zory Garasimchuk, USA; 3^rd Bruna de Costa Miyagui, Brazil; 4^th Jyl Marie Stoltenberg, USA; 5^th Tia Borbely, USA.

• Class D, up to 167cm: 1^st Stephanie Matthews, USA; 2^nd Danielle Ferreira, USA; 3^rd Susann Cardot, USA; 4^th Teagan Posey-Benson, USA; 5^th Jessie Hilgenberg, USA.

• Class E, up to 170cm: 1^st Alessandra Barata, Brazil; 2^nd Allison Moyer, USA; 3^rd Meni Moskowski, USA; 4^th Samantha Dunbar, Australia; 5^th Caroline Zawadski, Brazil.

• Class F, over 170cm: Tia Trent, USA; 2^nd Viavra Centeno; 3^rd Kelsey Boe, USA; 4^th Tina Anderson, USA; 5^th Dawn Bailey, USA.

Page-4

Overall Amateur Figure Masters winner: Nina-Marie Richter of South Africa

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Figure Masters Championship include:

• Short Class: Lynn Nichols, USA; 2^nd Marli Rodrigues; 3^rd Tracy Grogg, USA; 4^th Angie Morales, USA; 5^th Nicole Wilkenfeld, USA.

• Medium Class: 1^st Tiffany Karnig, USA; 2^nd Brenda Lauver, USA; 3^rd Lenora Angels, USA, 4^th Yvonne Melendrez, USA; 5^th Viviana Smerilli, USA.

• Tall Class: 1^st Nina-Marie Richter, South Africa; 2^nd Emi Perez, Spain; 3^rd Yolanda Slaughter, USA; 4^th Valerie Richman, Canada; 5^th Sheila Salinas, USA.

Overall Amateur Bikini winner: Ashley Kaltwasser of USA

Other winners of the Arnold Amateur Bikini Championships include:

• Class A, up to 155cm: 1^st Francine Slobodnik, USA; 2^nd Elspeth Dana, USA; 3^rd Jessica Fletcher, USA; 4^th Samantha Maycock, USA; 5^th Kerin Mertini, USA.

• Class B, up to 159cm: 1^st Gemmalyn Crosby, USA; 2^nd Lauren Russel, USA; 3^rd Danesa Robles, USA; 4^th Melanie Velasquez, USA; 5^th Rachel Greba, USA.

• Class C, up to 163cm: 1^st Catherine Textoris, USA; 2^nd Oksana Pavlova, Ukraine, 3^rd Jessica De Francesca, USA; 4^th Midori Rutledge, Canada; 5^th Martine Gauthier, Canada.

• Class D, up to 167cm: 1^st Ashley Kaltwasser, USA; 2^nd Marcia Goncales, Brazil; 3^rd Carrie Hensman, Canada; 4^th Magret Edda Gnarr, Iceland; 5^th Holly Barker, Canada.

• Class E, up to 170cm: 1^st Nikola Weiterova, Slovakia; 2^nd Olga Svyrdova, USA; 3^rd Magnea Gunnarsdottir, Iceland; 4^thRita Catolino, Canada; 5^th Laura Markle, USA.

• Class F, over 170cm: 1^st Dagbjort Gudbrandsdottir, Iceland; 2^nd Adalheidur Yr Olafsdottir, Iceland; 3^rd Anna Virmajoki, Finland; 4^th Jessica Pendergrast, New Zealand; 5^th Nakita Nedd, USA.

Overall Men’s Physique winner: Josh Bowmar of USA

Other winners of the Arnold Men’s Physique Championships include:

• Short Class: 1^st Andre Jackson, USA; 2^nd Le’Var Phoenix, USA; 3^rd Shaka Smith, USA; 4^th Michael DelZoppo, USA; 5^th David Gonzalez, USA.

• Tall Class: 1^st Josh Bowmar, USA; 2^nd Alberto Umana, USA; 3^rd Mike Pulley, USA; 4^th William Robbins, USA; 5^th Christopher Robinson, USA.

Page-5

The Arnold Sports Festival features 45 sports and events, 11 Olympic sports, 18,000 competitors, and more than 180,000 spectators.

For more information visit: www.arnoldamateur.com, www.arnoldsportsfestival.com.

Media Contacts:            Matt Lorz                                    Brent LaLonde

Lorz Communications                        Arnold Sports Festival

(614) 443-1877                        (614) 431-2600

mattlorz@rrcol.com                        brent@arnoldexpo.com