1st place was Chris Cormier (at 260lbs). He had it won from the moment when he first came out on stage. Chris just pointed to the deep cuts in his quads and the impact simply blew everyone else away! His back was also fantastic with a degree of definition and width that was near perfection, and will surely challenge Ronnie in both the Arnold Classic and the Olympia later this year. It was a third IM victory for “The Real Deal” Chris Cormier, in the best condition of his life.
Chris's routine was complete with his signature buttocks-wobble pose! Sadly Flex Wheeler has pulled out of all the GPs and the Arnold Classic in this present period. We understand this is for medical reasons.

2nd place was Marvellous Melvin Anthony. He had a classic physique with very few faults and was somewhat of a smaller version of Cormier.  Melvin also had a sensational lat spread and one of the best posing routines in the contest. He is a protégé of John Brown's school of master posing. Anthony is a reasonably new pro and displayed good definition and wonderful condition and is destined for major victories in the future.

3rd was another new pro called Shari King Kamali. This man is a sensation! Born in Iran he had a perfect tan and showed a degree of professionalism and aggression not displayed by most of his fellow competitors. His sheer determination and raw aggression marks him as a man also to watch for future greatness. This was his first pro show and this 3rd placing has got him an Olympia entry for this October. I felt his great strength was his overall symmetry and excellent condition. He joins the elite few who have qualified for the Olympia in their first Pro outing.  

A word on his posing - it was the most entertaining routine of the night in a similar vein to Vince Taylor's posing style. He lives in Washington DC and looks forward to the Arnold in 2 weeks' time.

4th and just outside the Olympia qualification was J.D. Dawodu from UK. He was in the best condition of his life and so gained his highest pro show placing. It was only the symmetry round that let him down a bit as his arms, back and delts were not bettered by anyone. In fact I feel J.D. has probably the most perfectly shaped arms in BB along with Lee Priest.

 5th was Craig Titus and this was the first time I have taped him in a contest. Judges told me this was the best he has looked for 2 years and Craig is now back and ready to push the top guys. He has a great physique while he is not as tall as some of his peers. But he makes up for it with a very positive and determined attitude on stage and had excellent condition and posed his arms to great effect.

6th was Garrett Downing, and 7th was Lee Priest who was recovering from illness and was extremely brave to compete at all. Under the circumstances Lee looked outstanding and posed with great style.

Impromptu guest poser was Jay Cutler at around 280 pounds!
There were 2 SPECIAL AWARDS:
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to ARMAND TANNY.
The Artie Zeller Award went to GENE MOZEE.

It was a wonderful contest with 24 top competitors. I complement John Balik and Mike Neveux and all the IM staff for a superb event. Mike Neveux's lighting was the best contest lighting I have ever worked under with my video camera.

For an in-depth interview with King Kamali click here.

2001 IFBB IRON MAN PRO INVITATIONAL   It was a 3-peat victory for “The Real Deal” Chris Cormier, in the best condition of his life. In second place was the posing maestro "Marvellous" Melvin Anthony and in third place, newcomer "King" Kamali. The King also performed a wonderful routine that brought the house down. This DVD includes key comparisons from the Prejudging; posing by all 24 competitors, the complete posing routines of the top 10; pose-down, awards and impromptu posing by JAY CUTLER. V-170DVD

2001 IFBB IRON MAN PRO INVITATIONAL PUMP ROOM   John Balik's Iron Man Pro Show kicked off the 2001 season with 24 fantastic competitors. King Kamali said he would come into his first pro contest big and strong, and strong he did, scaring even the toughest around. However in the end, Chris Cormier repeated as champion of the first pro show of the year. You will see pump room highlights from both our cameras. Then we show, using the front central camera, the individual compulsory poses for the top 10 guys - a lesson for all competitors on how to really do these poses!! V-171DVD

See a Complete Index of Iron Man Pro DVDs.