The Nigerian Lion goes from bronze to gold
Although his trip to Orlando, FL didn’t lead to a first-place finish, Samson Dauda still impressed the judges enough to capture the bronze medal on the 2023 Mr. Olympia contest. Coming off a robust showing that saw him make the leap from sixth to 3rd in his second Olympia appearance, the Nigerian Lion wasted no time stepping on stage again.
Only one week after sharing the rostrum with newly crowned champion Derek Lunsford and 2022 winner Hadi Choopan, Dauda delivered a decisive win on the 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro. Held over the weekend of Nov. 10-12, 2023, competitors from nine of the 11 IFBB Pro League divisions put their physiques on display in Bucharest, Romania, with Dauda taking home top honors within the Men’s Open category.
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2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro Division-by-Division Results
The 2023 Romania Muscle Fest Pro featured nine division battles — only certainly one of which ended with a Romanian native emerging victorious. Listed below are the complete results from the competition:
Men’s Open
Heading into the competition, most expected Samson Dauda to dominate the Men’s Open division — and the large bodybuilder didn’t disappoint. The 2023 Arnold Classic winner secured his second victory of the yr (and a $10,000 prize) by besting 2022 Romania Muscle Fest Pro champion Behrooz Tabani Abarghani, who couldn’t compete on this yr’s Olympia on account of visa issues. Surprisingly, Nathan de Asha, who also missed the most important bodybuilding show of the yr after being denied entry into the USA, finished fourth.
- Samson Dauda (United Kingdom)
- Behrooz Tabani Abarghani (Iran)
- Marcello de Angelis Rezende (Brazil)
- Nathan De Asha (United Kingdom)
- Mohamed Foda (Egypt)
- Andrea Presti (Italy)
- Alfred Chiriac (Romania)
- Volodymyr Byruk (Ukraine)
- Jan Turek (Czech Republic)
- Kevin Brucher (Germany)
- Gianluca Di Lorenzo (Italy)
- Roberto Buonomo (Italy)
- Pavel Cervinka (Czech Republic)
- Hameed Juma (Bahrain)
- Anton Bippus (Denmark)
- Pavel Beran (Czech Republic)
212 Bodybuilding
Like Dauda, Ahmad Ali Ashkanani enjoyed a more successful outing in Romania than he did in Florida. Coming off a fifth-place finish within the Olympia 212 division, the Kuwait native secured his spot within the 2024 Olympia by ending ahead of Giuseppe Zagarella and Radoslav Angelov, who took second and third, respectively.
- Ahmad Ali Ashkanani (Kuwait)
- Giuseppe Zagarella (Italy)
- Radoslav Angelov (Bulgaria)
- Alexandru Vasile Uta (Romania)
- Lucas Garcia (Brazil)
- Dawid Cnota (Poland)
- Daniel Vasilica (Romania)
- Vincent Alliot (France)
- Junior Pagula (Brazil)
- Morad Zahir (Morocco)
- Victor Eric Lopez Garcia (Mexico)
- Vincente Santamaria (Spain)
[Related: Chris Bumstead Claims Fifth Consecutive Classic Physique Championship at 2023 Mr. Olympia]
Classic Physique
Having already won the 2023 Europa Pro back in September, Wesley Vissers earned his second pro show win of the yr. The Classic Physique competitor finished seventh on the 2023 Olympia and can look to enhance upon that mark in Las Vegas, NV, on Oct. 10-13, 2024.
- Wesley Vissers (Netherlands)
- Ruben Lopez Reyes (Spain)
- Alexander Westermeier (Germany)
- Sebastien Theurel (France)
- Ali Shams Ghamar (Iran)
- George Achampong (Denmark)
- Nicolas Alberto Concepcion (Philippines)
- Mehmed Mehmedov (Bulgaria)
- Chris Pistolas (Greece)
- Pekka Kotipohja (Finland)
- Milos Stojanovic (Serbia)
- Francesco Della Vedova (Italy)
- Karol Rogaczewski (Poland)
- Luc Andre Steinker (Germany)
- Fernando Gornals Margol (Spain)
- Alberto Milani (Italy)
Men’s Physique
Stepping on stage for the primary time for the reason that 2022 Warsaw Pro, Miroslav Juricek made essentially the most of his return with a clean sweep of first-place votes. Because of this, the Czech Republic native will get to make his Olympia debut next yr.
- Miroslav Juricek (Czech Republic)
- Caike DeOliveira (USA)
- Furker Er (Turkey)
- Mohammad Ali (Austria)
- Jeffrey Darko (United Kingdom)
- Alessandro Cavagnola (Italy)
- Mauro Fialho (Spain)
- Alexandru Panek (Romania)
- Alessandro Colacchi (Italy)
- Andrea Amato (Italy)
- Andrea Antonelli (Italy)
- Giuseppe Riserbato (Italy)
- Jaime Maso Lopez (Spain)
- Hamad Al-doseri (Bahrain)
- Oskar Tchorzewski (Poland)
- Mishal Alhassan (Saudi Arabia) — Tied for sixteenth
- Aryan Ali (Germany) — Tied for sixteenth
- Nasreddine Bouakouk (Algeria) — Tied for sixteenth
- Nikolay Rashkov (Bulgaria) — Tied for sixteenth
- Jose Luis Rivas (Spain) — Tied for sixteenth
Women’s Bodybuilding
Leyvina Rodrigues Barros cemented her case as certainly one of the highest female bodybuilders on this planet by parlaying her well-balanced physique right into a well-earned victory within the Women’s Bodybuilding division. After ending well outside the highest 10 in her Olympia debut in 2022, she’s going to look to vault up the standings within the 2024 contest.
- Leyvina Rodrigues Barros (Brazil)
- Anastasia Korableva (Romania)
- Tiana Flex (South Africa)
- MayLa Ash (USA)
- Barbara de Freitas Moojen (Brazil)
- Hagit Seindlis (Israel)
- Jacqueline Fuchs (Switzerland)
- Viktoria Knysh (UAE)
- Gemma Lancaster (United Kingdom)
- Ivana Dvorakova (Czech Republic)
- Simone Ellis (England)
[Related: Try This Beginner Bodybuilding Routine If You’re Looking To Build Mass]
Women’s Physique
Raluca Raducu represented Romania well by narrowly beating out runner-up Caroline Alves Dos Santos for the Women’s Physique division title. A one-point advantage allowed the IFBB Pro to stamp her ticket to the 2024 Olympia.
- Raluca Raducu (Romania)
- Caroline Alves Dos Santos (Brazil)
- Sahar Rahmani (Iran)
- Natalia Bystrova (Russia)
- Silvia Cuartero Martinez (Spain)
- Julia Glazycheva (Russia)
- Jo Kelly (United Kingdom)
- Modesta Halby (Denmark)
- Marina Kassinopoullou (Cyprus)
- Emilija Martic (Canada)
- Tanya Chartrand (Canada)
- Petra Osterwald (Switzerland)
- Dany Jacot-Descombes (Switzerland)
- Christina Kremser (Austria)
- Sarah Crail (Australia)
- Emilia Balkova (Bulgaria) — Tied for sixteenth
- Tatiana Bulut (Turkey) — Tied for sixteenth
- Cristina Chatti (Spain) — Tied for sixteenth
- Diana Hristova (Bulgaria) — Tied for sixteenth
- Lisa Kurzamann (Austria) — Tied for sixteenth
- Laura Pyszora (United Kingdom) — Tied for sixteenth
- Natalia Spierings (United Kingdom) — Tied for sixteenth
Figure
Two years faraway from earning runner-up status on the Romania Muscle Fest Pro, Tereza Linhartova took home the title within the Figure division. Her ultra-sculpted physique and posing skills gave her the decisive edge over Romanian Stefana Sandu.
- Tereza Linhartova (Czech Republic)
- Stefana Sandu (Romania)
- Rejoice Godwin (Spain)
- Jennifer Reece (Canada)
- Jennifer Zienert (Germany)
- Sonja Ivanov (Germany)
- Daiane Aparecida Freitas (Brazil)
- Maria Ignacia Mas Delgado (Spain)
- Veronica Gallego Garcia (Spain)
- Anna Kohckar (Ukraine)
- Behnaz Nasrollahi Azar (Germany)
- Charlotte Goubet (France)
- Helen Zavitsanou Pistolas (Greece)
- Yadviga Zakurina (Russia)
- Maria Ignacia Mas Delgado (Brazil)
- Reem Albareeq (Bahrain) — Tied for sixteenth
- Vanessa Happle (Germany) — Tied for sixteenth
- Cristina Araujo Silva (Spain) — Tied for sixteenth
- Lubomira Steftcheva (Bulgaria) — Tied for sixteenth
Bikini
After settling for second place on the 2023 Italian Olympus Pro back in October, Alice Marchisio achieved her goal of earning a gold medal. Her first pro win gives her a probability to compete within the Olympia.
- Alice Marchisio (Italy)
- Valerya Fedorenko (Ukraine)
- Giuditta Taccani (Italy)
- Dorottya Zoe Toth (Hungary)
- Kerry Sexton (United Kingdom)
- Rania Stamatiadou (Greece)
- Irene Iravedra Cunarro (Spain)
- Violeta Palamarchuk (Ukraine)
- Lorena Blanco (Spain)
- Andrina Scharli (Switzerland)
- Luca Katai (Hungary)
- Sara Lujza Rogacsi (Hungary)
- Mara Carro (Germany)
- Natalia Koursari (Greece)
- Aleksandra Duba (Poland)
- Johanna Durr (Germany) — Tied for sixteenth
- Noemi Lavacca (Italy) — Tied for sixteenth
- Anna Thaarup (Denmark) — Tied for sixteenth
[Related: Major Change to Mr. Olympia Qualification System Will Have Immediate Impact on 2023 Contest]
Wellness
Despite being certainly one of the last competitors to enter the show, Gisele Machado proved she’s still a force to be reckoned with within the Wellness division. The Brazilian bodybuilder claimed her fourth pro show victory of 2023 in lopsided fashion, earning unanimous first-place votes. Although she didn’t compete within the 2023 Olympia, Machado should take the stage in Las Vegas in 2024.
- Gisele Machado (Brazil)
- Paula Dominguez (Spain)
- Sandra Colorado Acal (Spain)
- Klaudia Vanessza Csuri (Ukraine)
- Dainora Dvarionaite (Lithuania)
- Lexy Oliver (Italy)
- Valentina Mabrouk (Italy)
- Houda Hmini (Morocco)
- Rosa Benadero Munoz (Spain)
- Laleska Bruschi (Brazil)
- Lisa Beck (Germany)
- Carlotta Tonelli (Italy)
- Marjelle De Cock (Belgium)
- Lenia Fernandes (Portugal)
- Laurene Gaudelier (France)
- Celandine Holenweg (Switzerland) — Tied for sixteenth
- Lidia Melero (Spain) — Tied for sixteenth
Featured Image: Samson Dauda / Instagram