On Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, two more men had their names added to compete in the 2023 Arnold Classic, set to take place on the weekend of Mar. 2-5, 2023, in Columbus, OH. Chinedu Andrew Obiekea, a.k.a. Andrew Jacked, and Patrick Moore have joined the roster, now set at nine IFBB Pro League Men’s Open athletes. The updated roster is below, with names in alphabetical order:
2023 Arnold Classic Roster
- William Bonac
- Shaun Clarida
- Samson Dauda
- Kamal Elgargni
- Chinedu Andrew Obiekea
- Patrick Moore
- Justin Rodriguez
- Nick Walker
- Akim Williams
The recent addition of contestants could be connected to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s announcement that the prize money for the winner would be increased from $200,000 to $300,000. The field initially had eight competitors, but Charles Griffen and Blessing Awodibu dropped out of the contest shortly after the roster was released.
The Arnold Sports Festival announced Andrew Jacked’s entry on their Instagram page in the following reel:
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Jacked has an opportunity to make bodybuilding history at this contest. Jacked is the 2022 Arnold Amateur winner, which is how he earned pro status. No man has ever won the Arnold Amateur and then won the Arnold Classic the following year. Jacked also has one Arnold title to his credit already — he won the 2022 Arnold Classic UK contest. Jacked finished in eighth place at the 2022 Mr. Olympia, won by Hadi Choopan.
Moore’s name was added to the official roster on the Arnold Sports website. He has not made a formal announcement about joining the roster at the time of this article’s publication. This will be the sixth-year pro’s first contest since 2021 when he finished in 14th place at that year’s Mr. Olympia. He took the 2022 season off.
Moore is a two-time California Pro winner, having won that show in 2019 and 2021. He has been on the Arnold Classic stage before; he finished 13th in the 2020 contest.
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The 2023 Arnold Classic is the 35th edition of the contest that originated in 1989. Any athlete other than Walker or Bonac who wins will be the 20th champion in the contest’s history (Bonac and Walker are previous Arnold Classic champions). Fans in Columbus can purchase tickets to the show at the Arnold Sports website, and those who want to watch from home can purchase the pay-per-view provided by Fanmio.
Featured image: @patricktmoore on Instagram
