One of the biggest upsets of the 2024 Arnold Classic weekend in Columbus, OH, was Wesley Vissers’ Classic Physique victory over the 2023 champion, Ramon Rocha Queiroz. In response to feedback from fans questioning that decision, IFBB Pro League Vice President and judge Tyler Manion took to social media to explain the reasoning for his calls in the comparisons.
There were nine judges for the Arnold Classic. Manion is one of the judges the athletes enjoy receiving feedback from. Check out Manion’s assessment in the video below, courtesy of his Instagram page:
Manion began by reminding viewers and athletes that no single mold exists for the division. He referenced Vissers as having a wider waist than Queiroz as an example. However, the positive changes the judges saw Vissers had made played a role in his first-place finish.
“Wesley did such a good job of developing his shoulders and width so much to compensate for that,” said Manion. “He has a very, very crazy shape and taper as well.”
Manion broke down the top two finishers’ presentations pose by pose. He emphasized that the pre-judging round is the most important part of judging. The evening round (also called “finals”) is for confirmation purposes. In this case, pre-judging occurred on the morning of Friday, March 1, 2024, on the Arnold Expo stage. Manion summed up Vissers’ performance in one sentence:
Wesley straight-up nailed it.
Manion pointed out how Vissers was ripped with deeper cuts, taking up more stage space than Queiroz, and had a comparable V-taper. Due to these factors, he gave the nod on the front double biceps pose to Vissers.
Conversely, he offered constructive criticism to Queiroz having less quad separation, appearing smaller than in previous shows, and not hitting poses properly in some cases.
[Queiroz’s] posing hurts him considerably in a lot of these poses.
Manion also gave the side chest pose to Vissers, partly because of the improved balance of Vissers’ legs, with more hamstring development. That, combined with his full chest and arm development, led to a second pose win over Queiroz.
Manion also credited Vissers’ conditioning and cuts in the back double biceps pose. At this point, Manion had all three poses in the round in favor of Vissers. Manion cited that Queiroz did not show as much detail and was pinching his traps, which affected his width.
Manion felt Queiroz’s abdominal-and-thigh pose was superior to Vissers’ because Queiroz had deeper separation in the midsection. However, Manion also gave it to Vissers during the “favorite Classic pose” section, because Queiroz failed to raise his flexing arm high enough, altering the shape of his lats. Vissers hit a similar pose with the opposite arm and had a fuller chest, deeper quad separation, and he held his arm at the proper height.
Manion scored the comparison of poses four to one in favor of Vissers, offering insight on how Vissers could be even better at the 2024 Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas, NV, on Oct. 10-13.
“More hamstring and glutes to complete his physique for the Olympia. Vissers needs to bring his trademark conditioning and fullness that he brought to this show,” said Manion. “This shows that we see what we see on the day of the show. It doesn’t matter what you did previously.”
Many fans will consider Vissers the number one contender to five-time Olympia champion Chris Bumstead at the 2024 Olympia. Time will tell if Vissers applies Manion’s guidance in preparation for that contest.
Featured Image: @t_manion on Instagram
