PNN
New Delhi [India], November 27: The movers and shakers of India’s fitness industry converged in Mumbai in November for Asia’s biggest bodybuilding events – the prestigious Steadfast Nutrition Bharat Pro Show and the Amateur Olympia, both sponsored by Steadfast Nutrition- India’s leading sports and wellness nutrition brand and held at Asia’s largest fitness festival – the International Health, Sports, and Fitness Festival (IHFF) 2023. The Steadfast Nutrition Pro Show, a highly-anticipated event in India’s sporting calendar and the third-ever in India gives five winners a direct entry to Mr Olympia, the world’s ultimate bodybuilding tournament (former winners include legends Arnold Schwarzenegger, Phil Health, and Dexter Jackson). The Amateur Olympia is the country’s biggest championship for aspiring bodybuilders. 600 athletes competed in both the tournaments.
Steadfast Nutrition became the first brand to sponsor a pro show in India in 2022, a milestone for the sport of bodybuilding in the country. The prestigious championship draws top athletes and bodybuilders from India and abroad.
The brand aims to make India the World’s Sports Capital by 2050. Besides the Steadfast Nutrition Pro Show and the Amateur Olympia, Aman Puri-led Steadfast Nutrition has consistently sponsored several bodybuilding championships each year, including the Sheru Classic Pro Qualifiers and the National Physique Committee’s bodybuilding tournaments in its endeavour to make bodybuilding a mainstream sport due to its growing popularity in India.
Speaking about the championships, Steadfast Nutrition founder Aman Puri said, “By throwing our weight behind the pro show for the third time in a row, and the Amateur Olympia for the fourth year, Steadfast Nutrition has moved closer to its aim of boosting the sport of bodybuilding and making it a mainstream sport, which aligns with our objective to make India the World’s Sports Capital by 2050. We have succeeded in providing a global stage and exposure to our emerging and elite talent, giving them a chance to compete in the world’s most coveted bodybuilding tournament, demonstrating India’s huge potential to empower its youth in the sport of bodybuilding which is becoming increasingly popular in India but does not get the right funding and attention.”
“Many Indian athletes have the spark which will make them shine – they just need the right eco-system to thrive, which we have provided through these championships,” he added.
Steadfast Nutrition’s stature in the fitness and nutraceutical industry continues to rise with its sponsorship of these significant championships at Asia’s largest health and fitness festival year after year.
The winners of the Steadfast Nutrition Bharat Pro Show were: Priscilla Rodrigues from Brazil, who won in the Women’s Bikini Category, Benquil Marigny from the USA, who won in the Men’s Physique Category, Terrence Ruffin from the United States, who won the Men’s Classic Physique Category, Vitor Alves Porto from Brazil, who won 212 Men’s Bodybuilding, and India’s Rajesh John, who won in the wheelchair category. The grandeur at the event was unparalleled in the fitness industry.
21 pro cards were given out at the Amateur Olympia, India’s oldest and biggest competition for budding bodybuilders with a legacy of over 60 years.
India’s Soniya Mitra was awarded the pro card in the women’s fitness category; India’s Chaitanya Prabhu, Anand Yadav, and Mohammed Mobin clinched pro cards in the Men’s Classic Physique category; Mohammad Mehrablou (Iran), Ifesinachi Friday (Nigeria), and Pahlavon Sowvahobov (Russia) won the pro card in Men’s Bodybuilding; Natalia Ermolova (Russia) and Nastaran Mahdizadeh (Iran) won the pro card in the Women’s Physique category; Russians Natalia Lavgud, Tiylkina Anastasiia, and Elena Rakcheeva clinched pro cards in the Women’s figure category. Dayely Alexandra Onate from Colombia, Somayeh Saeedi from Iran, and Elena Tseluiko from Russia were awarded pro cards in the Women Wellness category; Oleksandra Khovrych, Daria Sulzhenko, and Ekaterina Opekunova won in women’s bikini, while Vardhan Malhotra, Surojit Dey, and Harvinder Singh won in men’s physique.
Winners of the Amateur Olympia will get a chance to compete in the professional circuit, enabling them to earn big money and sponsorships and get professional opportunities both in India and abroad.
These are the only championships in India that allow bodybuilding athletes to win pro cards from the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB), the governing body for bodybuilding championships across the world. Pro shows enable amateur bodybuilding athletes to enter the professional circuit and you cannot be eligible to compete in a pro show until you have a pro card, which championships like the Amateur Olympia provide.
In attendance at the IHFF were Indian and international bodybuilding icons, including Terrence Ruffin, Chul Soon (Also known as Asia’s Arnold Schwarzenegger), Bollywood celebrities, including Sonu Sood and Suniel Shetty, and Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik. Other championships that took place at the IHFF included Zumba, MMA, powerlifting, Strongman, pro Punja, and many more.
Steadfast Nutrition has been a trailblazer in the sports and wellness nutrition world since its launch in 2017. Athletes fuelled by the brand’s supplements have a record of exemplary performances in national and international events, including the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games and national level badminton and football championships.
The brand also has a diverse range of wellness supplements that have enabled numerous individuals from diverse age groups to maintain and improve their health and well-being. For more information visit: https://www.steadfastnutrition.in/
(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
