Little did I know as I sat down to breakfast with John Plummer of Weider Europe that Saturday would be so long. They call pre-judging semi-finals at the Worlds, and with ten different classes of athletes, there was a lot on deck. Things started out with fitness two-pieces and then the routines. Afterwards were the female bodybuilders and then mens fitness followed by body fitness (figure). The day was grueling as the arena did not have air circulation and since smoking is allowed indoors and virtually all the fans and athletes smoke, the air was moist and stuffy inside.

That didn’t deter the athletes though as the show was quite impressive if not for the length of it all.

Since prejuding ran from 09:30 until past 19:30 the sun was down and there was no opportunity to shoot with athletes. However, because the elimination rounds were concluded, many of the athletes were starting to enjoy themselves. The lobby of the Caprici Verd was full of delegates, judges, journalists and competitors, and everyone was drinking, smoking or socializing, which was nice. The language barrier is still there although most of the Western Europeans could speak English which was the common language. Everything shut down around 01:00 and it drew close a long day, but the finals were still ahead.