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The New York Pro 2020: Florida, the Temporary Empire State

New York Pro 2020, held in Tampa, FL this year.




Last weekend we were blessed enough to have an IFBB Pro show go off without a hitch this year, as so few things have gone hitch-free during the COVID Pandemic, as the New York Pro was held in Tampa, Florida. 



As restrictions are not uniform and the state of Florida continues to be welcoming of all manner of gathering, the event was moved south this year and we have a brand new winner in Iain Valliere who beat out a handful of IFBB stalwarts and qualified for this year’s Mr. Olympia. 
    
Since winning his first amateur show in 2010, the Canadian heavyweight had powerful start in the world of bodybuilding winning six amateur shows and earning his Pro Card in 2014. While earning a Pro Card in four years seems good enough, Valliere won every amateur contest he was in during that time in his homeland before traveling south to Mexico in his campaign to get the elusive Pro Card at the Amateur Olympia. Life as a pro has been more of a steady climb to his first win, finishing in the bottom half of most contests in 2015 and 2016, taking 2017 off and coming back stronger in 2018. That year saw his first Olympia appearance, coming in 14th place and winning his first show, the Big Man Weekend Pro. 

Here's a shot from Iain's IG-a mass monster who is conditioned! 
Follow Iain on Instagram at @iainvalliere

In 2019 Valliere had respectable placings at four pro shows, including two in his native Canada. 2020 would be his biggest year as he traveled down to Florida to come in second at the Tamp Pro (losing to Hunter Labrada) and then going on to win the New York Pro, also in Tampa; an absurd statement at any other point in time, but strangely it makes sense this year. 

The NY Pro wasn’t the deepest contest ever but did feature returning favorites Maxx Charles and Jon De La Rosa as well as the return of perennial fan-favorite, and fellow Canuck, Antoine Vaillant. However it would be Valliere and journeyman Justin Rodriguez who would take the Olympia slots this year, and a whooping seventeen other competitors would remain scrambling for points in the Mr. Olympia Qualification Series. 

De La Rosa would take the third spot, but the second round of judging created quite a bit of distance between competitors. De La Rosa got a 7 in prejudging but feel to 11 points in the final round, while Rodriguez scored an 8 in the morning but moved up to 5 points in the evening round. That change in balance was enough to move De La Rosa down to third place with a total of 18, evenly spaced between the second place Rodriguez with 15 and fourth place Hassan Mostafa with 22. Valliere dominated both rounds, scoring 3 in prejudging and a 4 in the final round, finishing with 7 points, far ahead of the number two Rodriguez with 13. 

Maxx Charles finished in fifth place and held the line there with 15 in both rounds, though it should be noted that sixth place Patrick Moore scored and 18 in both rounds so while neither finished as well as they would like, their consistency during the day is of note, as the top four had quite a bit of variance. Had this been a two day show, there’s always the concern that those mistakes on day one can’t be compensated for and perhaps that level of conditioning might be a boon to Charles and Moore going forward. With a handful of shows left this year before the Christmas-time Olympia showdown, there are still a lot of chances to score some of those vital qualification points or maybe a spot in an Olympia lineup that will be one for the ages.
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