FITNESS INTERNATIONAL
Adela Garcia won her record-setting fifth Fitness International a year ago, so you won’t hear any of the 10 Fitness International competitors complaining about Garcia deciding to sit on the sidelines for this year’s event. Myriam Capes, another perennial top-six placer, suffered a back injury that forced her to withdraw from the contest in early January, opening up another spot at the top of the rankings.
All of which could pave the way for Oksana Grishina to notch the biggest win of her career. Grishina is coming off of a breakout year that started with a runner-up finish at the FLEX Pro and ended with back-to-back wins at the Arnold Classic Europe – when she handed Garcia her first loss since 2007 – and the Ft. Lauderdale Cup. The win in Florida was the third of Grishina’s career, all of which came last year. Now, she finds herself in the position of precontest favorite for the first time at a major event.
A host of veterans, led by Tanji Johnson, Bethany Cisternino and the returning Trish Warren, will do their best to make things difficult for Grishina.
IFBB Women’s Head Judge Sandy Williamson on …
Oksana Grishina “Depending on how she brings her physique in, she should be a contender. At the Olympia it just seemed like she was a little too hard. Her symmetry is not the best, she has a little bit of a thick waist, so it depends on how balanced she can bring her physique in. Sometimes she can look way too muscular, even for fitness. In the routine round – I think the degree of difficulty, the ease of her movement, the whole routine – she is just at the top of the game.”
Tanji Johnson “Tanji is usually in the top five, it kind of depends on how artistic she gets versus the degree of difficulty in her routines. She is an entertainer, so sometimes she just tries to be too artistic and loses a little bit of that degree of difficulty. With her physique, sometimes she comes in a little on the softer side and that hurts her.”
Bethany Cisternino “She’s got a great physique, one of the best in the division. Sometimes her routine is right up there near the top but other times it just does not have the degree of difficulty you would expect at this level.”
Trish Warren “Coming back will be interesting. She was top three at Arnold in 2011 then she had a baby and to
Kizzy Vaines “Usually comes in with a high-energy, high-degree of difficulty routine.”
FITNESS INTERNATIONAL LINEUP
Bethany Cisternino
Regiane Da Silva
Nicole Duncan
Ryall Graber-Vasani
Oksana Grishina
Fiona Harris
Amanda Hatfield
Tanji Johnson
Melinda Szabo
Kizzy Vaines
Trish Warren
