Contest History/Highlights 2012: USA Championships 7th Class D; Team Universe 3rd Class B; Junior Nationals 2nd Class C; Rhode Island 1st Class and Overall Winner; Atlantic States 1st Class C and Overall; Mid Atlantic Naturals 1st Class and Overall; Steve Stone Metropolitans 4th Tall Class
IT’S IN THE GENES “I moved to the US in 1997 with my family from Belarus, a small country right next to Russia. I played soccer and ran track but was always a scrawny little kid. My Dad was a gymnast and my Mom was a tennis player, so those good genes definitely helped me with what I’m doing today.”
MODEL BEHAVIOR “I’ve been modeling for 7 years. I started out with fashion, then three years later after my contract ended I went to an agency to try to do a little more fitness work. I’ve done work for Macys, Armani, and a bunch of others. Now I basically want to incorporate men’s fitness and somehow establish a career out of it.”
WEIGHTING GAME “Growing up in Belarus, I looked up to Arnold and Sylvester Stallone. Those guys were my heroes. I remember watching those guys thinking ‘Wow. I could never be like that’. When I came here I started reading magazines and made it a goal of mine to gain more weight each year.”
BUCKET LIST “The first show I did was the Steve Stone New York Metropolitans. Last year I was just a spectator, looking at the guys and wondering how I would compare to them on stage. So I decided to sign up thinking ‘If it works out, it works out.’ If it doesn’t at least I have that checked off my bucket list. I purposefully did every show I could this year to work on my stage presence a little bit more. Now I don’t have the jitters, I’m just so comfortable.”
ICING ON THE CAKE “I like the aspect of competing because it allows you to show off your hard work and challenge yourself – basically you’re competing against yourself and trying to be better than you were in last time. I’m not out there trying to beat anybody or win anything. I just want to come in better than I came in the last time. If I win along the way then it’s the icing on the cake.”
