| Focus May 1, 2005
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Myriam Capes may not
have won an IFBB Pro Card in Winnipeg, but she certainly won over the crowd with her
charisma, skill and energy.
(photo April 2005 by D. Dave Paul) |
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Focus on the Future –
Canada’s Most-Improved Figure and Fitness Stars
I just got back from the CBBF Canadian Fitness & Figure
Championships where there was as much controversy as there was competitiveness. Did the
right women win? Were the judges consistent in what they were looking for? Those were some
of the many questions plenty of spectators asked, even long after they left their seats
and exited the doors.
But while controversy is one thing – something
that’s a given in any subjective sport – it shouldn’t be something that
drags the sport down. Amidst it all there were some fine athletes who really stood out
among the crowd. The ones I’m going to discuss here are the competitors I felt had
made impressive progress and will be some of the ones to watch in the years to come.
Ontario’s Nina Luchka is, by anyone’s
standard, a knockout. Last year at the Canadian Championships in Brantford, Nina won the
Tall class in figure but didn’t take the Overall title, nor did she receive an IFBB
Pro Card like the other two class winners did. Frankly, I think Nina was OK with that,
because although she won her class, she wasn’t at her best. Her best last year was
actually at the Mississauga Championships, a regional show, a short time earlier. Nina was
fuller, shapelier, and more conditioned in Mississauga than she was in Brantford. She
knew, then, that her showing at last year’s Canadian Figure Championships was just a
hint at what she could attain.
Indeed, when the revamped 2005 Nina Luchka model hit the
stage in the Tall class many in the audience gasped. She was roughly the same size as last
year, but shapelier, with a waist size that she said measured a mere 23 inches, and
conditioning that was spot-on for a figure-type competition. She looked absolutely
beautiful, approaching perfection in every way. If she had any fault, it’s that her
legs might be just a touch small – but that’s it, and that’s
stretching to find flaw. Nina transformed herself from a very-good figure competitor in
2004 to a simply outstanding one in 2005.
However, that wasn’t quite enough this year. Nina
ended up taking second to Tammy Strome in a very tight race (24 points to 26), but
she shouldn’t feel bad even though she beat Tammy last year. Like Nina, Tammy
improved just as much, sporting a physique that was sleeker, shapelier, and more
aesthetically pleasing to the judges. She was just too big and hard last year.
Nina and Tammy can both be proud of their accomplishments,
and although it was Tammy who took the title home this year, I suspect that if no one
comes out of the woodwork and transforms herself the way Nina or Tammy did, Nina will be
the odds-on favorite to win her class, and perhaps the whole thing in 2006.
Another figure competitor who I see has good potential is
Alberta’s Trina Gillis, a former bodybuilder now focusing on figure. Trina
competed in the Medium class. She is extremely attractive with an athletic and sporty
appearance, precisely what figure needs, and what many in the audience liked about her.
She also has good overall shape and a pleasing onstage appearance – she has charisma,
which many competitors sorely lack. As a result, you just can’t miss Trina onstage,
and that’s exactly why I’m discussing her here.
On this day, though, Trina wasn’t at her best and,
like Nina in previous years, was only hinting at what she could look like. Trina’s
already made many of the improvements necessary to move from bodybuilding to figure, and
if she can just make a few more like Nina and Tammy did from last year to this, a national
title is certainly in her reach.
As it stands, though, in 2005 Trina had to settle for
third-place, behind Ontario’s Emmanuela Pintus, another former bodybuilder,
who looked quite remarkable and who I personally had in first place in the Medium class.
(It was Alberta’s Jill St. Laurent, though, who ultimately took the class over both
of them.) I have to admit that Pintus’ success in figure has had me eating my own
words, something I don’t often like to do.
You see, when Emmanuela told me that she was going from
bodybuilding to figure a couple of years ago, I had misgivings about her doing it.
Emmanuela is genetically gifted for physique shows, particularly for bodybuilding, where
she can pack on a huge amount of muscle, yet still have flowing lines and exquisite shape
that most competitors can only dream of. MuscleMag’s Garry Bartlett called
Emmanuela a "living work of art," and I agree. On a bodybuilding stage
she’s amazing, and, honestly, I didn’t think it would translate well to figure.
All I can say is that I was wrong, and if Emmanuela keeps at it she’ll be a national
champion in figure as she already is in bodybuilding.
Turning to fitness, BC’s Antonia Grady, who was
in the Short class, made enormous improvement over last year. Antonia showed up with a
more mature-looking physique that featured more-than-enough muscle size and great overall
shape. Plus, she has a wonderful V-taper that’s a prerequisite for any national-level
champion. More important, though, she had a really good routine that, to my eyes, was the
second-best of the show. Her look, moves, and style was reminiscent of Quebec's Nadia
Moussa. And although Antonia couldn’t challenge Myriam Capes in the Short category
(see below), she showed remarkable improvement and has what it takes to be a
national-level fitness champion, perhaps even as early as next year, if she improves just
as much between now and then as last year and this.
Finally, there’s Myriam Capes of Quebec, who,
after this show, I now consider one of Canada’s "uncrowned fitness
champions." (The other is, in fact, Nadia Moussa, who last competed in 2002 and
I’m still hoping each year that she will triumphantly swoop back for victory once and
for all and claim the title that should already be hers.) Compact Myriam electrified the
crowd with a much-improved physique over last year and a routine that was simply in a
different league compared to all the other competitors. She had it all, and no one, I mean
no one in either class, came close to Myriam in the routine round. In fact, when
Myriam came onstage to do her routine, many of the other competitors came from backstage
just to watch her. She’s that good, and on April 23 she didn’t disappoint
anyone. She won the Short class, and then lost the Overall title in a decision I’m
sure will be talked about for years to come.
Although I’ve seen similar things happen to other
competitors before it happened to Myriam, and I can’t pretend to know exactly how a
competitor feels when it does, what I am hoping happens is that Myriam takes this setback
as just a temporary one and arrives back in 2006, even further improved, and sweeps away
the title so convincingly that there can be no questions asked, and absolutely no
controversy in the end.
I guess now we'll just have to wait until 2006 to see what
happens and if these stars shine onstage, or if there are others waiting in the wings who
will surprise us the way these ones did this year. One thing is for certain: fitness and
figure is flourishing in Canada.
...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com |
