FITNESS INTERNATIONAL FINAL WRAP UP
In two words, the ladies on stage tonight in the Fitness International BROUGHT IT. No one took their invitation to this prestigious show lightly and all the top competitors stepped their game up. Unfortunately, the overriding theme at the finals was the slippery floor. Its standard practice to begin every show with the fitness routines because the floor is dry and none of the bodybuilders have had a chance to sweat and oil up 
the floor. Tonight the show began with the women's bodybuilding routines and it made for a dangerous surface. It created slips, falls, and nerves that impacted each routine and could have had some role in the final judging.CLICK HERE FOR CONTEST GALLERY OF ROUTINES AND PHYSIQUE ROUND.
Slippery floor or not, the winner was no surprise as 4x Olympia Champ and now 3x Fitness International Champ Adela Garcia easily took the title. She dominated the physique round and held her own in the fitness round. In typical Adela fashion, she was winner the minute she hit the stage and the competition was for second. I will say that she needs to tighten up her routine before the Olympia because with some physique improvements by the other ladies, Queen Adela could find some serious threats to her throne.
The battle for second and third came down to Julie Palmer and Tanji Johnson who placed first and 
second respectively at the Phoenix Pro. Julie beat Tanji in the physique round, but it was close and debatable. Tanji made huge improvements from Phoenix and brought a package that might have better then her second place finish at last year's 
Olympia. Meanwhile, Julie seemed to lose some of her condition and looked a bit flat. Round one was close and either lady could have taken it. The two minute routine was not so close as Tanji brought down the house with her Michael Jackson inspired routine. Crisp, smooth, strong, and acrobatic; she had all the elements and they blended together perfectly behind her unquestionable dance moves. Julie unveiled a new routine and it had some strong elements, but was not the caliber of Tanji's performance. Julie also slipped, but we are assuming the judges disregarded it because of the floor conditions. When the dust settled, Tanji took third and Julie second in a one point decision. This one really baffled me as well as the rest of the RX crew but that has to happen once at every show. It won't be long until we see these two ladies go at again.
Fourth place was claimed by a much improved Trish Warren. Both her physique and routine were the best she's ever put together and she is finally reaching the potential we've seen for a couple years. Fifth place went to Oksana Grishina who seems to revolutionize the routine round every time she hits the stage. Powerful and potent, her amazing holds and strength drew the loudest applause of the evening. Lastly, sixth place went to rookie Camala Rodriquez who is wasting no time making a name for herself in the IFBB. Her routine is packed with potential and the improvement from just two weeks ago in Phoenix was obvious. As her routines continue to develop and her physique 
matures, Camala will continue to move up the ranks.
Despite the slippery floor, everything fell into place and we were all treated to some phenomenal routines tonight. Once again, Adela Garcia stands atop the fitness universe and her challengers are all headed back to the drawing board. We've got a spring and summer packed with shows and chances for these ladies to improve and come Olympia time these results might be very different. For full results and a compete gallery of all competitors from the prejudging and finals, CLICK HERE.
FIGURE INTERNATIONAL FINAL WRAP UP
Luckily the graceful ladies invited to the Figure International were unaffected and fearless of the slippery floor. 19 IFBB Pros strutted, posed, turned, and smiled in a closely contested and hotly debated contest - our favorite kind here at Rx Muscle. The winner was predictable, but many critics (including our own John Romano) did not agree with the pick for first. Ironically, second through sixth was judged fairly and 
thoroughly and all the ladies were deserved of their place. CLICK HERE FOR CONTEST GALLERY OF ALL COMPETITORS.
Claiming the title of Figure International Champion tonight was Nicole Wilkins-Lee, also winner of the Figure Olympia last September. The golden girl of the sport is pretty, polished, and has an amazing structure. The debate kicks in when her conditioning is compared to the other girls. No one around us in the crowd seemed to understand why she was going to win...I get it; I don't agree with it, but I get it. The IFBB made a conscious choice to move to a softer look in figure and Nicole is embodiment of the new standards. But the judging is still in transition and it's still nearly impossible to determine what is too hard and what is just plain out of shape. So Nicole, with her great lines and proportions, has been set as the standard and for now the rest of the girls are getting shuffled around as they all seek to achieve what Nicole has. And every once in awhile a girl that might be relatively hard or conditioned sneaks into a top place because she's just got that wow factor. Then we all get confused again. For now, Nicole Wilkins-Lee is the pinnacle of her sport and at the age of 26, it's unlikely she will lose her throne anytime soon.
Claiming a well deserved and somewhat surprising second place was Erin Stern. In only her second year as an IFBB Pro, Erin had rapidly become one of the top 5 competitors in the world. Her tall and flowing structure is nothing short of striking, but she also tends to bring some well conditioned athletic muscle. For the first time, she seemed to be a little fuller and rounder with no sacrifice to her shape. Her condition was on; she was just not as hard as she used to be. As she explained to Dave in her post show interview, she backed off on the volume of cardio and it seemed to let her legs fill out. My only criticism of Erin is that her stage presence and especially her walk needs a lot of improvement if she is going to win a show of this caliber.
First in our hearts and third on the score sheets was Heather Mae French. She was closer to Nicole than any other top competitor in terms of the softer look and many argue that her symmetry is even better. The challenge for Heather Mae is her height; at only 5' tall, she loses some of the "wow" that a taller girl has standing next to her. She was polished, gorgeous, and commanded the stage and no one would have argued if she took first.
Fourth place was claimed by rookie Mindi Smith. Two weeks 
after winning her pro-debut at the Phoenix Pro and only months after turning pro at the 2009 NPC Nationals, Mindi has become a force in the IFBB and she just can't be missed in any lineup. She looked to come in a little harder than she did in Phoenix and that didn't help, but she also isn't quite ready to take over from the three ladies that beat her tonight. That might take a few more months.
In fifth, Felicia Romero impressed more than any other lady in the show tonight. Despite being a favorite in Phoenix, she fell to fourth and was lucky to place that high. In less than two weeks she made tremendous improvements from head to toe and her stage presences showed that she knew just what she had accomplished. Felicia was tighter, fuller, and more polished; she was what we expected her to be. If she can keep this up, Felicia will be ready to stay in the Top 5 when the Olympia rolls around in September.
The final lady to get a trophy and a check was Larissa Reis, the 
Brazilian bombshell. I questioned this choice and I much preferred to see veteran star of the sport Monica Brant in this position, but tonight it went to the younger blonde. Larissa has quite a bit of muscle, but she also has great lines so it's a tough to place her in a lineup this strong. Regardless, she's impossible to miss and perhaps her striking nature warranted the placing.
Tonight proved that the sport of figure is growing rapidly and the level of competition seems to rise with each show. This, the Figure International, is without question the second most prestigious title in the sport and the ladies showed up to fight for that honor accordingly. Not a single competitor on the Arnold stage was out of shape or undeserving of the invite and privilege to compete here tonight. For full results and a compete gallery of all competitors from the prejudging and finals, CLICK HERE.
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