Olympia Contest Coverage Sponsored by BODYPRO Gym
The Women’s Physique category is one that truly displays a balance of physical development and elegance. The gold-standard when it comes to this division is seen with two-time Ms.Physique Olympia Shanique Grant. She turned pro in 2014 as a Figure competitor. The next two years of her career as a figure competitor showed that she has good potential but her X-frame was just not suited perfectly for figure. In 2016, Shanique made the switch to Women’s Physique and she's been undefeated ever since! Grant won the 2018 Women's Physique International (Arnold Sports Festival) and went on to win her first Olympia title in 2018. She followed that up with a repeat victory as the 2019 Ms. Physique Olympia Champion and we don't think there's anyone who can beat her at this point. Recent progress videos confirm that she's giving this prep everything she's got and will earn her third straight Olympia win.
Sarah Villegas made drastic improvements from her 2018 Olympia, where she placed 10th, to finish as the runner up at the 2019 Olympia. As only a second-year IFBB Pro, Villegas was not on the radar for many in the industry to place in the top 5 last year, but she truly was a standout on stage. While we have not seen her on stage since the 2019 Olympia, we do feel she has the potential to maintain a top 3 finish.
Natalia Abraham Coelho is a young and extremely exciting Women’s Physique Pro to watch every time she competes. At just 24 years of age, Natalia is a 5x Olympian, plus the reigning 2x Women's Physique International Champion. Similar to Shanique Grant, Natalia had a slow start as an IFBB Pro in the Figure Division on the Olympia stage in 2016 and 2017. It was when she made the transition to Women’s Physique in 2018, she really found her stride. She placed runner-up at the 2018, to then go on to become the back to back Champion in 2019 and 2020. After seeing her on stage at the 2020 Arnold Classic, she displayed her best physique to date. While we are not sure Coelho will have what it takes to knock Shanique from the top spot, but we do expect to see her again in the top 3, quite possibly regaining the runner-up position.
Last year’s 4th place finisher was Daniely (Dany) Castilho. It looks as though Dany has been working hard to bring up any lagging body parts, to really make her mark on stage this year. Starting peak week has Castilho’s conditioning on point. Castilho doesn’t have the sharp lines of Shanique, nor does she bring the conditioning of Natalia, but she does manage to carry a lot of muscle, with a very feminine look. We should see her in the top 5 once again this year.
We will be keeping our eyes on the two Canadian ladies that will be stepping on this year’s Olympia stage. Tanya Chartrand is having a great year, earning her Olympia qualification by winning the 2020 Optimum Classic Pro Women's Physique. This was in our opinion, her best physique to date as an IFBB Pro. It will be exciting to see what she brings to the stage in Orlando.
The other Canadian is Victoria Myslik. This will be Victoria’s first Olympia appearance. She has had an impressive IFBB Pro debut season, placing 3rd at the 2019 Pittsburgh Pro Masters, then winning the 2019 Ben Weider Natural Pro Show.
For more information, visit MrOympia.com as Trifecta presents Joe Weider’s Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend brought to you by Northern Chill and by Wings of Strength the weekend of December 17-20.
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