Adela Garcia took home her second title of 2012 and her fifth Fitness International title in her career. Adela was the odds on favorite to leave Columbus with the title and she delivered. The more surprising story line of this year’s events were the placings of the others in the top spots. There were more than a few surprises when the results were read off on Friday night at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
It was pretty clear that Adela was the winner of the physique round as she typically has been in the past five years. She was noticeably improved from her showing at the FLEX PRO two weeks prior to this event. The physique scores only make up 1/3 of the overall score. The remaining 2/3 is based on the two-minute fitness routines, and this is where people have varied opinions. Adela is one of the most consistent competitors you will see take the stage. She always throws in a little latin flare and you can count seeing a number of strength moves from start to finish. The judges reward her for her strength moves and for keeping the pace from beginning to end. Some people feel there were better routines. Some people like crunchy peanut butter and others like creamy. What’s your flavor may not be mine. Adela has found a flavor that the judges enjoy.
One of the biggest surprises in this show was Denver, Colorado resident Camala Rodriquez. Camala was much more confident and comfortable on stage than she was two weeks prior at the FLEX Pro. She was in significantly better condition and it may have helped her confidence on stage. She deserved the call-outs she received in the physique round. Camala did a solid job with her routine however I’m not sure everyone agreed that it was a second place performance. The judges awarded her a score of 26 which was 16 behind Adela and six ahead of third place finisher, Oksana Grishina.
While most would agree with Oksana having a 3-5 placing physique many feel she had one of, if not thee best routine of the night. Oksana’s posing still needs some work in the physique round however she shows insane flexibility and strength in her routines. I’m not exactly sure what she was doing at the end of her routine but there were many parts of the routine that were unmatched. Definitely deserved a top three finish at this show and is now qualified for the 2012 Olympia.
Bethany Cisternino was in a solid third place after the physique round. She wasn’t quite as full as she was two weeks prior, at least in my opinion, but her she has great structure and a pleasing physique. Bethany did a better routine than she had at the FLEX PRO and was awarded accordingly. I definitely had Bethany in the top five and she did a great job.
Tanji Johnson has been living in Adela’s shadow over the years, at least on stage. This year Tanji hasn’t quite been able to put it together and has been out of the top three both at the FLEX PRO and here. She was definitely in better condition at this show than she was at the FLEX PRO and her routine was better as well. She could have been a bit tighter in the physique rounds and we didn’t see quite enough strength moves in her routine. At the end of the night, Tanji finished in the fifth place position.
Myriam Capes rounded out the top spots and finished in sixth. She wasn’t at her best in the physique round and she was playing catch up heading into the routine round. The judges placed her routine as their sixth favorite. I thought her routine was one of the top three in the show. She performed a number of difficult moves and the bull fighting theme was fitting for her personality. Myriam will have to take the bull by the horns and bring back a tighter physique to finish higher.
Overall the routines were good. There were a couple that needed to be scrapped and brought way up, much like a few of the physiques. Congratulations to all the women competing in this prestigious event. Check out all the photos from this and other events at the Arnold Sports Festival on Bodybuilding.com.
2012 Fitness International
Placing / Name / 2-piece score / Routines score / Total
1. Adela Garcia 5/10/15
2. Camala Rodriguez 10/26/36
3. Oksana Grishina 19/32/51
4. Bethany Cisternino 15/46/61
5. Tanji Johnson 21/50/71
6. Myriam Capes 38/56/94
7. Kizzy Vaines 42/60/102
8. Tina Durkin 30/74/104
9. Danielle Ruban 40/106/146
10. Jodi Boam 55/98/153
11. Julie Palmer 44/110/154
12. Regiane Da Silva 57/102/159
13. Kayde Puckett 65/136/201
14. Allison Ethier 72/140/212
15. Sheri Vucick 65/148/213
16. Diana Monteiro 74/146/220
