Health-and-Fitness online information.

Susie Curry lights up the Vegas sky with her three-peat win at the 2002 Fitness Olympia.

The Fitness Olympia is the pinnacle of fitness contests, where thc best of the best strive to prove themselves the top competitors in the world. The 2002 contest, held in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Oct. 17-18, crowned the only three-time winner since the contest's inception in 1995: Susie Curry. Her standout combination of muscular development, symmetry, strength, flexibility and gymnastics skill held the other girls at bay ... but they aren't content to live in Susie's shadow forever. Here's the recap of this year's show, along with photos of the 15 talented, dedicated women who gave it their all.

ROUND 1

Thursday afternoon's prejudging began with the two-piece physique comparisons, in which competitors stand in a long line and are then "called out," three at a time, for a closer look. Though call-outs don't necessarily equate to top placing, they often reveal the competitors who are catching the judges' eyes.

Not surprisingly, two-time champ Susie Curry. Adela Garcia-Friedmansky and Jenny Worth were called out first. Atlanta-based Susie, who displayed years of muscle maturity topped with stellar definition, easily took first in this round. Right on Susie's high heels was Adela, from Bloomington, Illinois, who showed strong improvements in her back and overall appearance. Miami resident Jenny took third in this round, with a pretty and proportioned physique highlighted by beautiful ab development.

The big surprise in this round was newcomer Tracy Greenwood, a PhD candidate from Claymont, Delaware, who garnered lots of attention from the judges and was called out with the likes of Jen Hendershott. Kelly Ryan and Jenny worth.

ROUND 2

Competitors must demonstrate strength and flexibility skills in the 45-second round, which features six mandatory moves (one-arm push-up, straddle hold, leg-extension hold, full split front, full split side and high kicks). Since all competitors must perform these moves, it gets pretty difficult to determine who had a better front split or high kick.

Las Vegas transplant Kelly Ryan easily won this round, with Susie right behind in second place. Kelly is basically unbeatable when it comes to routines; she loves to perform and the crowd gives the love right back, particularly when she flips her way across the stage without batting a false eyelash. Kelly has had a hard year: Her hips went out in February and she tore a calf muscle in early August, then injured it further a few days later. You wouldn't know it to watch her, though, as she performed each move with confidence and flair.

Another highlight was Susie's "crotch buster" move, in which she jumps high into the air then lands in a front split (it's painful just to watch). Adela performed very well here, with four very strong, slow and deep one-arm push-ups that made the crowd roar. Since Adela lacks the gymnastics background of other top competitors, she compensates with eye-popping strength moves.

Also impressive was newcomer Stacy Hylton, who performed a gymnastics-laden high-energy routine the audience loved. Stacy, who hails from Orlando, had never even attended an Olympia contest before but has plenty of experience competing - she started gymnastics at the age of 4, competed nationally and, like Kelly Ryan, trained with Olympic coach Bela Karolyi in Houston.

ROUND 3

An entire year of practice can go into the two-minute routine round. Not only do the athletes have to master different strength, flexibility, gymnastics and dance skills, but they have to do it with a smile.

"The hardest part is just getting through it," explains Susie. "Initially, I start doing different moves I'm thinking about. I'll start conditioning them and doing some plyometrics to get my endurance up, them I work the routing piece by piece until it comes together. Sometimes I envision moves in my head, them I'll get out on the floor and just play around and do different things."

Jenny Worth took an entire year to master her signature strength moves (seen below). "I had that one strength move in the Olympia last year but I didn't have it mastered. I only had my arm up for like one second. This time I turned and then went out sideways. It took me a whole year to master it, and I still get nervous because if there's any little shake or wobble, nervousness or sweat, you're gone' I was just hoping I didn't wobble."

Despite tough competition, Kelly earned first place in this round, performing a comical clown routine that featured a layout stepout, which she explains as "basically a backflip in a laid-out position that I step out of one leg at a time." Kelly's exciting routine got the award for greatest audience response; other audience favorites included Jen Hendershott and Stacy Hylton.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:30 AM