A three-year dream came to fruition for Port Elizabeth bodybuilder Ki-yano Schoonraad when she claimed gold in the junior fitness bikini category at the Arnold Classic Africa.
Taking to the stage last Friday, Schoonraad was a cut above her competitors as she claimed the win before later taking the runner up spot in the under 169cm open line up of the same category.
Going up against a myriad of local and international athletes, Schoonraad said it was an unbelievable feeling when her name was called as the winner of the junior line up.
“I cannot explain the feeling. It's completely unreal and I was so surprised but very happy with what I had achieved.
“There was a massive line up, with many international girls also on stage, it [the win] was not something I had expected, but I brought my best package to stage, so it was an absolute honour to take the title, as I had worked very hard leading up to the competition,” an elated Schoonraad said.
Speaking about the package she brought to the stage, Schoonraad said she had changed her look compared to last year.
“Last year I came in very small and skinny, with a lot of elongated muscles, compared to this year, where I was still the same weight, but just slightly fuller and more muscular.
“What I did differently to other years is that I worked a lot more on my glutes and hamstrings, in order for them to show a lot more as well as focusing more on my weaker points like my back and glutes, which helped a lot,” the 20-year-old athlete said.
Having competed at the Arnold Classic for the last three years, she placed fourth in the junior line up and sixth in the open line up in 2017 before following it up with a second and third place in respective categories last year.
“I started my prep at the beginning of this year, and really made headway in the last four weeks prior to the show, I really depleted my body and pushed myself to limits I didn’t even know I could go to.
“My main focus this year was to correct some of the things I felt they looked at last year and the reason why I possibly didn’t take the win.
“So I focused on things like tightening up my glutes, rounding my shoulders a bit more, getting my waist much smaller, while still bringing in a full package and maintaining a low weight,” she concluded.
Schoonraad said she took on the challenge of self-coaching, adding that ”no one knows my body as well as I know it”, and admits she is quite happy with the end result.“Now that I have taken this, my goal is to become a professional athlete.“Usually if you win your division at Arnold’s, you become a pro, but that only happens in the senior line-ups, not in the juniors, so had I won my senior competition, I would have gained a pro card,” Schoonraad explained.Schoonraad said her next goal was to win the senior line-up at Arnold’s, however, still being an affiliate of the International Fitness and BodyBuilding federation, she would continue to compete at their shows with the hope of making it back to the world stage.