After months of hard work the Arnold Amateur is over and I placed 4th in my class. I still cannot believe it and im truly honoured to have stepped on the Arnold stage.
Leading up to the competition Claire and I were very lucky to have Moe ElMoussawi watching over us and preparing our bodies to be in the best shape possible. I was also very lucky to have Xtreme Nutrition and Nutrigenix sponsoring me with the supplements I needed. Thanks to Moe and Johanna we got to stay at their beautiful home in the last few days before we left. They cooked us many yummy meals (Moe is a great cook), gave us tons of advice and pushed our bodies to their limits at the gym! His little girls also left us cute little messages of support around the house and gym. Without them none of this would have been possible and I will be forever grateful for everything they have done.
On the last day before our flight he said, “right you girls are ready, now hold that condition”. Ekkk we had hours on a plane and still 2 more days before we were to step on stage, how were we going to hold that condition? After freaking out a little, Moe assured us that we would be fine, told us what to do and said that he was proud of us regardless of the outcome.
Dialling in on those last few days before a comp is hard, but adding several plane trips on to it makes it even harder. It was definitely a great learning experience. I packed all my meals in my tupperware and headed to the airport. Reality finally set in as I was boarding the plane, I was actually going to the ARNOLD CLASSIC. After 12 hours I landed in LA. I was very lucky to have Johanna’s brother pick me up and took me to see Claire. From there we headed with Moe’s cousin, and he cooked us some delicious chicken for our next flights. Both of them were so lovely and really looked after us. After another 8 hours plane ride with several stopovers, we landed in Ohio. The airport was buzzing with athletes from all around the world.
We arrived at our hotel and decided to go on a mission to find food... and what a mission that was. We took a taxi to the nearest shopping mall but they didn’t have a grocery store. We walked for a long time to find the nearest place that could cook us up some meals. We found a lovely place that cooked us up lots of chicken and salads with no oil, flavourings or dressings. By the time we got back to the hotel it was night time and the night before pre-judging. We got in our bikinis and helped each other with last minute posing then headed to bed.
Waking up on the morning of pre-judging, I was filled with so many emotions – happiness, excitement, nervousness! We headed to go get our tans and what an experience that was. Booth after booth of girls getting tanned and then all standing there drying - definitely a different experience to the one here in New Zealand. The tans colour was beautiful, thank you Jan Tana! We then lined up in the convention centre to register and then headed back stage to get ready for pre-judging. All of the girls were so perfect in their itty bitty bikinis, I started freaking out and wondering if I even deserved to be there. Claire assured me that I was looking good and to focus. I thought about all the hard work I had put in and in my mind told myself I can do this. Putting my sparkly emerald bikini on I started to feel my confidence come back. I was ready! Class A was called out and I watched the girls on the big screen back stage. Every single girl looked amazing, I definitely would not like to be a judge. Finally after they had gone through all the bikini classes, Class F was called. I just kept repeating in my head I can do this, I can do this. “Number 250 - Jessica Pendergrast from New Zealand”, I stepped out on stage and saw all the judges staring back at me and gave it everything I had. We then all lined up on stage and they called out the girls for the top callouts –“Number 250”... omg that’s my number! Stepping out on stage, I was proud to be a New Zealander. An hour later I was anxiously waiting back stage to see if I had made top 10. They called my number and I was jumping back stage.... ahhh I had made top 10 and was going to the finals! I had to keep checking the piece of paper to make sure that my number had actually been called out.
On the Friday, Claire and I got to explore the Arnold expo. We got to meet some of our inspirations including Ava Cowan, Amanda Latona, Flex Lewis, Jennifer Nicole Lee, Felicia Romero and Vanessa Campbell. The expo is unlike anything I can describe. If you love anything to do with sports and fitness this is an event that you have to attend. Just being there inspires you to better yourself in all aspects of life.
Finals came around on Saturday and I was super excited. We all got lead through the expo and went backstage ready to step on stage in front of thousands of people. I stood back stage, with the music pumping, and was so overwhelmed by everything. I took a few minutes to just reflect on the journey – all of the support I had back home in New Zealand, the hard work I had put in and all the highs and lows along the way. It was such a privilege to step on stage in the top 10. Then they announced the top 5 and I was amazed my number was called. We then went back on stage and I was announced as 4th. Words cannot describe the excitement of being announced as 4th in the world in my class. It was really a dream come true!
It was a real honour to represent New Zealand on an international stage. If you are sitting there reading this, think about what you want to achieve. Life is too short to just sit there and blend into the crowd. Set a reasonable goal and do everything you can to achieve it. Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it.
