There's a song title that sums up my experience at the 2003 Women's Tri-Fitness World Challenge - "Beautiful Disaster". Now, I am in no way implying that the competition itself was a disaster, because that's far from the case. However, there were a few moments - both personally and in the competition itself - that echoed the theme of "Beautiful Disaster".

First off, let me explain my own disastrous sentiments. I knew well ahead of time that I needed to purchase a new flash to cover the night time obstacle course event, but due to some.. uhm.. shipping problems (damn you, UPS), I never did receive said flash. As a result, just about every photo where a competitor is, say, moving.. well, the pictures turned out like a Jackson Pollack painting. Not good at all. So overall, I'm very disappointed in the coverage I'm providing here on FitSights, because the Tri-Fitness is one of my favorite competitions, and because my photos were so bad, I now have to be like a Boston Red Sox fan and "wait till next year."

But enough about me, on to the report..

Grace and Physique
Lance Burton Theater - Monte Carlo

For the second year in a row, the Grace and Physique round was held at the Lance Burton Theater, or as I like to call it, the LBT. Actually, I just made that up. Anyhow, due to the solid amount of returning competitors and newcomers, the lineups for the physique round were one of the most impressive I've seen at the WTF. The odds on favorite - hey, this is Vegas, you know - was Sylvia Hernandez (formerly Ferrero), who has one of the best physiques in the sport. She could easily give any IFBB pro a run for their money in the physique department. And Sylvia didn't disappoint, coming in very tight with great shape.

Finishing right behind her were WTF newcomer, and Fitness America vet, Allison Ethier; the statuesque Elizabeth Sparks; former IFBB pro (and Nitro girl finalist - bet you didn't think I knew that) Lovena Tulley; last year's Tri-Fit champ Gina Oakes; and the Rachel Moore/Cindy Crawford look alike, Jessica Hatch.

One competitor who I thought should have placed a little higher - she finished 10th in the round - was Pam Smagala, who had a great overall look.

When it came to the Grace and Physique round, it was all beautiful, with no signs of disaster.

Fitness Routine
Lance Burton Theater - Monte Carlo

With the infusion of new competitors, the fitness routines at this year's WTF were expected to be very competitive. With Allison Ethier competing, you knew she would be vying for the top spot right off the bat, but would she come out on top? Or would the high flying Gina Oakes be able to defend her title? This is known as a teaser, folks - keep on reading to find out.

Well, ok, Gina Oakes won. I'm not good at the whole 'teaser' thing.

Gina lit up the stage with her electrifying moves and equally electric smile. After her routine wrapped up, you could hear people in the crowd shouting, "Give her the trophy now!" and "That's first place for ya!" And the judges agreed.

Jennifer Rosen followed Gina in the placings, garnering second place. Jennifer has an extensive cheerleading background, and its comes across in her routines. She's got all the "cheer faces" down pat, and I could have sworn I saw her bust out the "spirit fingers" when she was side skipping off the stage at the very end. Her performances are very interesting, to say the least.

The afore mentioned Ethier came in a strong third place. Allison had a great performance which featured break away pants that would have made the Chippendale's dancers at the Rio green with envy. Wait, why do I know where the Chippendale's show is? Uhh..

Also of note were Lisa Thomas' baseball inspired routine (I'll spare you the "her performance was a homerun!" line - oops, too late); crowd favorite Rebecca Lee, who's routine has improved drastically over the years; and Minde Erickson, AKA "the handstand girl", who riled up the crowd with her lengthy handstands.

Once again, beautiful routines, no disasters.

Obstacle Course
Bonanza High School

Later that evening, all the competitors converged on the site of the obstacle course - Bonanza HS, northwest of the strip. Now, I've already told you about my disaster when it came to photos for this portion of the show. However, this is the event where the beauty of the WTF truly shines through. But when I mention beauty, I'm not referring to perfect hair and skin or perfect abs or what have you - I'm talking about the spirit and heart that the obstacle course brings out in all the competitors.

Yes, that was corny, but it's true.

Gina Oakes eventually went on to win the round, with Sylvia Hernandez and Vibeke Nilsen following her, but the obstacle course is about more than that. It's about teammates running alongside competitors, pushing them to their limits. It's about a female running against a male competitors - and winning. It's about inspirational competitors overcoming obstacles, both literally and figuratively, and finishing the race. It's about promoter Al Rosen helping a competitor across the monkey bars - pushing her to succeed.

A great event, despite my own personal disaster.

Fitness Skills
Monte Carlo

The next morning, it was back to the host hotel, the Monte Carlo, for the fitness skills - box jump, bench press, and shuttle run.

The top 3 winners in the overall fitness skills would be Cynthia Hill look alike Jenny Ermish, Lovena Tulley and Jesson Romans. But the skills competition would be overshadowed by two side stories.

Firstly, Charlene Taylor did her best Keri Strug impression after twisting an ankle early in the shuttle run. Like Keri, Charlene didn't give into the pain and continued on with her run by hopping on one leg. By the time she reached down for the last beanbag, the cheers from the crowd became deafening, in hopes to push Charlene over the finish line.

Definitely a beautiful disaster.

Also during the shuttle run, a photographer was a little too close to the finish line, and when Lovena Tulley came barrelling across the line, she accidentally clipped the photog with her foot. As a result, the camera rammed into the photographers forehead, leaving him a bit bloodied and woozy. When it was all said and done, the photographer was sitting in a chair on the sidelines, getting a bandage wrapped around his dome and looking very similar to the flute player in the Spirit of 76.

Lovena is beautiful, and getting one's head busted open would qualify as being a disaster - so hey, yet another beautiful disaster.

Wrap-up

After the all the scores had been tallied, Sylvia Hernandez narrowly beat out Gina Oakes for the Tri-Fitness title. Joining them in the top 5 were Lovena Tulley, Allison Ethier and Jen Rosen.

Just as Cynthia Hill and Gina Oakes before her, Sylvia is a great representative for the Women's Tri-Fitness organization. At the end of the awards ceremony, Sylvia was approached by Oxygen's Nancy Lepatourel about being featured in a future issue. Hopefully it will only be the start of a whirlwind of exposure, not only for Sylvia, but for the WTF federation as well.

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