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A Jersey athlete has won her class in the European Natural Bodybuilding Championships and has been awarded her ‘pro card’ – a ticket to compete at the very top level of the sport.
Paulina Malotta - known to everyone as Pola Lotta - was first in the Bikini Masters category at the competition, which was held last month in Denmark.
The 40-year-old dental hygienist and mother-of-one has been training for four years and was named the winner ahead of eight other athletes.
She said: “It was a lot of hard work beforehand, including 20 weeks of dieting. You have to appear happy and confident on stage, but deep down I was really nervous.
"The poses you have to hold are not always natural body positions and tensing your muscles for long periods is exhausting. You also have to control your breathing.”
Pictured: Pola at her gym, Club Carrefour in St Lawrence.
But Pola not only lifted the title – she impressed the judges so much that she was awarded professional status and can now compete against others at the same level.
Natural bodybuilding is drug-tested and differentiates itself from other federations within the sport, which do not test for performance-enhancing substances.
Pola, who works at Jersey Dental Care in St Peter, began training in the gym seriously during the lockdown in 2020.
She first competed in Jersey in 2021 and, two years later, won her class at the British Drug-Free Bodybuilding Association Championships.
This year, she took the British title again and won the European competition.
She said: “I am so pleased that I discovered training and competing and, although it is hard, I want to go as far in the sport as I can.
“When you get older, you naturally lose ten per cent of your muscle mass every decade but training counters that and gives you longevity.
"I also had a lower back problem for more than a decade but, through training in the gym, I have overcome that."
Pictured: Pola with her 'pro card', which means she can compete at the highest level of natural bodybuilding. (DFNA)
She explained: “Eating clean food also has a huge impact. I was born in Poland, where we eat a lot of bread and potatoes, but you don’t have to stick with how you’re brought up.
"I am now very disciplined with my food and feel far healthier because of it.”
Pola’s aim is to compete at the Natural Olympia in Las Vegas in a couple of years, giving her the time to improve her physique before taking to the stage with the world’s best.
“Some people might think that competing in bodybuilding is a bit extreme but I want to describe myself as an athlete and, in order to be one, I think you have to compete.
“I’m also happy to take my time – I’ve had a lot of success recently, and I want to spread out my bodybuilding journey to savour it bit by bit.”
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