Out of the biggest field in the five-year history of the Figure Olympia - 28 sequined and bronze-skinned beauties in all - the battle on the Orleans Arena stage came down to two women. One, the reigning champ, a radiant and impeccably conditioned Jenny Lynn. The other, 23-year-old Gina Aliotti, a hard-charging up-and-comer with one of the sport’s most well-balanced and talked-about physiques. Who had the edge?
In the end it was Jenny, who earned her title by a 10-point margin and thus remained one of only two women to have ever won the prestigious Figure O title (retired three-time champ Davana Medina being the other).
"I had taken the entire year off [leading up to the show], and there were more girls than ever," Jenny said. She wasn’t simply sitting at home all those months, though. She and her boyfriend, amateur bodybuilder and aspiring pro wrestler Blair Mone, spent the winter relocating from Northern California to Louisville, Kentucky. After settling in, Jenny got down to business. "I started my diet a little earlier than usual," she explained. "Last year I started at 14 weeks out; this year I started at 16 just to make sure I had plenty of time."
And she needed every bit of her 16 weeks of prep to keep Gina at bay. Fresh off a win at the Tournament of Champions in California the weekend before, Gina had momentum heading into the Figure Olympia and was poised to improve on her impressive sixth-place debut in ‘06. She not only did that but also made a strong case for a possible ascension to the top spot in the not-so-distant future.
"I felt really confident, but being that I’m so young and it’s only my second Olympia, I was thrilled to just be in the top five," Gina said. "Then to make the leap to second was just amazing."
Can Gina win it next year? She thinks so. "I feel like I’m knocking on the door as a [Figure International] champ," she said. "Based on what happened this year, if I bring the same package, I definitely think I can move up to No. 1 at the O."
But it would be shortsighted to expect next year to be a two-woman show. Sonia Adcock and Jennifer Gates placed third and fourth, respectively, in their Figure O debuts, while Amanda Savell jumped from seventh to fifth. Mainstays Monica Brant-Peckham, Amber Littlejohn, Valerie Waugaman and two-time defending Figure International champ Mary Elizabeth Lado notched top-10 finishes as well. The depth of this year’s lineup bodes well for the future of the sport.
But when there are so many vying for what you have, there’s no time for rest. Just five days after the show, Jenny was back in the gym training, and Gina was getting set to compete in the West Palm Beach Figure Pro.
