Crystal Wong, Tiffany Upshaw and Angela Stueber were standouts in their respective divisions in August in earning NPC Athlete of the Month honors for the month.
FIGURE: CRYSTAL WONG
Accomplishment: Pacific USA Championships 1st Class C and Overall
Height 5’6
Age 33
Weight 123
Residence San Diego, CA
Contest History/Highlights: 2003: Las Vegas Classic 4th Medium Class; 2004: Contra Costa 3rd Tall Class; 2004: California State 4th Class D; Excalibur 1st Tall Class
Go here for more photos of Crystal Wong!
BABY ON BOARD “I competed for a couple years from 2003-2004, but then had a baby. I took about two years off of training just to be a stay-at-home mom – I wanted to do it right. I was still training but wasn’t competing. But then I hooked up with a Military Figure team, and a lot of the girls there just pushed me and motivated me to try a show again. My daughter is 4 now – there are a lot of kids who are obese at her age, so I like setting the right example for her.”
BAD BREAK “I have a background in competitive figure skating, which I did for several years, a along with track in high school. When I was 17 I fractured my back, so had to put the ice skating competitions on hold – that’s when I started training with weights.”
WEIGHT WORK “I started weight training because I wanted to change my shape. I was really skinny wanted to add more curves. My inspiration was Lena Johannsen. I figured if I could have shoulders like her I could kind of break up my straight lines! It turned into a lifestyle because of that.”
LIVING THE LIFESTYLE “I like the camaraderie and being with like-minded people who understand this lifestyle. I like to push myself to see how far I can take my body and seeing the rewards of what I can do with my physique. When you go out and compete, you’re able to share this with people who really understand you and the lifestyle you’re living, so I love that aspect of it. But the actual competition is just a second of your time compared to how much time you spend in gym.”
USA BOUND “My next contest will be the [2013] USAs. I’m going to take it to a whole new level. I’ve always wanted to do another big show like that. I kept putting it off, but now I have more focus and determination to do it. And I have muscle maturity now, so I feel like I have a good shot at this point.”
