Ariel Khadr is now a two-time Fitness International champion. Khadr arrived to Columbus, OH ready to defend her title, and she would be the woman standing alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger at the end of the evening. She joined Isabelle Turell on a recent episode of The Fit Rockstar Show to talk about the feeling of being a two-time champion.
“I’m just soaking it all in. I’m not taking it for granted,” she told Turell. “Every minute of this I’m grateful for.”
The native New Yorker started her fitness life by doing both gymnastics and judo at the same time. Her parents were big bodybuilding fans, which could be the connection that led Khadr to start competing.
“They started taking me to bodybuilding shows back when it was only bodybuilding and fitness, and Fitness, kind of like how Bikini now has 40 girls there. There was that many girls in Fitness.”
Khadr would enter competitions as a teenager, and she actually was at one time the youngest IFBB Pro ever, having won her pro card at the age of 16. She was a pro athlete before she started driving.
“I didn’t even get my license. I was so focused on this, only cared about getting my pro card at the time.”
Khadr would finish high school and go on to college, but she was also rising up the ranks in her division. She eventually became a top contender for the Fitness Olympia. Khadr was a favorite to win in 2022, but the title went to Missy Truscott. Khadr finished third. Many athletes would’ve taken time to decompress and regroup, but she went right back to work for the Arnold contest.
“I guess I really dug deep. The second I got home, I was literally on my laptop editing music, and I made it that day when I got home, and I made my routine following the Olympia because I was so hungry to do an incredible routine.”
Now, Khadr will be considered a top contender for the 2023 Fitness Olympia, but she will have to defeat Truscott as well as three-time winner Whitney Jones and the rest of the field to take the title. To see the full interview with Khadr as well as every new episode of The Fit Rockstar Show, subscribe to the Olympia TV YouTube channel.
