Missing out on winning the overall national figure prize title last year spurred Palmerston North bodybuilder Sarah Malthus on to win the Ms Universe title.
Malthus won the Ms Universe Figure crown at the Nabba International Universe event in Cebu in the Philippines last month, which made for a good year after she won the Ms NZ Figure at the New Zealand championships in Auckland in October.
It was something she had been aiming for since the previous year.
“At the end of last year I missed out on getting the overall figure title at nationals,” she said. “I won my class, but didn’t win the overall figure title.
“I decided at the start of the year my motto was going to be to train like a pro.
“I invested a lot more time and it’s nice that it paid off.”
Last year she won Ms Phil-Asia Overall Figure category at Cebu, but winning this year was still a surprise.
“I just really had no idea what to expect. I’d been over there to win the Phil-Asia the year before, but I had no idea what competition would be there.”
She said you can’t get complacent because there are good novices coming through.
“There was some really good girls in the class. There were definitely a couple that I was quite worried about and thought ‘oh I’d better bring my A game’.”
It was her biggest achievement, she said.
She was part of a team of 33 New Zealanders.
She said she is always changing her training and doesn’t have a set programme.
A clinical psychologist, she is also working towards her PhD at Massey University.
She is working on developing and evaluating intervention for those with pre-diabetes because of the large number of people who go on to develop type 2 diabetes.
Malthus is planning on taking a break from bodybuilding until March, and next year will try competing in mixed pairs.
Her work hours are flexible, but she is still busy between training and work.
This year she won three regional competitions at Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay and Wellington.
Courtesy of: Manawatu Standard