Kassandra Gillis has won the Women’s Wellness International division at the 2023 Arnold Classic, which took place Mar. 3 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. She managed to beat Angela Borges, who placed runner-up ahead of Rayane Fogel in third.
Women’s Wellness is one of the newer categories in bodybuilding. The judges tend to give more weight to the lower body muscle development along with a developed upper body. The focus is on the muscle mass, quality, and definition in the thighs, hips, and glutes area. Athletes work on building their stage presence to bring out the beauty of the female physique. The show marked the second edition of the Wellness event.
Reigning champion Isabelle Nunes created history by becoming the inaugural winner of the division in 2022. Although she initially planned to defend the title, she announced her withdrawal from the contest due to a worsening knee injury a few days ago. With Nunes out of the way, a new champion was bound to get crowned.
Top contender Angela Borges entered the contest as the highest-ranked Olympian with the belief she was destined for victory. She turned heads with a fantastic performance showing off her impressive package. Sunny Andrews was on a mission to redeem herself after an uneventful Olympia last December. While the division is still quite new, the competition was fierce as Kassandra Gillis, Julia Chitarra, and Yarishna Ayala returned to battle it out with budding prospects Rayane Fogel and Giselle Machado.
Given the intense nature of competition in the division, three callouts were needed to separate Borges and Gillis from the rest of the participants. Borges turned heads with her stellar lower muscle shape and symmetry while Gillis asserted her place in the mix of title contention with her muscle detail and overall conditioning.
In the end, Kassandra Gillis came out on top of the Women’s Wellness event at the 2023 Arnold Classic. Her insane blend of muscle definition and symmetry proved to be too much for any other participant to challenge.
2023 Arnold Classic Wellness International Results:
- Winner — Kassandra Gillis ($7,000)
- Second Place — Angela Borges ($4,000)
- Third Place — Rayane Fogel ($3,000)
- Fourth Place — Alexis Adams($2,000)
- Fifth Place — Marissa Andrews ($1,000)
- Sixth Place — Andrea Hrenko ($1,000)
- Seventh Place — Amanda Burnett
- Eight Place — Sunny Andrews
Wellness International Champions
- 2022: Isabelle Nunes