Bodybuilding: An Iakopo family affair

From right, Stanley, Liekeila’akata, Filomenaleonisa, Mametto, and Audiescott Iakopo are all joining the upcoming 2023 Dee Clayton Classic and Northern Marianas Bodybuilding and Physique Federation Championships on June 10 at the Saipan World Resort’s Taga Hall. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

The Iakopo family has made bodybuilding a family affair as father Stanley, Filomenaleonisa, Audiescott, Mametto, and Liekeila’akata are all competing in the upcoming 2023 Dee Clayton Classic and Northern Marianas Bodybuilding and Physique Federation Championships on June 10 at the Saipan World Resort’s Taga Hall.

Stanley, who is no stranger to bodybuilding, said that initially, he did not want to compete this year, but his children wanted him to join them. 

“I wanted to really focus on my kids’ training; their diet especially, training program, emphasize the science of bodybuilding in terms of their physiological movements and how to build muscles and shred looking leaner at the same time, and how to exercise properly. We’ve always trained and [done] things together consistently as a family, either motocross, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA, rugby, track/field, and now bodybuilding,” he said.

He said with all of them competing, “it’s a dream come true. I’m honored to compete with my kids… I’m blessed and God has been good to me in my life. My kids are my role models…I look up to them. My kids were eager to get on stage…they love competition—it’s in their genetics.”

For Filomenaleonisa, a 17-year-old Saipan International School student is competing in the figure division which she won in 2021. She is also preparing and training for the 200m sprint of the upcoming 4th Oceania Championship Cup for Track and Field on June 22.

She said, “sports is one of the many ways my family and I connect. We do everything together and even though the process may be challenging, we have a strong support system from one another.”

As for why she’s joining this time around, she said “I am the 2021 Figure Queen but I have put bodybuilding aside to focus on my main sport, track and field. However, this year my family and I all wanted to take this opportunity of competing in this upcoming Dee Classic show. I am extremely thankful to have my mother and father, brothers, and sister by my side in this journey of defending my title.”

She does not have any expectations coming into the competition but that “it may be a challenge but if anything, I am confident and ecstatic to compete amongst veterans and new competitors again,” she said. “I am most looking forward to watching my brothers and sister. This will be their first competition, and I am very proud [of] how strong they have been during prep.” She said that they just joined five weeks out of the competition and that dieting was the biggest struggle in her preparation. 

Mametto, 15-year-old also from SIS, and 14-year-old Audiescott are joining the classic division.

They both said that they wanted to join when their father and sister joined last time which inspired them. “We were too young to be able to compete but now that we have grown and [are] able to compete, we decided that we would take the opportunity and start now.” They said, “I know for certain that it won’t be easy. The people that I am competing with are people who have worked out for years and have trained their bodies to look good on stage. But I won’t back down from this challenge and will prevail.”

To what they look forward to, they said “I’m looking forward to seeing how I will look on stage. Everyone knows that however you look on stage is how much work you put in because you cannot have someone train for you and expect yourself to look good.”

Seventeen-year-old Liekeila’akata Iakopo, who modeled in the luxury brand Jacquemus’ “Le Splash” show and was published in Vogue last year, is joining the bikini category. 

She said on how she thinks the competition will be, “Every athlete has the intention of striving for the best outcome in any sport so with that, I believe I will be challenged in my event as this is my first time competing. But with the encouragement of my father along with my baby brothers and sister, I feel confident and motivated to do my best in my debut into bodybuilding.”

“I am most definitely looking forward to being on stage beside my family and taking in all the moments we shared together during our training [and] celebrating it! We are all working extremely hard that any moment on that stage next to or with my family is priceless,” she said. 

The struggles she faced in her prep was her eating habits and meal prepping. “Personally, I feel it’s one of the more unspoken struggles of training for really anything, especially when you’re just introduced to it. Dieting didn’t change overnight for me but with the support of my family and with them sharing their experiences, I felt less alone and more motivated to put time into prepping my meals.”