The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN making the transition from the bikini to what she now considers to be her forte as a figure, Serena Salis Decius-Norius showed that all the hard work over the past year paid off as she successfully claimed her second overall title at the NPC’s Diamond Classic in Bogota, Colombia, on Saturday.

Decius-Norius, accompanied by her husband and trainer pro bodybuilder Jimmy Norius and her boss Sagita Cooper of Sigita’s Beauty Parlor in Lyford Cay, rocked the stage as she emerged as the champion in the over-35 short class for the overall title.

“I’m happy now because it’s finished,” said Decius-Norius as she breathed a sigh of relief. “My diet was harder than my workout. In the last few weeks, I only absorbed about 500 calories, which was very tough. But I am now very proud of myself. I did very well.”

Decius-Norius noted that the judges informed her that she made a vast improvement since they saw her at the show a year ago. She thanked Cooper for not only being in the stands to watch the show, but for making it possible for her to secure the much-needed financial assistance through some of the clients for her travel, outfit and other expenses.

“She saw what I had to go through with my full-time job,” Decius-Norius said. “It’s a super expensive sport and she made sure that I didn’t have anything to worry about. I want to tell her thanks for all that she did for me, including taking the time off to train and to travel to compete.”

As for her performance, the 39-year-old Italian born Decius-Norius said she felt she did a lot to prepare herself for the show and it worked out very well.

“I have a lot of trophies, but I’m just working on trying to get my pro card,” said Decius-Norius, who captured her second title in seven shows, adding to her first title in 2021. ”Between now and November, I have a lot of time to get ready for my next show.”

In critiquing his wife’s performance, Norius said she’s right where she needs to be heading into her next show at home in the Bahamas at the NPC Caribbean Grand Prix Classic at Atlantis in November with a few minor adjustments to be made. “We worked on her proportions, her symmetry, her harmony and her balance,” Jimmy Norius said. “The only thing we need to do in order for her to obtain her pro card is just her conditioning. Our objective was just to bring up her upper body, but we didn’t work on her legs as much as we should for the past year.

“I think for her next big show, we will bring some improvement to her hamstring and gluteal region that will put her in the money to earn her pro card. She will then be able to rock with the best in the world as she improves in those areas.”

Compared to COVID-19 environment as the world was just transforming out of last year, Norius said the competition was much bigger and stiffer for his wife this year with about 40 competitors, although there were only three in her class and six in figure combined.

“She did extremely well,” he summed up.

While he’s preparing his wife for her next show in November, Norius told the public that they can get to see him perform in his first show at home as a pro during the Bahamas Games in July.

“I am looking forward to making my return home for the Bahamas Games,” he said. “I have a show scheduled for Barbados in June, but my priority is the Bahamas Games. I haven’t competed on local soil for about four to five years and I want to give the Bahamians the opportunity to see how much juice this 48 year-old still has left in him.”