By Neto Baptiste
IFBB Elite Pro Bikini Fitness athlete, Ambassador Kimberly Percival, said her successes this year would not have been possible without the sacrifice and commitment of family, friends and loved ones.
The Antiguan, who concluded her 2022 season with a top podium spot at the Jantana Pro Bikini Classic held in Finland over the weekend, highlighted the many obstacles she had to overcome this year and how they served as motivation.
“First and foremost, I have to thank my family because it has been a challenging year for me both on a sporting and personal perspective. I had a few losses this year in both my grandmother and grandfather in the middle of prep. Actually, right before St Martin, my grandmother passed, and then right before Barbados my grandfather passed,” she said.
“I also had a few other personal challenges within family that I won’t go into details, but we have been able to overcome which also occurred during prep, so it had been emotionally and physically challenging, but my family has been there in so many ways. We made it through, we stayed positive, we endured and came out on top of all the challenges that we faced,” she added.
Percival, on Saturday, finished ahead of Germany’s Mascha Stutz and Monica Sackova of Czech Republic to capture her second title in a week after having claimed the Elite Pro Diamond Cup in Prague.
The athlete said it was the support of those closest to her that gave her the drive and momentum she needed.
“I have to thank my mom, my stepdad, my workplace Domus, who have also sponsored me throughout this process in a very big way. I have to thank my father-in-law, my mother-in-law and I can’t even call them friends, because they are more like family in Dr Lewis, uncle-cous Anthony Athill, Dr King and the list goes on and on. Of course, also my husband [Bernard Percival] who has been by my side throughout this entire process with every trip, every suitcase and every trophy, we’ve made this journey,” Percival said.
Looking back at her year, Percival said that although some things did not go as planned, she is comfortable with what she has achieved and happy to have had the opportunity, along with so many others, to rep Antigua and Barbuda on the international stage.
“I had plans of retaining my World Championships title and I can honesty and openly say that, but I did have plans for other successful ventures throughout the year when choosing my shows, so I think the simple answer would be yes. We always go into preparation and pursuit of shows with the plan of coming out on top and that really was my goal, so being able to check off four of those shows with that first place finish and a narrow second place finish at World Championships, I think that I’ve satisfied the goals I’ve set out for this year,” she said.
Percival said she will take a two-week break before restarting her gym work with the focus on improving specific areas with her first show in 2023 slated for June in Barbados.
