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Female bodybuilders from Moldova took Gold and Bronze in Tiraspol, while Silver went to local champion Victoria Valikova

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - A group of female bodybuilders stood out from the crowd as competitors from both sides of the Dniester river came together for a show of strength in this year's Tiraspol championships, Tiras 2008.

Taking place in Tiraspol, the capital of the 'de facto' republic of Pridnestrovie (PMR), the event was held with the sponsorship of the PMR Ministry of Education and included both male and female bodybuilding contestants from a number of countries, including neighboring Moldova. Pridnestrovie currently has a love-hate relationship with Moldova due to a territorial claim which Moldova still maintains on the land of Pridnestrovie even though Moldova lost in Pridnestrovie's war of independence in 1992.

Nevertheless, bodybuilders from Moldova went to Tiraspol, PMR, to compete and took top prizes in the competition. The event also included international participants from Russia, Latvia and two cities of Ukraine, Kiev and Odessa.

S.D. Tomail, Chairman of the Pridnestrovie Federation of Bodybuilding, Fitness and Bodyfitness.

Moldova took 2 out of 3 top spots

The Chairman of the Pridnestrovie Federation of Bodybuilding, Fitness and Bodyfitness, S.D. Tomail, welcomed the foreign contestants to Pridnestrovie and to the Palace of the Republic in Tiraspol, where the event was held.

In the female category, two out of the three top spots went to participants from Moldova, on the right bank of the Dniester river.

The Tiras 2008 bodybuilding championship was won by Moldovan citizen Victoria Gutsenko from Moldova's capital Chisinau, who took gold for the first time in an international competition.

Second place went to a so-called "Tiraspolchanka" (local Tiraspol girl), Victoria Valikova, a self-described "proud citizen of Pridnestrovie."

The third place finish - Bronze - went to Moldova's Ina Babchuc from Bălţi, Moldova's second largest city.

The bodybuilding event was broadcast on TV PMR, Pridnestrovie's free and public television channel which was founded shortly after the country declared independence in 1990 and which is known to viewers as the "First Republic Channel," with a big number "1" as the station identifier.

See also:
» PMR's female bodybuilders grab gold in Odessa [1]
» Is Pridnestrovie's Semerenko the next Schwarzenegger? [2]