Monica Brant
Encyclopedia
Monica Brant is an IFBB
professional figure competitor
and a former fitness competitor
. She is well-known for competing in and becoming the 1998 Ms. Jan Tana Pro Fitness Champion and 1998 Ms. Fitness Olympia Champion.
, barrels and pole bending, English pleasure
, dressage
, and Hunter/Jumper.
After Monica graduated, her love of horses took her to a fine arts college in Fulton, Missouri
, where she studied basics and equestrian science for her first year. Unable to return for further studies in Missouri, Brant took classes at San Antonio College
in Texas, and gave riding lessons at nearby stables. She also did promotional work for Budweiser, waitressed, and competed in bikini contests for extra funds.
In 1991, Monica started lifting weights with a friend and saw a photo of Marla Duncan winning a national competition. Her beauty and physique impressed her enough that she wanted to try what she was doing - Fitness Competitions.
Up until 1995 she only competed for fun, not as a money-making career. In 1994 she was honored with a Muscle & Fitness
cover. This helped Monica realize that she had potential to earn some actual money in the fitness industry. She kept competing and in April of '95 moved to the Los Angeles area. Once she arrived, Brant dove into what would become her career and competed in the IFBB organization two to three times per year.
After competing four times, in 1998, she won her first and only Fitness Olympia
and appeared 45 times on the covers of magazines, books, and calendars worldwide. Brant says that she had a wonderful time traveling across the country and internationally, and have met some really incredible people everywhere. After placing second twice after her 1998 victory, Monica retired from fitness competition citing the demand on gymnastics in order to win were too great for her.
Monica returned to competition in 2003 with the announcement that figure competition would be part of the sport of bodybuilding. After placing 3rd at the 2006 Figure Olympia, Brant decided to take a break from other competitions and focus on the 2007 Olympia. Monica did not place in the 2007 Figure Olympia competition, despite the fact that she came in as lean as ever. However, in September 2010, Monica returned to compete in Figure once again, taking to the WBFF World Pro Championship stage in Toronto. She took first place at the competition and landed a cover on Oxygen Magazine in January 2011.
International Federation of BodyBuilders
The International Federation of BodyBuilders is a competitive bodybuilding organization founded in 1946 by brothers Ben and Joe Weider and is the highest level of competitive bodybuilding in the world. Currently, the IFBB consists of seven different sub-divisions for different competitors ,...
professional figure competitor
Fitness and figure competition
Fitness and Figure competition is a class of physique-exhibition events for women. While bearing a close resemblance to female bodybuilding, they emphasizes muscle tone over muscle size.-Overview:...
and a former fitness competitor
Fitness and figure competition
Fitness and Figure competition is a class of physique-exhibition events for women. While bearing a close resemblance to female bodybuilding, they emphasizes muscle tone over muscle size.-Overview:...
. She is well-known for competing in and becoming the 1998 Ms. Jan Tana Pro Fitness Champion and 1998 Ms. Fitness Olympia Champion.
Biography
She was born in Fort Hood, Texas and raised on a 20 acres (80,937.2 m²) ranch in a small town outside of San Antonio called Castroville. Her mother is a professional horse training business and Monica started learning how to help her around the stables, riding and showing ponies and horses since the age of 5. By the time she was 14, she was giving riding lessons and training horses on her own with occasional advice from her mom. Along with volleyball and track in high school, she competed in many events: western pleasureWestern Pleasure
Western Pleasure is a western style competition at horse shows that evaluates horses on manners and suitability of the horse for a relaxed but collected gait cadence and relatively slow speed of gait, along with calm and responsive disposition. The horse is to appear to be a "pleasure" to ride and...
, barrels and pole bending, English pleasure
English Pleasure
English pleasure is generic term for a number of different English riding classes seen at horse shows in the United States, where the horse is ridden in either hunt seat or saddle seat tack....
, dressage
Dressage
Dressage is a competitive equestrian sport, defined by the International Equestrian Federation as "the highest expression of horse training." Competitions are held at all levels from amateur to the World Equestrian Games...
, and Hunter/Jumper.
After Monica graduated, her love of horses took her to a fine arts college in Fulton, Missouri
Fulton, Missouri
Fulton is a city in Callaway County, Missouri, the United States of America. It is part of the Jefferson City, Missouri Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 12,790 in the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Callaway County...
, where she studied basics and equestrian science for her first year. Unable to return for further studies in Missouri, Brant took classes at San Antonio College
San Antonio College
San Antonio College is a community college that is a part of the Alamo Community College District. It is located on San Pedro Avenue, across from San Pedro Park, near downtown San Antonio. SAC is the oldest public two-year college in Texas...
in Texas, and gave riding lessons at nearby stables. She also did promotional work for Budweiser, waitressed, and competed in bikini contests for extra funds.
In 1991, Monica started lifting weights with a friend and saw a photo of Marla Duncan winning a national competition. Her beauty and physique impressed her enough that she wanted to try what she was doing - Fitness Competitions.
Up until 1995 she only competed for fun, not as a money-making career. In 1994 she was honored with a Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness is an American bodybuilding magazine founded by Joe Weider, but now published by American Media, Inc.-History:Muscle & Fitness has a more mainstream focus than its companion publication, Flex...
cover. This helped Monica realize that she had potential to earn some actual money in the fitness industry. She kept competing and in April of '95 moved to the Los Angeles area. Once she arrived, Brant dove into what would become her career and competed in the IFBB organization two to three times per year.
After competing four times, in 1998, she won her first and only Fitness Olympia
Fitness Olympia
The Fitness Olympia is a contest in women's fitness competition, and is sanctioned by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness. The contest was first held in 1995. Susie Curry and Adela Garcia have won the most titles, with six.-Winners:...
and appeared 45 times on the covers of magazines, books, and calendars worldwide. Brant says that she had a wonderful time traveling across the country and internationally, and have met some really incredible people everywhere. After placing second twice after her 1998 victory, Monica retired from fitness competition citing the demand on gymnastics in order to win were too great for her.
Monica returned to competition in 2003 with the announcement that figure competition would be part of the sport of bodybuilding. After placing 3rd at the 2006 Figure Olympia, Brant decided to take a break from other competitions and focus on the 2007 Olympia. Monica did not place in the 2007 Figure Olympia competition, despite the fact that she came in as lean as ever. However, in September 2010, Monica returned to compete in Figure once again, taking to the WBFF World Pro Championship stage in Toronto. She took first place at the competition and landed a cover on Oxygen Magazine in January 2011.
Contest history
- 1991 Fitness USA Preliminary 1st
- 1991 Ms. National Fitness 14th
- 1993 Fitness USA Preliminary 6th
- 1994 Fitness USA Preliminary 1st
- 1994 Ms. National Fitness 6th
- 1995 Fitness USA Nationals 9th
- 1995 IFBB Jan Tana Pro Fitness 1st
- 1995 IFBB Fitness Olympia 7th
- 1996 Fitness International 2nd
- 1996 IFBB Fitness Olympia 7th
- 1996 IFBB Night Of Champions 4th
- 1996 IFBB Jan Tana Pro Fitness 2nd
- 1998 IFBB Fitness Olympia 1st
- 1999 IFBB Ms. Fitness Olympia 4th
- 2003 Figure InternationalFigure InternationalThe Figure International is an annual women's figure competition run by the International Federation of BodyBuilders. The contest is held annually as part of the Arnold Classic, and was first held in 2003 . Jenny Lynn has won the most titles, with three.-Winners:...
- 2nd - 2003 Figure OlympiaFigure OlympiaThe Figure Olympia is an annual women's figure competition sanctioned by the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness. The contest was first held in 2003. Davana Medina has won the most titles, with three.-Winners:-Notes:...
- 2nd - 2003 Show of Strength Pro ChampionshipShow of Strength Pro ChampionshipThe Show of Strength Pro Championship is a professional bodybuilding contest, as well as separate fitness and figure competitions traditionally sponsored by nutrition store chain GNC.As of 2005, the Show of Strength was cancelled.-Winners:...
, Figure - 2nd - 2004 Figure International - 2nd
- 2004 Figure Olympia - 3rd
- 2005 Figure International - 2nd
- 2005 Figure Olympia - 3rd
- 2005 Sacramento Pro Championships, Figure - 3rd
- 2005 San Francisco Pro Championships, Figure - 2nd
- 2006 Figure International - 2nd
- 2006 Figure Olympia - 3rd
- 2007 Figure Olympia - 7th
- 2009 Figure International - 6th
- 2010 WBFF World Pro Figure Champion - 1st
