Kilkenny bodybuilder records fantastic placing in national competition

A local bodybuilder has achieved a fantastic national placing, with a second place finish at the WNBF Ireland Championships in New Ross, where she placed second in the Fit Body Category.

Dora Kantyka is no stranger to these high finishes having come second in the Bikini category at the NBFI Championships in 2023 and since then she has spent almost three years in a dedicated building phase, focusing on putting on as much quality muscle as possible.

At the plan’s highest point, she was eating around 5,000 calories a day and gained approximately 15kg. There were a number of setbacks along the way, including a particularly serious injury which forced her to step away from competing last year, something which made getting back on the stage especially important to her this year.

Dora’s preparation for the WNBF Ireland Championships lasted 17 weeks and was her hardest prep to date, with 10,000 steps every day, an hour of cardio daily and calories eventually dropping as low as 1,000 per day.

She also decided to compete in the Fit Body category for the first time, which she felt suited her physique much better.

Most of her training sessions during prep started before 6am and her work day. Dora has worked in early years education for the past 17 years, so fitting everything around her job was a large part of the challenge.

Then, just three weeks before the competition, she suffered a bad back injury. At that point she wasn’t sure whether she would be fit to compete, but thanks to treatment and support from the Roche Injury Clinic, Dora was able to recover enough to get back on track.

She lost 12.5kg during the 17-week prep and placed second in the Fit Body category at WNBF Ireland.

“My biggest support throughout the preparation was my sister Anna,” Dora said. “She regularly looked after my son, Jacob, so that I could do my cardio, prepare my meals or simply get some much needed rest.”

“Jacob was also my little training partner and would do my daily steps with me, which made those long walks a lot easier. I trained at Top Performance Kilkenny throughout my preparation, working with my coach Yvonne from Team EvoFitness in Cork and also travelled to Dublin to work with my posing coach Amy.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who supported me throughout this journey - my family, friends, coaches, the people at the gym and everyone who encouraged me, especially during the difficult moments.”

After a marathon few years of training, Dora is enjoying her achievement but already thinking about her next steps in competition.

“For me, this competition represented almost three years of hard work, patience and perseverance. It was about building the physique I wanted, overcoming injuries and setbacks, and having the courage to step into a new category and challenge myself once again,” she outlined.

“After a short break following the competition, I’m now back to training and working towards my next goals with my coach. This is definitely not the end of my bodybuilding journey - there’s still plenty I want to achieve,” she concluded.