50-year-old bodybuilder punches above her weight

On April 26, Ms Mayda Jutahkiti stood backstage at Kreta Ayer People's Theatre, in a sequinned red bikini on five-inch heels, her well-honed muscles gleaming under spray-tanned skin.

- Stephanie Yeo

She had practised her bodybuilding poses to perfection over the last four months with her coach. But performing under the bright stage lights and in front of an audience was quite another thing.

"When they called my name and I first stepped on the stage, my legs turned to jelly," she says, recalling how she walked onstage mincingly to avoid falling.

Ms Jutahkiti was not just a first-timer in the women's bikini novice category at the Physique & Muscle War 2025 bodybuilding competition.