Marja Lehtonen

Last updated
Marja Lehtonen
  professional bodybuilder
Personal info
Born (1968-01-09) January 9, 1968 (age 57)
Tampere, Finland
Best statistics
Height5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)
WeightOn-season:
114–126 lb (52–57 kg)
Off-season:
140 lb (64 kg)
Professional (Pro) career
Pro-debut
ActiveRetired since 2010
Medal record
IFBB Ms. Olympia
3rd 2004 IFBB Ms. Olympia LW
Other IFBB Pro League contests
3rd2001 IFBB Jan Tana ClassicLightweight (LW)
2nd2001 IFBB Women’s ExtravaganzaMiddleweight (MW)
2nd2002 IFBB Jan Tana ClassicLW
3rd2003 IFBB Night of ChampionsLW
3rd2003 IFBB Night of ChampionsLW
2nd2004 IFBB Night of ChampionsLW
3rd2007 Jan Tana ClassicLW

Marja-Leana Lehtonen is a professional female bodybuilder and personal trainer from Finland, born in 1968 in Tampere.

Contents

Background

Lehtonen was born in Tampere, Finland in 1968. Always interested in outdoor activities, she joined a sports club in 1983 and became a track athlete. Through training as a sprinter she discovered an interest in weightlifting. After two years of growing interest in bodybuilding, she decided to see if she could compete in the field and entered the Finland National Championship. She won 2nd place in the lightweight category, taking her to the World Championship in Mexico City in 1990, where she finished 7th.

Lehtonen stands 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) and competes at a weight of 54 kg (120 lb) (her off-season weight is 63 kg (138 lb)). As a teenager she competed as a sprinter before turning to bodybuilding. She gives her best lifts as a curl (EZ-curl-bar) of 68 kg (150 lb) for eight reps, and a bench press of 110 kg (242 lb) for two reps [1]

Bodybuilding career

Marja said she was inspired by seeing muscular track field athletes at a young age to look like them.

She told her friends at gym that after two years she would compete. When she noticed her weight went up fast. This, along the timing and previous comments to her friends, pressured her to compete. She said she came in even ripped at the 2005 Ms. Olympia then at the 2004 Ms. Olympia, in defiance of the so called "20 percent rule", and placed 14th due to that.

Contest history

Best statistics

References