Female Swedish Gladiators (Gladiatorerna)

AMAZON

CECILIA BENJAMINSON née SÖDERSTRÖM

Amazon, a Personal Trainer joined the Gladiatorerna ranks for the final two seasons and was probably the most recognised Gladiator of them all. The former Steel Goddess had appeared on the front cover of the B&K Magazine several times.

She was one of the Gladiators the contenders feared most. Her sportsmanship was flawless but her attitude was not, as she proved to be the baddie character of the show. Her best events were the team events Attackboll (Powerball) and Gatloppet (Gauntlet).

During filming of the final series, Amazon and fellow Gladiator announced their engagement and were married in December 2005. Amazon now lives in Sweden with her husband Hero (Roddy Benjaminson) and his two sons Tim and Lucas.

Amazon is still concentrating on her bodybuilding and fitness achievements and has also released a duo-model calendar with top Swedish model Evalinda Karlson.

AMBER

ELIN SUNDELL

Amber's training background includes gymnastics, volleyball and bodybuilding and before Gladiatorerna, competed in the 3:a junior-EM in 1999.

The golden girl of the Swedish Gladiators team, Amber enjoyed all the events and smiled constantly through them, but don't let that deceive you as she was pretty tough, and rarely lost in the five years she was part of the show. She excelled at all events but is probably best remembered for her achievements in Hang Tough as she never lost a match.

The last series of Gladiatorerna saw Amber both in front of the camera and behind as she became an assistant producer. She then moved onto producing other TV shows for the Gladiatorerna station TV4.

Since the demise of Gladiatorerna, Amber has moved into modelling.

In 2006, Amber and fellow Gladiator Embla joined forces to create an internet based fitness and health awareness company called Ptonnet. She has since turned her hand at motorbike racing, and is hoping to compete professionally.

BLADE

ANNA LARSSON

At school, Blade was number one on the athletics team and at 17 she turned her focus to Tae Kwon Do and won the Swedish Championships.

After high school, Blade travelled to the United States of America to learn English and experience different cultures. Whilst in the states, Blade won the USA World Championships of Tae Kwon Do held in Las Vegas. Blade then returned to Sweden, where she gained certifications as a Personal Trainer, Fitness Instructor and Nutrition Advisor in the Scandinavian Academy of Fitness Training.

She then worked part-time as a Personal Trainer, whilst studying Sports Medicine and training for fitness competitions. At 21, Blade won the Swedish Championships in Athletic Fitness - the competition involved a symmetry round, an obstacle course, pull-ups, and dips. After the win, she was asked to try out for the TV show Gladiatorerna - it was there that Blade was born.

Blade was in Gladiatorerna for the final two seasons, and was a true Gladiator winning all of her solo events. She loved Dagkroken (Whiplash) and Gatloppet (Gauntlet).

After the fifth and final series, Blade continued working on television and also started modelling and holding seminars - talking about fitness. Blade then received her Physical Therapy degree from the Uppsala University and then moved to San Diego to complete the final internship with Function First Inc.

Blade now lives in the USA and is hoping to become a spokesperson for an American supplement company.

DIVA

KATHY A

American born Diva moved to Mexico with her family as a small child and so her first language is Spanish. At the age of 11, her family decided to move back to the United States of America and so she started to learn English-American.

At the age of 20, Diva, a budding model, travelled the world to gain experience in modelling and managed to work in over 13 countries, in many jobs including dancing and technical support for Microsoft before finally returning to the USA - where she met her first true love, bodybuilding.

During her stint at bodybuilding, Diva won competed in many competitions and was placed 1st in most of them including the Arizona Natural Classic, Arizona Golden Classic, AZ Western Regionals and the San Diego Gold Classic.

She has also been on featured in many magazines, from Flex and MuscleMag to B&K and Swedish Teen Magazine - where she was featured with her (now former) husband Peder Johansson, a Swedish born bodybuilder.

In 2000, Diva and her husband (now former) Tamook auditioned for the roles of Gladiators for the second series of Gladiatorerna and passed. Unfortunately the timing of the filming of the show clashed with their plans and so they had to decline, but for series three they temporarily moved to Sweden and made it onto the show and Diva became a force to be reckoned with.

After just one year on the show Diva decided to move away from TV and head back to her bodybuilding roots and competed in many more competitions. She now works in the medical field.

ELEKTRA

ISABELLE DE SALAREFF

Half-Russian-half-Polish Elektra was born in Sweden and trained as a dental assistant but did not like the job, she instead worked part-time as a waitress so that she could concentrate on exercise and fitness.

Elektra then became a semi-pro baseball player and was asked to attend the Gladiators auditions by her coach. It was then that Elektra was born.

Elektra, known in the show as 'Elektra - The Wicked' was a master at Duellen (Duel) and Ringarna (Hang-Tough) and was with the show for it's full run of five seasons. Elektra loved the experience of Gladiators especially signing autographs for her fans and hopes one day the show will return so that she can compete once again.

During her time on Gladiatorerna, Elektra also took part in the celebrity special Fort Boyard with fellow Gladiators Amazon, Hero and Izor.

Since the show finished, Elektra has been busy competing in fitness competitions, and has two SM-Gold's in various levels of Swedish competition and also a Silver. Elektra has also had top-5 placements in the European Championships and World Championships.

Elektra's new venture is to open a store in Sweden selling handbags and shoes, a passion she has had for many years.

EMBLA

ANNA CARLSSON

Embla is a former child horse racing competitor of jumping and dressage events. At 16, she moved out of the family home and away from horses, and took up gymnastics. Embla started competing in solo events in gymnastics and started to look at lightweight bodybuilding.

Embla joined Gladiatorerna for it's fifth and final series and was a much valued part of the team. She was excellent at all the events but her favourite was Powerball.

After the demise of Gladiatorerna, Embla joined forces with fellow Gladiator Amber (Elin Sundell) to create a fitness company called Ptonnet.

Embla is now a member of the athletics team of Better Bodies with Gladiators Amazon and Hero (Cecilia and Roddy Benjaminson) and Raptor RX2 (Fredrik Wettergren) and is hoping to return to Gladiatorerna one day.

ETNA

HELEN WIKERS

The younger sister of racing champion Peace Ekblom, Etna became a fan of the sporting scene at an early age and was competing in many competitions involving Volleyball and Bobsleighing.

Etna, the female Gladiators team captain, was in the show for it's full 5 year run and loved every minute of it. Her strengths were shown in all events but her favourite event was Gauntlet as she got to work with her team.

FURIA

BRIGITTA HALLSTRÖM

Bodybuilding champion Furia has been involved in the sport since she was just 17 and has entered many competitions, more notably the Mrs International in which was placed 15th, and Pro Extravaganza in 12th place.

Furia joined the Gladiatorerna ranks in the first series and stayed until the fourth. Furia was a master at the team events Gatloppet (Gauntlet) and Attackboll (Powerball).

At the end of the third series, Furia decided to leave the show and it was announced that the new-line up did not include her, however just one month later Gladiators Indra and Zeke were killed in a car crash and so Furia returned to the team to replace Indra.

She then retired from the Gladiator world at the end of the fourth series and competed in more competitions including World Amateur Championships and reached 5th place.