Nadia Capotosto

Nadia Capotosto grew up in a small town on the coast of Italy between Rome and Naples and started working out when she was in her early twenties. Initially, she says, it was just “to socialize and have fun”. But she soon became more serious about it and when she got onstage for the first time in 2015, she immediately fell in love with it. “I don’t know what I fell for specifically,” she says. “I just know that that continuously chasing a better version of me and constantly testing my limits in each training session brought put the strongest and most stubborn part of me.”

After competing for three years, Nadia turned pro as a women’s physique competitor in 2018. But after doing three pro shows, realized she belonged in women’s bodybuilding – “my body wanted more,” she says. So after taking a year off to improve (the pandemic meant she was unable to compete in 2020 anyway), she competed for the first time as a female bodybuilder at the Puerto Rico Pro in 2021. She won that show – and also won two more pro shows in Europe – before making her debut at the Ms. Olympia later that year, where she placed tenth.

At 5-foot-5 and around 175 pounds onstage and around 200 pounds in the off-season, Nadia is now one of the top female bodybuilders in the world – and at 32 years-old is just hitting her peak. She says that what she loves about being a female bodybuilder is that it is “a way of being different but normal at the same time.” “A feminine body doesn’t necessarily have to look like mine,” she says. “The most important thing is to find the right balance between being a woman and being so strong and showing it in such an obvious way.”

Contest history:

Women’s physique:

2018 Galaxy Bari pro – 3rd

2018 San Marino pro – 5th

2019 Atlantic Coast Masters Pro – 6th

2019 Prestige Cristal Cup Pro – 14th

2019 Tampa Pro – 16th

Women’s bodybuilding:

2021 Puerto Rico pro – 1st

2021 Mr Olympia – 10th

2021 Romania Muscle Fest – 1st

2021 Big Man Pro Show – 1st