STRONG, NBC's new reality fitness competition series, eliminated the Yellow team comprised of trainer Ky Evans and trainee Brittany Harrell-Miller during Thursday night's broadcast.
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Ky, a 43-year-old from Marina del Rey, CA, and Brittany, a 25-year-old from Lawrence, KS, were eliminated after they completed the elimination-tower obstacle course in a slower time than the Gray team -- Jasmine Loveless, a 30-year-old from West Hollywood, CA, and Wesley Okerson, a 37-year-old from Los Angeles, CA.
Brittany started the competition as a size 12 with 31% body fat and a resting heart rate of 67. In a post-elimination update, Brittany is now a size 2 and has a 17% body fat percentage and resting heart rate of 53. She also gained seven pounds of lean muscle.
The STRONG broadcast began with seven teams remaining.
The previously-ousted Olive team gave their medallion to the Blue Team comprised of trainer Bennie Wylie, a 39-year-old from Tuscola, TX, and trainee Jill May, a 35-year-old from Willmar, MN. They gathered four medallions total worth $100,000.
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For the Medallion Challenge, the teams had to pull themselves up a ramp on their backs by placing a pole in ascending slots. Once at the top, they could place the pole in the highest notches, slide down the ramp, and do it all over again. The team to place the most poles at the top in 10 minutes would win, while the losing team must automatically head to the elimination tower.
The Blue Team won and the Yellow Team came in second place. Wes and Jasmine got the fewest bars to the top, so they were headed to the elimination tower for the second week in a row.
At this week's Power Challenge, only the trainers competed and tested their speed and power. The trainers were required to dash up 100 feet and then jump off trying to make contact with a target hanging 12 feet off the ground and eight feet away from the end of the ramp. The last player to touch the target would be out until only one person remained.
Due to injury, Adam Von Rothfelder, a 33-year-old from Milwaukee, WI, was not medically cleared to compete. If Wes won, he'd save himself and Jasmine from the elimination tower, and they'd also be able to choose the two teams who would square off in it.
Mathew Miller, a 34-year-old from Las Vegas, NV, won the Power Challenge, so he got to select the team to face Jasmine and Wes in the elimination tower. Mathew and his trainee Nicole Bentley, a 25-year-old from Los Angeles, CA, decided Ky and Brittany should compete since they were a big threat.
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The elimination tower features four levels, and one obstacle will evolve every week as the contestants' bodies strengthen and evolve.
The most difficult part of the tower this time around was a "moving coil," which tasked the players with an exercise similar to Monkey Bars on children's playgrounds. Ky fell off the rotating coil four times, allowing Jasmine and Wes to get ahead and ultimately beat them.
Brittany bawled after her elimination, but she was proud of herself for giving it her all. Ky felt he had let her down.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski