Q MAGAZINE – The life of a young Costa Rican was radically changed by love. Yes, her love led her to Italy, to get married, to start a family, to be a businesswoman and, furthermore, to become the Italian Bodybuilding champion in the women’s bikini category.
Falon Vargas exceeded all her expectations – and those of the Italians – and with constant work, a lot of integrity and faith in herself she was crowned as a champion, not once, but twice by the Campionato Italiano IFBB (International Federation of Bodibuilding and Fitness), in 2020 and 2021.
But he has also stood out in other competitions such as Ercole Farnese 2019 (bronze), Panatta Rimini International (final), Campionato Italiano IFBB 2019 (runner-up in Italy), Nord Italia 2019 (bronze), Notte Delle Stelle 2019 (gold), Notte dei Campioni 2019 (gold), Arnold Classic Europe 2020 (final), IFBB European Bodybuilding Championships 2021 (final), Diamond Cup Rome International (final), Nord Italia 2021 (silver), and Nord Italia Begginer (5th place).
Another very important recognition for the athlete’s career is the award for Best International Athlete, which was presented to her a couple of weeks ago by the IFBB, after a special event that took place in Russia.
“For me it was a great triumph, it was too nice to be considered for the award. Russia is a giant in this sport and from there they sent me the trophy, ”she said.
Falon’s is a story of love, yes, but above all of perseverance, of struggle to fulfill dreams and tenacity.
Her life in Costa Rica was “very normal.” She was studying computer engineering, had a close-knit family, and enjoyed sports a lot. She played volleyball, she was a good athlete and she also really enjoyed going to the gym. But cupid had a totally different fate for her.
“I was on vacation in Guanacaste, there I met the man who is my husband. The truth is that he was shot (by cupid’s arrow). At that time we saw each other for a short time, but he decided to return after two months. We were together for a month and a half, there was a lot of chemistry,” Vargas recalled.
The romance was intense, somewhat idyllic, so much so that it ended with Falon living for a few months in Italy and her crush Pietro Caradonna, doing the same in Costa Rica. However, and although Pietro would love to live in Costa Rica, because of his work as an aerospace engineer, the couple made the decision to settle in Turin.
“He had to keep his job. We traveled every four months, we spent a month in Italy, he was very tired,” recalled the athlete. “I swear to you that until about two years ago I was assimilating that I left my country,” she added.
Already in Italy, Falon, an independent and restless woman, needed to do more than stay at home, especially while she was getting permits to work and study in the country. In addition to being a mother and wife, she sought a hobby to entertain herself in the new country, in her new life.
The gym was what caught her attention, it was a discipline that she had already tried in her homeland, so she took the first big step in what would become a passion and a way of life for her: bodybuilding.
Falon’s thing was exercise, but the truth is that she never imagined being a high-level athlete in a discipline as complicated as bodybuilding.
“I started going to the gym here (Turin) and I saw very muscular people, but I never liked that. I once saw a photo of Michelle Lewin (international fitness model) and she blew me away. She has always liked taking care of the body, health and beauty, so when I saw that photo I was curious about what she did,” she said.
Lewin’s image so impressed the Tica that she decided to investigate further. She thus she discovered that it was not a beauty pageant, but that it was a sport.
She took her first steps to train in bodybuilding, she took them from the hand of a trainer, who was Mister Universe. In her experience, the trainer told Falon that she had the perfect body lines to mold into competition in just four months of training.
That’s right, just four months after training began, Falon entered the Nord Italia Beginner competition. “It was a tournament in Turin, it was local. There were like 40 competitors and I had no previous experience,” she recalled. On that occasion, Falon ranked fifth in the standings, not bad for a first-timer.
In the training process, the athlete became aware of situations that were experienced within the preparation, practices that did not go according to her personal convictions, so she decided to take her own path and not depend on it. of no coach.
“Here (Italy) it is a taboo, it is something that nobody says, but the sport is very contaminated with respect to the use of special products to accelerate the objectives of the competitors. Products for women cause irreversible damage and I did not want that for my body, I did not want to change my voice, or my face. Many trainers recommend using the products to speed up the body shaping processes, they also recommend the same diet and training for everyone and that is counterproductive because we have different organisms,” she said.
“I didn’t want that for myself, so I decided to go my own way and see how far it would go. To achieve a complete change I spent two years training, it has been something of perseverance and discipline. If I had chosen the path of products, in a month I would have achieved it, but it took me two years,” added the native of Ciudad Cortés, Osa, Puntarenas.
During the time of her solo training, Falon took the opportunity to also prepare in the academic part, since she was very aware that she could not achieve her goals without a knowledge of the sport. In this period, the Tica was certified as a personal trainer, as a nutrition instructor for athletes and also in nutrition.
“Now they make a lot of comments, they tell me that they admire a lot how I was shaping my body, little by little. They admire how I made my lines change without the need for a personal trainer,” she said.
Mom, wife, businesswoman and influencer
Vargas’s life is not being stuck in a gym all day, except when she prepares to compete.
She is the mother of two children, is a wife, is a businesswoman and is also an influencer. Among all these activities she divides her time to never leave the sport that she loves.
Falon and her husband have a company, which is dedicated to doing projects related to Caradonna’s profession. She has learned from the business and, in addition, with her knowledge in computer engineering.
Her day usually starts at 7 am when she dedicates herself to taking care of her children and taking them to school. Work at home is in a team, from parents to children; this way everyone contributes so that Falon has space to train what corresponds. “I have great support from everyone at home,” she said.
Vargas spends her day between training, projects, and meetings at her family business. In the afternoons, in addition, she takes advantage of a space to dedicate herself to her other job: that of influencer in social networks and model.
Thanks to her sports exposure (and also because of the luck of being a Latina in Europe), the athlete works hand in hand with different brands, who hire her to promote beauty, health, sports, clothing and body care items. hair. She usually publishes the content she posts on Instagram and Tik Tok.
