She’s on top
of the world

By Melissa Yerkov
Times Sports Editor

As she stepped into the American Gladiators arena, Rochelle Gilken’s heart seemed to beat louder than the crowds cheering her on. Suddenly, the glow of neon lights flickered brightly across her face as she mentally prepared herself for the fight of a lifetime.
This was the moment she’d been waiting for.
Gilken walked up to her first opponent — towering 5-foot-8, 141-pound Gina "Crush" Carano — without hesitation.
She was ready.
"You’re under the lights and the camera is on you. Then it’s three-two-one and then you just go against this beast," said Gilken. "They’re fit and fast and strong. Those events are not easy. Most people couldn’t do those events, let alone adding a gladiator into it. It was crazy."
The 28-year-old Northeast Philadelphia native, who now lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., was one of the few fearless challengers given a chance to battle a ferocious warrior in NBC’s hit television show, American Gladiators.
Gilken participated in a series of extreme challenges, ranging from the "Gauntlet" — which requires competitors to run along a 90-foot gauntlet guarded by four gladiators — to "Hang Tough," where contenders must swing from various rings that hang about 20 feet above water without being pulled down by a gladiator.
"The physical toll it takes on you is incredible," said Gilken. "The rings just pull at your hands . . . I have calluses and blisters from trying to hold on and swinging back and forth. I felt pain that I never felt before. Many days I left there wearing ice packs, with my hands all taped up."
The fearless contender sought the chance to face some of these ruthless athletes after watching the first episode of American Gladiators last season. Gilken was immediately intrigued. Within minutes she was online and discovered local tryouts in Orlando, Fla. On Feb. 9, she got in her car and drove for two and a half hours. Gilken’s excitement never faded, even as she stood in line for the next six hours.
"I was determined to do it," she said. "Tryouts were grueling. It was physical, mental, psychological. I had to go through medical evaluations, interviews, a full physical. I know more things about my body now than I ever did."
It was well worth it. The following afternoon, Gilken was called back, and over the next several weeks, the calls kept coming as part of the lengthy process. The more Gilken’s physical and mental strength was tested, the more she excelled.
"The experience of getting on the show was this long, difficult, painful thing, where I never knew if I was going to make it — if I was good enough, strong enough, funny enough — or if it’ll all be over the next day," recalled Gilken. "I remember feeling like I just walked into this dream. I’m looking around and I had stars in my eyes. I thought, ‘Wow! What am I doing here?’ It was a really big thrill for me."
After that extensive and strenuous tryout series, the results were in.
Gilken was going to be a contender on American Gladiators.
In April she was whisked away to Los Angeles, and over the next five weeks, Gilken filmed morning, afternoon and night.
"Everything there was so exciting and so new — going to L.A., taping the show, meeting the other contestants," said Gilken. "I thought it was a very big accomplishment for me. We had the time of our lives. Doing the events, training, the time in the locker room — all of it was so much fun. I learned so much about myself through the process."
So how did Gilken do? We’ll have to watch her episode of American Gladiators on June 2 at 8 p.m. Depending on her performance — NBC bars her from spoiling the ending — she could make more than one appearance and climb one step closer to the $100,000 grand prize.
Although this was her first encounter with a gladiator, Gilken is no stranger to fighting. For the past three years, the 4-foot-11, 113-pounder has been a force in competitive boxing.
"I just went back to sparring this weekend after taping the show, and the first thing that happened was my trainer dropped me in the ring — hit me with a body shot," she said. "I dropped to my knees, and he completely ignored me and waited for me to get up. That’s a reminder of what it’s like to box. I can’t stay away from it."
During her relatively short tenure in the ring, Gilken has been punching her way to respect. Last year she was ranked first in the country in women’s flyweight class — which includes 107-to-110-pound female fighters — by USA Boxing, the national governing body of amateur, Olympic-style boxing. Currently, she’s training to fight in the national Golden Glove competition in July.
"I think one of the reasons that the gladiators weren’t that intimidating to me is because I get in the ring all the time with people who want to hurt me," she said. "I have a lot of experience getting hit by other people and then hitting them back. I’m not afraid to get in the ring with anyone."
Gilken’s fighting days started long before she ever stepped into a boxing ring or a gladiator arena. She studied karate as a child, earning a black belt in the process.
"To this day I still do karate drills in my training," she said. "Doing that growing up gave me the ability to throw a punch and kick. I loved sparring. That was my favorite thing about being there."
Even after making her home in sunny Florida, Gilken is still a regular in Philadelphia. She comes home to visit family and friends every few months.
And returning to the City of Brotherly Love also gives Gilken an opportunity to kick some brotherly butt — in training, of course.
"Every time I go home, I’ll call my brother and say, ‘I’m coming to class today,’" said Gilken, whose brother, Solomon Brenner, founded Action Karate, a local school for martial arts. "I get a great workout when I get home. I have a lot of fun."
And she’s not the only one.
"It’s exciting for all the Action Karate students," said Brenner. "She gets to train and work out with me, but she also teaches boxing drills, which gives our students new flavor. She’s a boxing champion, so it’s very exciting for the students."
Brenner started Action Karate in 1994 and has expanded it to nine locations throughout the area, including a school at Academy and Byberry roads in the Northeast.
"Martial arts, taught the correct way, certainly teaches people how to stick to something," said Brenner. "It gives a never-say-die attitude and spirit. I have always been a big believer in emotional strength, and Rochelle has always taken that when she competes. She doesn’t give up. She fights through it."
Gilken says it was her brother who showed her how.
"I was first introduced to combat sports at Action Karate," she said. "A lot of the skills I learned growing up transfer — speed, strength, stamina, confidence. That’s something I always draw from."
Even during her days of training as a child, Gilken had a hint of what was to come.
"I used to sit in my parents’ basement and we would fight over whether we would watch American Gladiators or WWF wrestling," Gilken recalled. "I loved the show, but I never thought that I would be on it. That never crossed my mind. It was more that I just admired those people and thought they were amazing.
"When the show came back and I saw season one in January, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can do those things!’"
And she certainly did. But the American Gladiators experience provided far more than a shot at winning big money.
"I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it," she said. "I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, I just train harder and I want it more. I wanted to impress my family."
When Gilken isn’t fighting gladiators, she’s writing about crime as a police reporter for the Palm Beach Post. After graduating from Northeast High School in 1997, and then Temple University in 2000, Gilken moved to Florida upon receiving a job offer she couldn’t refuse.
"It’s a good beat and it’s a lot of fun," she said. "I think that is one of the reasons they picked me for the show, because I’m really not afraid of being in any situation."
Now that her time in the arena is over, Gilken is back to spending her days as a journalist and her nights training for the upcoming Golden Gloves boxing tournament.
Her family, friends and fans, meanwhile, are patiently counting the days until they’ll see Gilken battling on TV.
"Having done it, now I know I was crazy," Gilken said with a laugh. "It’s so much harder than it looks, but I was able to do it eventually, and that’s a big accomplishment for me. I had to prove to myself that I could do this." ••
Sports editor Melissa Yerkov can be reached at 215-354-3035 or myerkov@phillynews.com