Reporter Goes Gladiator

If there was ever a contestant on American Gladiators who knows the ropes it's Rochelle Gilken.

At 4-11 and weighing just 112 pounds, she is ranked number two in the country in the flyweight class and isn't afraid of a good challenge.

"I get hit a lot, I take a lot of punches, I'm not afraid to get in the ring with people who are bigger than me which kind of lends itself to taking on gladiators," said Gilken.

The 28 year old Philadelphia native, who works as a crime reporter for the Palm Beach Post, waited in line six hours and beat out 10,000 people trying out for NBC's hit show American Gladiators.

She spent five weeks in Los Angeles training to joust, climb and fly through the air.

"They say 3, 2, 1 and it's on, you hope that you can hold on for your life. It's intimidating cause they're just looking at you and the gladiators they stare you down, they're not worried about you, they look at me and they're like your a little peanut I'm gonna knock you right off the platform," she said.

Rochelle's tough attitude dubbed her "Little Rocky."

To quote Hulk Hogan "she's a 4 foot 11 keg of dynamite" which might explain her supercharged ambition to take on such powerful rivals.

"They're bigger than they look on TV, believe it or not they're very strong, they're very skilled and I know everyone says this but the events are harder than they look," Rochelle said.

"Little Rocky" added it's much more than pure strength and athletic ability.

In this competition Gilken says there are no second takes, what you see is what you get and for her that meant one of the greatest moments of her life which America will see in three weeks.

"One of the greatest parts of the show is all these personal accomplishments, finding out you were able to do something that you didn't think you were able to do," she said.

You can see Rochelle Gilken compete on NBC's episode of American Gladiators June 2nd at 8pm.

If she wins Rochelle advances to the semi-finals and then finals where she will fight for a chance to win $100,000 and a new truck.