Throughout the years Canada has produced several outstanding female bodybuilders who moved on to compete at the Ms. Olympia. And during the past 35 years, on only three occasions, has Canada been represented by four competitors in the same year. In those previous years - 1990, 1993 and 2010, each foursome made up an impressive level of distinction. In 1990 Laura Creavalle, Negrita Jayde, Lynne Lemieux and Sandra Blackie competed. Three years later Sharon Bruneau, Laura Binetti, Astrid Falconi and Creavalle represented an equally strong group. Then, after a considerable dry spell, 2010 brought forth perhaps the best foursome of all with the likes of Dayana Cadeau, Helen Bouchard, Cathy Lefrancois and Zoa Linsey. All except Linsey finished in the top ten that year with Linsey 11th. Now with the Ms. Olympia remaining only as the benchmark of bodybuilding history, the newly developed Physique Division rests in the difficult position of picking up where bodybuilding has left off. Hence, the 2015 field of 30 contestants includes another Canadian foursome to carry the torch for Canada.
JAMIE POSTILL - Edmonton, Alberta.
Last year after the Physique Olympia in September, Jamie Postill surfaced at the post-Olympia Ferrigno Legacy Pro in Santa Barbara, California, on November 29th. It was a qualifier for the 2015 Physique Olympia She had quietly entered the Europa Phoenix Pro (also an Olympia qualifier) just a five weeks earlier and made an outstanding return to competition after a seven-year break from the stage. She placed fourth and it was a sound prelude for her season ending showing at the Ferrigno event. For that, Postill saved the best for last with a resounding victory that had many sitting up to take notice. In a field of 24 competitors Postill - at 5-8, 155 pounds - stood out in stark splendor. Performing with a high grade level of conditioning from head to toe, Postill's overall muscular balance and shape was spot on, and she blended an engaging stage presence to seal the deal. In truth, none of this was really a great surprise, as Jamie Postill competing as Jamie Senuk was a winner of the overall Figure title at the Canadian Championships in 2006. And from the point of view of experience, her competitive days had actually begun at a Fitness Model Search in 2001. It was in 2007 when Postill made her pro debut as a pro Figure competitor and after two contests that brought less than desirable results, she drifted away until last year. During her hiatus from competition, Postill admitted her weight had swelled to as much as 224 pounds before she decided it was time to get back in the gym. So, without fanfare, she returned to competition at the Phoenix Pro event, and to say she was flying under the radar would have been monumental understatement. And as for the Ferrigno Legacy Pro, it served as a dream come true by winning a pro contest after a long and winding 14-year road.
Now, with the Physique Olympia squarely in her immediate future she is about to show the qualities that have always helped separate her from her competition on the grandest stage of all at the Physique Olympia. In unique fashion, Postill combines the abilities of appearing statuesque and at the time stately. The qualities are subtle but nonetheless different. That combined with her excellent overall structural balance and genetics makes her a formidable challenger in a large field of contestants. Jamie Postill's flaws will be minimal in nature, and in the assembled field for this year's Olympia, near perfection will be the order of the day for those aspiring to the top finishing positions.
CEA ANNA KERR - Estevan, Saskatchewan.
Cea Anna Kerr is a rarity in her home province of Saskatchewan...and even rarer in her hometown of Estevan, and especially of late considering she has reached the highest level of her chosen sport. Since winning the Toronto Super Show on June 6th, newspaper and headline writers can have a field day with tabloid titles to her story. Imagine..."Cea Anna Kerr, See Anna Flex, See Anna Win, See Anna Compete at the Physique Olympia!". The key here is to see her in Las Vegas next week.
Unlike many of the sport's new divisions and new competitors Cea Anna Kerr is far from a newbie with her current fame. A bodybuilder in 1993 and the lightweight Saskatchewan Provincial champion in 1994, she definitely has experience on her side. Fast forward to 2006, Kerr won the Saskatchewan Masters Figure Overall, and a year later she earned her pro status at the Canadian Nationals winning the Masters Figure Championships. But until 2011 her efforts in Figure were largely forgettable. Enter the new Physique Division in 2012. For Kerr it was love at first flex, and her fortunes changed dramatically That year her pro debut came by way of a runner-up finish at the Toronto Super Show. She duplicated that result again in 2013. In 2014 after an inexplicable slip to seventh at the same Toronto Super Show, she bounce back this year with a third-place finish at the Optimum Classic, followed by her big win at the Toronto Super Show...this time the fourth time was a charm. Visually, Kerr has a strong arsenal of qualities - cultivated muscle from years of training, great stage presence from her years in Figure, and an intangible.....an air of elegance and charm that projects a model-like countenance that eludes many of the competitors in the Physique Division. Kerr possesses those elements in spades
That said, her contest resume is impressive relating to her Provincial background. She was the first IFBB pro from Saskatchewan when she earned that status in 2007. She's the first competitor from Saskatchewan to win an IFBB pro event, and now she'll be the first from her province to compete at the Olympia. Far from a wallflower when it comes to competing, Kerr has logged nearly 20 pro contests in the Figure and Physique divisions, and what awaits her now is the cherished opportunity to compete with the best female physiques in the world in Las Vegas. Even Cea Anna Kerr would admit she's a long way from Estevan, Saskatchewan, and not just in air miles!
LEAH JOHNSON - Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Among fans and followers of the bodysports, Leah Johnson may not yet be a household name (although some have already begun calling her Halifoxy) among the current crop in bodybuilding, bikini, fitness of figure, but her competitive efforts in the Figure division where she won the Nova Scotia Provincial Figure overall title in 2004 gave only a slight indication of her onstage capabilities. After a sobering 11th-place finish at the 2010 Canadian National Figure Championships, she made the switch to the Physique Division where she placed a more agreeable eighth in the tall class in 2012. The move gave her a renewed motivation. By 2013 she won the Canadian National overall Physique crown, thus earning her pro status. With the coming of 2014, Johnson encountered the not-so-unusual roller coaster ride of placings as she finished as high as 5th and as low as 16th. Undeterred, she approached the 2015 season with considerable improvement and a goal to qualify for the Physique Olympia. The contest she chose was the inaugural Vancouver Pro in British Columbia on July 26th, but first she entered the Toronto Super Show on June 6th finishing third with rave reviews. So, Johnson traversed Canada from Nova Scotia on the East coast to Vancouver on the West coast racking up mega-air miles along the way. The effort proved to be fruitful. In a cozy field of just seven competitors, she won handily earning her invitation to the pinnacle of the sport - the Physique Olympia. Leah Johnson will be 1 of the 30 competitors in a remarkably talented and highly competitive field....and she'll no doubt look like she belongs there sporting a beautifully-balanced 5-5, 135-pound frame that possesses all the striking appearances of a quintessential pro Physique Division competitor.
MINDI O'BRIEN, Hamilton, Ontario.
Anchoring this quartet is one of Canada's most recognizable and popular competitors in Fitness and Physique - Mindi O' Brien. With a staggering contest resume spanning in the neighborhood of 15 years, O'Brien has been a fixture at seven Fitness Olympias and eight Fitness Internationals. Turning pro in 2004 after winning the Canadian Fitness Championships, O'Brien quickly entered the Southwest USA Pro Cup in Texas. Her victory there was significant in that she was a rare breed to emerge victorious in a pro debut. She also became Canada's first IFBB pro Fitness competitor and pro champion. Making her transition to the Physique Division from Fitness in 2012 also marks a Canadian first, and this year she will enter he third successive Physique Olympia event following her sixth-place finish last year. Her longevity as a pro since 2004 and the nearly 50 competitions she has entered in Fitness and Physique points to her passion and love of the contest stage. By example, the 2015 contest season was typical of O'Brien's feisty competitiveness where, in three events, she scratched her was from 10th at the Europa Supershow, to 3rd at the Chicago Pro, to the winner's circle at the Tampa Pro to qualify for the Olympia. Over her many years of competition, O'Brien has carried herself with class and a high level of sportsmanship that has gone hand in hand with her elevated energy and expertly executed posing performances. Physically, O'Brien is a gem that strikingly illustrates her athleticism whether it be in the Fitness or Physique arenas, and it is a primary reason why she has been so consistent in her ability to entertain audiences. Few would argue that Mindi O'Brien is the 'athlete's athlete', and one of the elite in the world of Fitness and Physique.
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