Nikki Perry set to make her pro debut in 2018
There is a lot of buzz right now about 21 year-old national-level female bodybuilder Shannon Courtney, who is about to start her prep for the USA in Vegas in July. "I am so excited for this prep", she tells us. "I am bringing it all to the USA!" California girl Shannon placed third in the light-heavyweights at the USA last year on her national-level debut (left). At 5-foot-2 and 130 pounds onstage, she looked incredible. What made it even more impressive was that she turned 21 just a couple of weeks before the USA (she had her first legal margarita after the show!). In his contest report, women's bodybuilding historian Steve Wennerstrom said she had "beautifully shaped thighs" and predicted a big future for her. Since the show, Shannon has been focusing on bringing up her upper body to match her legs and especially on lower lats and biceps. She says she's had her "best off-season yet" and thinks she'll be around 138-140 pounds onstage this time. Her role models in bodybuilding are Anne Freitas and Debi Laszewski. For more on Shannon check out her facebook fan page - she describes her interests as "moving heavy ass weight!" - and follow her on twitter.
Here's Lisa Giesbrecht earlier today before her athlete checkin. She's looking lean and ready to hit the stage tomorrow!
The 2012 NPC USAs is coming up later this month and we already know of a ton of great athletes that'll be competing. Check out the flyer and make sure to get your tickets, or if you can't make it, we'll be posting updates from the weekend online as well. We talked to promoter Jon Lindsay yesterday and he told us it'll be one of the largest fields ever so expect some amazing new talent to be discovered in the desert!
Brigita Brezovac tells us she is determined to come in in great shape at the Ms. O in September after a six-month off-season that will give her time to recover and improve. The Slovenian sensation says she was disappointed with her condition at the Arnold, where she placed sixth. “My body wanted to rest but I forced it to do another contest”, she says. The 32 year-old pro did three shows in 2011, culminating in third place at the Ms. O – an incredible achievement for a sophomore pro. “I’m still like, ‘Omigod, really? Me?’ For me, placing behind two legends – Iris and Yaxeni – was like winning the Olympia.” Brigita is now relaxing and letting her body recuperate before she goes into contest prep again in the summer. She plans to prep for the Ms. O in Australia, where she is going to spend three months from June to September. At 5-foot-4, she is now around 160 pounds and plans to compete in Vegas at around 145. We can't wait to see how she looks onstage!
We were surprised to see more Herman Cain coverage but this time with someone we had just met at the 2011 NPC Nationals in Miami, female bodybuilder Kimberly Vay. It's probably crazy for her now with even Fox News identifying her and mixing her up in the Herman Cain craziness.
More photos of Kimberly from Nationals are posted here:
http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=content/genex/contests/2011/Nationals/8544/7_1&s=6
We shot a lot of video footage with Kashma Maharaj down in South Beach during the 2011 NPC Nationals. She looks amazing and we expect you'll appreciate her physique as well. Her upper body reminds us of Kim Perez in the way that she packs on the muscle – what do you think?
Female Bodybuilder Carmen Tocheniuk had kept a low profile going into the 2011 Canadian Nationals but we caught up with her after the show to shoot. Here's a sneak peek!
More at: http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=groups/4895/12_1&s=51
Here's a peek at Lisa who's now an IFBB Pro bodybuilder. She won the Masters Overall at the 2011 Canadian Bodybuilding Nationals recently and we shot with her the morning after where she was still crazily vascular – look for the photos and video soon!
You can see more of Lisa on the website: http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=groups/6866/12_1&s=51
We caught up with Amy – notice anything new about her? See more of her at: http://tour.ftvideo.com/showgal.php?g=groups/232/12_1&s=51