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Created: 01 September 2016 01 September 2016

Last month, I focused this space on Physique Canada future-star Virginie Roy, an up-and-coming female competitor who competed for the first time at the 2016 Physique Canada National Classic, which was held June 11, and garnered unanimous first-place votes in the Short category of Tier 3 women’s athletic physique. Virginie stunned everyone there with the potential she displayed.

Of course, Virginie wasn’t the only outstanding woman at this year’s National Classic. Over the years, Physique Canada has built up such a strong competitive base, there are now first-class female competitors at every competition, with the 2016 National Classic being no exception. This article highlights some of the winners from that event who I thought really stood out.

Julie-Anne Landry

First and foremost is Julie-Anne Landry, who is featured on our cover this month. With her highly conditioned, ideally proportioned physique, Julie-Anne first stormed to victory in the Tier 2 women’s athletic physique category with unanimous first-place votes. But because Physique Canada currently allows the top three in each Tier 2 competition to progression to Tier 1 Pro on the same day, Julie-Anne was then able to take her talents to the Tier 1 Pro stage, where she again placed first in the women’s athletic physique category, though her win in this category was not as decisive as it was in Tier 2 – Marie-Odyle  Picotte, who is also an outstanding competitor, nabbed some first-place votes, too, and would’ve been a stellar winner had Julie-Anne not arrived that day. All in all, it was a great Tier 1 Pro women’s athletic physique competition – and obviously a great day for Julie-Anne.

Nicole Abbi

The National Classic was also Nicole Abbi’s first Physique Canada competition. She, too, started at the Tier 2 level in the National Classic, where she took first in the women’s muscular physique (aka figure) category, before moving on to Tier 1 Pro, where she placed first again. That Tier 1 Pro first-place victory certainly didn’t come easy for Nicole, either. Just as Marie-Odyle pressed Julie-Anne, it was Annie Deschenes challenging Nicole all the way.

Annie Duchesnes

Annie is a serious, accomplished competitor who was also a winner that day – she took first in the women’s muscular physique Masters (over age 40) category. What Annie had going for her were excellent muscle mass and razor-sharp definition. Nicole also displayed good muscle mass, but what I think really gave her the edge over Annie was superior shape – she has wonderfully wide shoulders and a seriously tight waist.

Carole Wathier (far left) in the Tier 1 Pro lineup

Another over-40 competitor who deserves high-fives for her performances at the National Classic is Carole Wathier. Carole is featured in our “Iron Shots” gallery this month in a photo that shows just how excited she was on the stage that day – you can see in the image that she knew she was in the best shape of her life and she was killing it on the stage. Carole won in the Masters athletic physique category at the National Classic, and also performed very well at the Tier 1 Pro level, though she narrowly missed the top three in that class – Sonia Bradette, Marie-Odyle Picotte, and Julie-Anne Landry were who placed ahead of her. Still, Carole was on fire at the National Classic and told me that she is already looking forward to the 2017 Physique Canada season.

Sonia Bradette, Julie-Anne Landry, and Marie-Odyle Picotte

However, we are not looking to the 2017 season just yet. On October 22, the Canadian Championships event will be held, which promises to filled with another topflight group of competitors. Following that event is the Coupe ProGym event, which will be held November 29. Coupe ProGym is unique in that it doesn’t feature Tier 1 Pro categories, but does have the others: Tier 3, Tier 2, and Masters. For many, Coupe ProGym has become a great entryway in the world of Physique Canada competitions.  The 2016 Physique Canada National Classic is now over, but, for us, the competition season has really just begun!

Doug Schneider
SeriousAboutMuscle.com Founder and Publisher