2003 Canadian Bodybuilding Nationals Report and Free Contest Gallery

2003 Canadian Nationals
by Gene X Hwang - September 20, 2003

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada- Canada's top bodybuilders migrated to the province of Saskatchewan and descended upon its largest city Saskatoon in hopes of turning pro and winning their country's bodybuilding championships.

Traditionally only one pro card is available for each of the women and men's overall champions but 2003 saw five new pros emerge from the championships. Two of those five were in the women's heavyweight class as Helen Bouchard, the overall winner and runner up Christine Roth both earned their way to compete at the sports top level.

The heavyweights were not the largest, but certainly the deepest class. With eight competitors, almost all of them were all in amazing condition, so the judges had their work cut out. Only the top five made the night show, and Mary Lynne MacKenzie was one of the women left out. MacKenzie was very sharp with impressive muscularity, but because of the impressive depth of the class, the judges didn't have her in the top five. It could be argued that she should have been included, but that's the sort of argument that can made at almost any show for several competitors. With thin skin, and a tremendous upper body, look for MacKenzie to be challenging for her pro card if she does the show again next year.

Carmen Unger moved up from the middleweights to the heavyweight class (over 125 lbs.) and looked strong, but was just not tight and sharp enough to crack the top three. Tonia Autumn Raby was very thick and full and very tight throughout with nice shape and balance. Pamela Howard took third and had one of the best relaxed v-tapers in the class. With an impressive upper body, the Ontario competitor was just edged out by her fellow Ontario athlete, Christine Roth.

Roth's delts and overall conditioning were sharper and with her tremendous stage presence on top of that, deservingly earned her second place and the additional pro card. Roth promises to make waves as a pro, and she no certainly will back that up. With her sharp conditioning and overall package, she will be a great addition to the pro ranks.

However, it was Helen Bouchard who had the most shredded physique. With cuts all over and striations throughout, Bouchard was full, hard and packed with dense muscle.

Bouchard is the third pro from Alberta trained by Brian Logue, the other two being his wife Donna Logue and Raejha Savary.

Speaking of provinces, the provincial pride shown at the competition was impressive. Unlike states at the national level shows in the US, in Canada the provinces play a big role. At the beginning of the competition, there was a parade of athletes, with each province being represented. As the flag of the province was shown, the competitiors would come out in their provincial track suits as the fans from each province cheered them on.

The middleweight class was the biggest in the open competition with 11 competitors taking the stage. As with the heavyweight and lightweight classes, there were several masters competitors who also competed in the open classes.

In the Masters division, there were 13 athletes although there were no Junior Women competitors. But back to the middleweights, it was shredded Nicole Ball from Alberta that took the class. Ball hit her diet just right and was incredibly lean with nice deep cuts in her quads. With a bit more fullness, Ball could challenge for the overall and the accompanying pro card.

The variety of looks in the class made for tough judging, with some soft, but very genetically gifted competitors on stage against very conditioned athletes that didn't have the genetics. Additionally some women showed impressive muscle maturity while others looked like their muscularity was more 'fresh.'

Sharon Frazier was one of the women who displayed nice muscle maturity and awesome definition, with a solid structure to boot, but didn't make the top three. Nadia Nardi might be the one to keep an eye out on the most though as she posseses amazing genetics and solid muscularity. Her conditioning wasn't quite on so she wasn't as tight as she needed to be but if she takes the year to work on adding some more size and nails her diet, she could easily take the class.

Another newcomer to the national stage was Jody Wald. Amazingly, she has only been training and competing for a year, so based on that, it will be very interesting to see how she looks with twice the amount of training under her belt next year. Wald has a strong upper body with some of the best pecs on stage. With vascular delts and strong stage presence, Wald should be up there with Nardi in 2004.

In the top three, it was Edith Bernard taking third ahead of Bernice Green. Bernard had a very elegant posing routine and maybe Leslie Gurr was the only competitor with a more entertaining routine. Ellen Partnoy showed great ab development and has a look reminiscent of Laura Bass.

Karin Punstel dominated both the lightweights and masters class. Coming in rock hard, with cuts and striations throughout, the deeply tanned Punstel's energy and physique was perhaps the easiest class winner for the judges to decide.

Outside the top three, Cheryl Wozniak showed nice shape but just needed to come in tighter. Kandi Thomas took second, and looks solid with nice abs but just needs to work on her presentation a bit more. Dawn Reeves took second, and was looking very lean.

As mentioned before, Punstel also won the masters division, edging out Ellen Partnoy and Edith Bernard. Partnoy has a pleasing aesthetic and the top three in the masters were all worthy champions that did or could have placed well in the open categories.

Overall, the Canadian Nationals is an impressive showcase of North American talent, and Canada continues to put out impressive pros. Hopefully this years two additions will see more time on the competitive stage since past winners Jodie Michaels, Marnie Powers and Raejave Savary have not competed much at all since earning their pro status.

Roth herself has promised to make an impact though. She will be at the Olympia scoping out her new competition, and will be looking for an invite to the Ms. International. The sport's leaders would be wise to inject these fresh faces (Bouchard and Roth) into as many competitions as they can, since previous newcomers from various countries have provided some impressive competition. Betty Viana, Helle Neilsen, and Barbora Mrazkova are just a few who have made an immediate and positive impact on the sport, and it would be good to see that momentum maintained.