The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

IN less than one year of earning her professional bodybuilding card, Lorraine LaFleur has been making waves as she flexes her muscles on the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness IFBB scene.

After getting her feet wet with a fourth place finish in the women’s physique category at the Arnold Classic Africa 2018 in May at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, Gauteng, LaFleur went back to the drawing board in preparation for her trip to Montreal, Canada, for her second show over the weekend.

She returned home as the first place finisher in the women’s physique category and in the process qualified for the World Games in Shanghai, China, in November.

Also joining LaFleur at the competition was Enderich Rahming, who was second in the men’s physique.

According to LaFleur, Rahming was sharp and she anticipates that by the time he competes again in Aruba in August, he will beat the Dominican Republic competitor who won over him.

“He was really sharp,” she stated. As for her performance, LaFeur said she just did what she had to do.

“The Pro Elite is not a big show because they are still trying to get everything together,” said LaFleur of the competition. “We only had five women. It wasn’t a really big show like the regular IFBB shows like they had in Africa. But overall, the show was very good, everyone was sharp and we all won cash prizes.”

At the end of the show, LaFleur walked off the stage with the biggest prize of all - a trip to the IFBB World Cup.

“This time, I felt I was in a lot better shape than I was for the first show in Africa,” said the personal fitness trainer. “I made some changes to my workout programme, so I think I came in a lot drier and a lot harder than the first show in Africa. So this time, I was pretty pleased.”

Not one to rest on her laurels, LaFleur admitted that there’s still more room for improvement and she intends to be at her best when she goes to China.

“I am trying to focus a little more on my details,” she said. “I want to focus a little more detailed if I could, improving on my overall look. I don’t think it’s anything major. I just have to stay on my diet, stay on my routine and just change a few little things and stay focused as I prepare over the next four months.”

Inspired by the support she has gotten from Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation president Joel Stubbs and her training partner Paul ‘Mighty Mouse’ Wilson and Mr Bahamas Charles Reckley, LaFleur said she is determined to make the best of her return to the stage in November.

“I don’t think it has really sunk in yet that these are pro shows that I am doing,” LaFleur reflected. “I think it’s pretty good for me because a lot of people when they go to these shows, they don’t even place. At these competitions, you have women from all over the world competing, not just from the Caribbean.

“These women are coming from Russia, from Africa, from all over the world and they are coming sharp. So honestly, I feel so far I’m doing good. The only thing I need to do is keep working hard and keep trying to improve on what I have been doing so far because it’s only going to get harder.”

And how hard does she expect it to get?

“I’m going into the wasp nest right there,” she said. “The only thing I can do is work my tail off here and take my best on the stage over there. That’s all that I could do and I have to be happy with what I place because I don’t think that there’s been a female bodybuilder who has gone to the World Games and I don’t think there’s been a Bahamian female who has placed like I have in the two shows that I competed in so far.”

LaFleur was among a group of five Bahamian bodybuilders who earned their pro cards. She along with Rahming, Jimmy Norius, Angelika Wallace-Whitfield and Tanya Moxey-Cleare were awarded their pro cards earlier this year either in Bogota, Colombia or in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The five are among a total of eight Bahamian pro bodybuilders still competing. The others are James ‘Jay’ Darling, Lakiesha Miller and Jameil Hamilton, who are competing in the IFBB pro league. They follow other pro card holders, including pacesetter Charles Kemp, Natasha Brown, Jena Mackey and Joel Stubbs, who are all inactive at the IFBB level.