Nicole Wilkins-Lee is New Figure Olympia Champ

Blonde is Back: Fair-haired figure girl Nicole Wilkins-Lee captures the 2009 Olympia! Photo credit: Dan Ray, RxMuscle.com.

After capturing the New York Pro less than two weeks ago, an excited Nicole Wilkins-Lee talked about the emotional win in her return to the same venue where she had celebrated earning a pro card in 2007 at Team Universe. “This title means a lot to me,” she wrote on her website.

Little did she know how much the next one would mean.

Nicole won the Figure Olympia in Las Vegas on Saturday night, rising to the pinnacle of the IFBB in only her second season. It was the third win of the year for the young star, who qualified for her second Olympia by winning the Europa Show of Champions back in April.

Even though the field was arguably more open in this year’s “O,” Nicole’s win comes as a sweet though unexpected surprise. Many fans, insiders and pundits in the sport had pegged Gina Aliotti — who was runner-up to ‘07 champ Jenny Lynn and ‘08 champ Jennifer Gates — to finally take the crown. But the 25-year-old from California took second place for a third straight year, surrendering the trophy this time to Nicole, another 25-year-old out of Michigan.

But this is no ordinary Midwesterner. For starters, the sporty and exquisite 5-foot-7 athlete grew up as a dancer, cheerleader and gymnast. She battled back from multiple knee surgeries to become a successful fitness competitor — a role she may reprise on the pro stage next season.

Nicole qualified for the Olympia last year in both fitness and figure categories, going on to place ninth before her meteoric rise to the top over the weekend.

Visit Nicole’s website for plenty of great pictures, video clips and more. And follow this link to RxMuscle to see her gallery from the Olympia, where she absolutely glowed in a her golden two-piece. Congratulations, Nicole!

Olympia Expo Rewind: Mary Ann Graves

White Hot: Shapely Mary Ann heats it up.

Every Olympia promises plenty of great candid moments and this year figures to be no exception. As the latest edition wraps up, here‘s another highlight from ’08 featuring the stunning Mary Ann Graves, as beautiful as our cameras have ever captured her. She definitely has the look, moves and biceps needed to captivate an audience. Can’t wait to see what treasures are to come from the cast of the ‘09 show…

Olympia Photo Flashback: Fresh Faces, Familiar Favorites

O-Moments: Lauren Quinn unleashes her inner beast.

It’s that time again. Beginning tomorrow, fabulous Las Vegas once again shines a spotlight on the world’s most fabulous physiques with the Olympia, the most heavily anticipated event of the year in bodybuilding, fitness and figure.

Last year’s show was a great one for the studio — introducing a blend of new faces and familiar favorites — and this one is already shaping up to be a classic. So, as we get ready for another “Big O,” here’s a look back at the girls from ’08 whose shoots made the Orleans hotel the spot to be for physique fans.

Lauren Quinn, another great young talent from Chicago, dazzled with her energy and fresh-faced good looks, great smile and sporty muscles. This girl is a fun-loving charmer.

Ann Titone, the radiant personal trainer and nutrition coach, co-promoted a local event earlier this year in St. Louis and became an IFBB figure pro last week at Team Universe. As Frank Sinatra used to sing, “It Was a Very Good Year.”

Bodybuilder Kimette Hughes.

Next is 5-foot-10, 145-pound bodybuilder Kimette Hughes, who finished second in the heavyweight class at the ‘08 Excalibur show in Los Angeles. Back in her hometown of Salt Lake City, this stunning 45-year-old is a mother of four and still maintains those signature, chiseled abs.

The studio also captured some great arm wrestling matches at the Olympia a year ago, girl versus girl and the mixed variety.

O-Moments: Figure girl Sasha Brown having fun.

Japan’s Tomoko Kanda and China’s Xin Li Cao had a playful tussle for national bragging rights, while Sasha “The Terminator” Brown used her superior strength to irresistibly toy with a hapless opponent/victim.

And the “Big O” wouldn’t be the same without the inimitable Mindi O, who wowed us again last year and could make history this time around. The Canadian superstar is just hours away from taking another shot at the Fitness Olympia crown.

Figure Girl Shelly Howard Contemplates Return to Fitness

Statuesque Muscle: Strapping Shelly Howard poses during a shoot in Cleveland. She's coming soon to the studio!

It’s been several years since the last time Shelly Howard competed in a fitness show, but it appears as though the versatile 39-year-old — who has tried everything from bodybuilding to obstacle course events since she began training over ten years ago — might be poised to don a new pair of athletic shoes, practice some flips and strength holds, and polish off a fresh routine for a fitness return in 2010.

The 5-foot-7 personal trainer and mom first sampled fitness while living in Okinawa, Japan with her husband, a United States Marine. Shelly did well in the physique rounds but against women with more gymnastics skills struggled in the routine rounds. She moved on to figure in 2002.

Shelly placed well in national-level shows recently — fourth at the Jr USAs and sixth at Nationals last year — but hasn’t quite reached her goal.

Concrete Bicep: A flex and smile from pretty Shelly.

Last month at the North Americans, where our cameras caught up with her for a photoshoot, she was achingly close to winning the Masters class — and a pro card — but had to settle instead for third.

Still, Shelly remains optimistic, writing confidently on her excellent blog — drama and palpable tension unfold there as she traces the weeks leading up to a show, mingling insight with emotion — that this is the best shape she has ever been in.

And looking at her pictures, it’s easy to agree that Shelly’s hard work and tireless dedication have paid off splendidly. Who knows? Come next year, the second time around in fitness could be the charm.

Danielle Kifer Headlines Pro Card Winners at Team Universe

New IFBB figure pro Danielle Kifer

She might have been some thirteen-hundred miles away from home, but Danielle Kifer was in a New York state of mind — and flawless state of body — at Team Universe last night.

The 33-year-old figure competitor from just outside New Orleans won the D-class Saturday in Manhattan, turning pro in her first show since taking fourth at last year’s Nationals.

Joining the always striking Danielle were Yenny Polanco, fitness short class champ, and Ann Titone, who claimed the second pro card from figure class C.

It was the second consecutive year the studio turned a triple play at Team U with NPC hopefuls becoming new IFBB stars. Last year, our own Jo Marriner and Rose Hendricks earned a pair of fitness pro cards and Jennifer Toth one for figure.

New IFBB figure pro Ann Titone

Some other highlights included medium class fitness winner Lauren DeNapoli, a last-minute crossover from figure whose smashing debut in the division comes sans a lengthy gymnastics resume; Ariel Khadr, who finished second in the short class and quickly usurps fellow teenager and friend Victoria Larvie as the youngest-ever IFBB pro; overall fitness winner Kayde Puckett, a red-headed firecracker who stole the show with her signature routine, an athletic and inventive homage to the movie “Kill Bill”; and finally, in perhaps the strangest and funniest twist of the night, there were two bikini competitors who earned pro cards just for showing up.

Angela Terlesky Leads Pros Seeking Olympia Berth in New York

Flying Under the Radar: Watch out for Angela at the N.Y. Pro.

Impressive new clips from an encore shoot of figure girl Angela Terlesky arrive just as the young IFBB star is poised for a significant turn in her pro career. The 26-year-old from Phoenix — looking for her first Olympia qualification since turning pro three years ago –  is due for a breakthrough performance at the New York Pro beginning tonight.

For Angela, capturing one of the few remaining slots left for the Las Vegas spectacular means the difference between sitting in the audience cheering for fellow pros or sharing the spotlight on stage with them.

The dazzling strawberry blonde hasn’t competed since placing 12th at the Sacramento Pro eleven months ago and will be a decided underdog as things get underway in the Big Apple. But if you’re looking for a sleeper — with a scintillating bicep peak almost as dramatic as the iconic spire towering over the Chrysler Building — you couldn’t go wrong with the fiercely fit Angela. And this could be her time.

Consider Brazilian Larissa Reis, who came into New Jersey last week with only one top ten finish to her credit. But she was on top of her game and won the Atlantic City Pro.

Is there room for another surprise competitor to emerge in downtown Manhattan?

Weightlifting Champ Ingrid Marcum Pushes to Make Olympic Bobsled Team

Two Sport Queen: Even though not a bodybuilder or figure girl, the athletic, photogenic Ingrid has been a fitness model favorite on many sites.

Female physique enthusiasts are used to seeing various types of crossovers in the sport. Some of them, such as when a figure girl decides to do fitness, involve details like tweaks in training, learning a new routine and finding the right costume. Changes to be sure, but once showtime rolls around, everyone shares the same stage.

For Ingrid Marcum, a 33-year-old Olympic-level athlete from Chicago, switching sports has not only meant performing on a brand new stage, but doing it during an entirely different season as well.

The sturdy, statuesque 5-foot-6, 165-pound longtime weightlifter — a sexy sport queen with long, curly blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and a lovely, soft smile — is now focusing her attention on bobsledding, training for a spot on the American team of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Ingrid has a look of intensity during bobsled training.

Then again, Ingrid isn’t exactly a rookie when it comes to the esoteric but adrenaline-packed, heart-racing cold weather sport in which two-person teams packed snugly in the sleek, aerodynamic sleds zoom breathlessly down icy, winding tracks reaching speeds of 85mph and faster.

Ingrid first discovered bobsledding in 2002 while working as a strength and conditioning coach. She has since traveled to tracks across the country — sampling the snow covered hills at Lake Placid, New York; Park City, Utah; and recently Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the Olympic trials — competing in various national events and bringing home a gold medal in 2005 after setting a record for top time at the America’s Cup.

A graduate of the College Of William & Mary — located in Williamsburg, Virginia, it’s the smallest of the highly regarded Colonial League schools — Ingrid adopted weightlifting to fill a need for competition after finishing a stretch as a gymnast. It was a smooth transition for the naturally strong athlete who loved lifting weights all along.

Super Girl: A national champion weightlifter, Ingrid hits a powerful lift during a meet.

Ingrid will be holding a fundraiser for her Olympic quest coming up on September 23rd at Rock Bottom Brewery in Lombard, Illinois just west of the Windy City. More details can be found on her website, along with news on her latest exercise DVD and plenty of pictures and media.

You can also check out some great clips from weightlifting meets on her YouTube channel, including footage from the U.S. National Championships held this past June. Despite a torn labrum in her hip, Ingrid powered a 200-pound snatch and 227-pound clean and jerk to win the overall title for her weight class.

Pretty Strong: Flashing a winning smile in a photo from her 2008 shoot at the Arnold.

Stomping her feet before she prepares to lift, Ingrid even turns a familiar bobsledding trick — used to free clumps of snow and ice from her shoes before shoving the sled into action — into a bizarre but irresistibly charming weightlifting quirk.

Dramatically speaking, the rough sound of shoes thumping hard against the floor registers like a symbolic punctuation of her athletic identity. And why not? After all, when you’re an Olympic-level athlete in two sports on the American side, you’re not about to let anyone forget it.

Ingrid “The Remarkable” Marcum is and we won’t anytime soon.

Kira Returns to Studio in Sophomore Shoot

She's Back! Kira Neuman's all-new shoot is coming soon.

Last week, Kira Neuman celebrated her 28th birthday, but the party for the young bodybuilder is only beginning on the studio. This fall, the charming fan favorite returns in a shoot that took place near the Flamingo Road in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Earlier on this July weekend, Kira lit up the stage of the Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall on the UNLV campus, finishing sixth in a very competitive light-heavywight class at the NPC USAs. It was her first competition in over a year and the P.E. teacher from Indiana — radiant with enthusiasm, energy, health and strength — clearly had a sparkle in her eye.

Currently, Kira is busy prepping for her next show, the Nationals; she’ll try to close out the season with a flourish when the contest unfolds this November down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. You can follow her progress by visiting her online journal.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for Kira, part two, flexing on the studio and off “the strip.” With the Palms Hotel & Casino as a luxurious backdrop, the new shoot promises to have some sumptuous views — especially of Kira, who comes in sizzling contest shape, hot as the desert sand baking in summertime’s relentless rays.

Carmen Tocheniuk Muscles Into Heavyweights at Canadian Nationals

North of the Border Muscle: Edmonton's Carmen Tocheniuk.

Having packed considerable muscle onto her steely 5-foot-3 frame, radiant young Carmen Tocheniuk took the stage with the heavyweights at the recent Canadian Nationals. The Vancouver, B.C. show was one week ahead of the baby-faced brunette’s 29th birthday, and the personal trainer and gym owner from Edmonton in the neighboring province of Alberta would celebrate a respectable fifth place finish at the end of the night.

A while has passed since she started as a lightweight bodybuilder back in 2004, and to date Carmen has sampled all three weight classes in a quest to find her place. Her contest weight hovers around 125, bulking to as high as 160 off season. Dramatic shifts indeed, especially for a young lady whose freshman journey on stage was as an intrepid but incongruous fitness competitor in 2003.

Bodybuilding has been a better fit, and that Carmen always looks so polished and symmetrical regardless of weight class — here she is as a middleweight two years ago, and as a heavyweight this year — is evidence of the tight control she maintains over her physique before and throughout contest prep.

Carmen placed fifth at the Canadian Nationals.

Winding the clock back to her studio shoot at the North Americans in 2007, Carmen was at her best as you’ll see in this highlight.

Like a bodybuilding cover girl with bright, striking blue eyes coolly mixing with the warm, bronze glow of her contest tan, she sported razor-like separation in her quads, outstanding arms and rippling chest muscles.

You can check out more about Carmen on her website. This north of the border beauty is definitely one to keep an eye on.

Alaska Fitness Champ Cinzia Clapp Launches Website

Alaska's Cinzia Clapp reaches for the top in fitness.

With plenty of accomplishments on and off stage and now a sharp new website added to the mix, Alaska’s fast rising fitness star Cinzia Clapp continues to make good on a promise to bring more exposure to the sport back to the Land of the Midnight Sun. Back home, Cinzia, 40, runs her own personal training studio with her husband, a bodybuilder. The couple also have a young son.

Already with two state titles and several top finishes to her name, Cinzia added more hardware to her trophy case by winning the fitness overall at the Emerald Cup this past spring. She talked about the win and moving up to the national-level in this interview.

Cinzia went on to place second in her class at the Junior USA, her national debut. She gave the audience a treat with a creative routine.

But first, the wiry 5-foot-4 athlete with the long, dark hair and shredded abs gave the studio a dazzling demonstration of her talents — including a glimpse of the former gymnastics instructor’s amazing flexibility and superior range of motion — during her shoot in Seattle. Steely, contest-shape muscle at its best in this video highlight.

Cinzia flexes after winning the Emerald Cup fitness overall. Be sure to check out her new website.

After growing up in Italy, Cinzia came up through the ranks as a physical education instructor in her native country before moving to the northwest United States in the mid-90’s. She worked as a gymnastics coach in Washington and Idaho and eventually became a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

This fall, she resumes her journey on the national stage at Team Universe, hoping to bring a pro card back to her hometown of Eagle River just outside Anchorage.