2022 Olympia qualifications were up for grabs at the Vancouver Island Showdown in Victoria, British Columbia on Saturday, May 7th. Women’s bodybuilding and women’s physique were the two divisions featured at this contest.
The women’s physique contest was where the action was at. Seven IFBB Pro League athletes showed up and posed down for the judges and crowd in attendance. The favorite going into the show was Christelle Zarvoska because of her Olympia level experience, and it did, in fact, pay off for her. Zarvoska took straight first place votes from the judges and leaves Victoria as the champion.
The highest placing Canadian athlete was Emilija Martic out of Surrey, BC. She did her best to give Zarvoska a run for her money, but she came up just short. Nonetheless, finishing as the runner-up earned her Olympia Qualification points that may help her should she not win a show between now and the Olympia, which will be taking place this December in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Coming in the bronze spot at this contest was California’s Tina Mauer Guadarrama. This was the first time she had competed in over three years. So, placing in the top three of a pro show in her first show back should give her confidence to see what else she could do in future shows this season. In her celebratory Instagram post afterwards, she said “this is only the beginning.” Hopefully that means she will jump into another show in the near future.
The full seven athlete order of finish is below:
1. Christelle Zarvoska
2. Emilija Martic
3. Tina Mauer Guadarrama
4. Maria Quennie Liberman
5. Layla Ikahihifo
6. Jennifer Streeter
7. Dannielle Goulet
As for the women’s bodybuilding portion of the contest, the only athlete that was on the scoresheet to compete was Eva Montgomery. Since no other competitor jumped into the contest by the time prejudging started, she won the contest unopposed. Don’t be fooled by the fact that she was the only athlete onstage. She showed impressive mass and shape, which made a statement that she will go to the Ms. Olympia to make an impact. Even as the only competitor in the lineup, she presented a very impressive Olympia quality physique.
