Laura Combes was a professional female bodybuilder from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Born on October 19, 1953, in New York, New York, Combes moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

in 1966 at age 13. As a teenager she played many sports, including

fencing Fencing is a group of three related combat sports. The three disciplines in modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also ''saber''); winning points are made through the weapon's contact with an opponent. A fourth discipline, ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

, archery, canoeing,

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

. Combes attended

St. Petersburg College St. Petersburg College (SPC) is a public college in Pinellas County, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and one of the institutions in the system designated a "state college," as it offers a greater number of bachelor's degrees th ...

Prep School, and then went to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...

in Tampa. In the late 1970s, she began lifting weights to rehab injuries to both knees suffered while playing

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. Soon, she became involved in the fledgling sport of women’s

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...

. She won the first NPC Nationals in 1980, and won the AAU Ms. America title in 1981. Combes made a dramatic national television appearance that year on the

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series

Real People ''Real People'' is an American reality television series that originally aired on NBC from 1979 to 1984, Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9pm Eastern Time. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. ''Real People'' featured "r ...

. After the airing of a taped segment about female bodybuilding in which she had been featured, Combes carried host Skip Stephenson onto stage in front of the studio audience. Combes competed in three professional shows, retiring after a sixth-place finish at the 1982 Ms. Olympia. Combes authored ''Winning Women's Bodybuilding'' () in 1983. Laura was inducted into the

IFBB Hall of Fame The IFBB Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor outstanding athletes and officials in the sport of bodybuilding. There have been no inductees since 2011. Induction years 1999 *Carla Dunlap *Cory Everson *John Grimek * Lee Haney * Rachel Mc ...

in 2002. Laura Combes was found dead in her apartment in

Odessa, Florida Odessa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,173 at the 2000 census and more than doubled to 7,267 in 2010. Northwest of Tampa, Odessa had been an area of open spaces, ranching, and horse ...

on October 4, 1989, from acute

alcohol poisoning Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...

Contest history

*1979 Ms. Brandon Physique – 4th *1979 Ms. Florida – 5th *1979 Ms. Suncoast Body Beautiful – 2nd *1979 IFBB Best In The World – 6th *1979 Ms. Tampa Physique – 1st *1979 Ms. West Florida – 1st *1979 Ms. Northwest Florida – 1st *1980 AAU Ms. Florida – Overall Winner *1980 AAU Ms. America – 1st *1980 NPC USA Championship – 7th *1980 NPC Nationals – 1st (Overall) *1981 Pro World Championship – 6th *1981 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 4th *1982 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 6th

References

*Roark, Joe, "Factoids: Featuring 2002 Hall of Fame Inductee Laura Combes", '' Flex'', October, 2002

External links

IFBB Hall of Fame profilePassing away of a The First TITANIC Female Heroine of the World and the United States of America
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combes, Laura American female bodybuilders Professional bodybuilders 1953 births 1989 deaths Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin People from Odessa, Florida 20th-century American women 20th-century American people University of South Florida alumni Sportspeople from Tampa, Florida St. Petersburg College alumni