Laura Cordelia Creavalle is a Guyanese-born

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

Early life and education

Laura Creavalle was born in 1959 in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

. She migrated to Canada at the age of 13. She attended both Industrial High School and Mercy College.

Bodybuilding career

Amateur

During a 1982 trip to

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, Creavalle happened upon a women’s bodybuilding contest and was impressed that the competitor who placed third had a body type similar to hers – a lower body proportionally larger than the upper body. Upon returning to her home in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, she began training to become a bodybuilder. Six months later, she entered her first contest, the Novice Ontario Championships, and won the lightweight title. In 1983, she and training partner Tony Melville joined poses and took second place at the Canadian Couples Championships. A trip to California further stimulated her interest, which resulted in her relocating. In 1986, she won the NPC USA Championships. She earned her pro card by winning the heavyweight class at the 1988 IFBB World Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico.

Professional

In 1988, Creavalle made her pro debut six weeks later at the 1988

Ms. Olympia The IFBB Ms. Olympia is both the highest ranking professional female bodybuilding competition and the title of the winner of the competition. It was first organized in 1980, and was held as part of the Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance ...

contest, a contest to which she would return 12 more times before her retirement. During her pro career, her home country would appear as both Canada and the United States in the competition scorecard. She was runner-up twice at the Ms. Olympia (1992, 1994) and won three

Ms. International The Ms. International female bodybuilding contest was considered to be the second-most prestigious competition for female bodybuilders (second only to the Ms. Olympia competition), from its inception in 1986 through 2013. It was first held in 1 ...

titles (1990, 1994–95).

Retirement

After coming in 6th at the 2002 Ms. Olympia, Creavalle retired from bodybuilding.

Legacy

Creavalle 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 McLi ...

in 2007.IFBB Hall of Fame profile
Currently, she is the most successful bodybuilder of Guyanese descent in the world.

Contest history

*1983 Novice Canada - 1st *1983 Toronto Championships - 1st *1983 Ontario Canadian Championships novice - 1st *1985 Toronto Championships - 1st *1985 The Choice of Champions - 1st *1986 NPC Southern California - 1st (HW) *1986 NPC California State - 2nd (HW) *1986 NPC Nationals - 4th (MW) *1986 NPC USA Championship - 1st (LHW and Overall) *1986 NPC USA Mixed Pairs - 1st *1988 IFBB Caribbean Championships - 1st (HW) *1988 IFBB World Amateur Championships - 1st (HW) *1988 IFBB

- 11th *1989 Pro World - 8th *1989 IFBB

- 6th *1990

- 1st *1990 IFBB

- 4th *1991 IFBB

- 3rd *1992

- 3rd *1992 IFBB

- 2nd *1993 IFBB

- 3rd *1994

- 1st *1994 IFBB

- 2nd *1995

- 1st *1995 IFBB

- 5th *1996

- 2nd *1996 IFBB

- 4th *1997 IFBB

- 4th *1998 IFBB

- 5th *1999 Pro Extravaganza - 1st *1999 IFBB

- 3rd *2002 IFBB

- 6th (LW)Laura Creavalle
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Personal life

Now retired from competition, she operates Club Creavalle Training Camp, offering personal training, nutrition training, and related services. She also has written two cook books, ''A Taste of Club Creavalle'' and ''The Lite Lifestyle: 150 Ultra Low Calorie Recipes for Rapid Weight Loss!''. She also co-authored ''The Health Handbook'' with former husband Chris Aceto. Laura has been a feature editor for ''

Muscle & Fitness ''Muscle & Fitness'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine founded in 1935 by Canadian entrepreneur Joe Weider. It was originally published under the title ''Your Physique'', before being renamed to ''Muscle Builder'' in 1954, and acq ...

'' magazine on low fat cooking in the ''Muscle Fare'' column.About Laura Creavalle
/ref> She has remarried since December 2000 to Colin Maragh, who both now currently live in

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, sells healthy meals through their company, Healthy Gourmet Express, which provides customers with weekly deliveries of 10 meals.ALL ABOUT LAURA CREAVALLE!
/ref>

References

External links

Official web site
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Jackie Paisley Jackie Paisley was a professional female bodybuilder from the Scottsdale, Arizona in the United States. Legacy As a college student who attended both Carnegie Mellon University and Arizona State University on a music scholarship, Paisley was dra ...

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Tonya Knight Tonya Knight (born March 24, 1966) is an American professional female bodybuilder. Early life Tonya Knight was born in 1966 in Peculiar, Missouri. Bodybuilding career Professional After IFBB officials presented strong evidence against Tonya t ...

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Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls (born April 23, 1968) is an American professional female bodybuilding champion, fitness, and figure competitor. Early life and education Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls (born Kim Chizevsky) was born in 1968 in Charleston, Illino ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Creavalle, Laura 1959 births Black Canadian sportspeople Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian female bodybuilders Canadian sportspeople of Guyanese descent Guyanese emigrants to Canada Guyanese female bodybuilders Living people Mercy College (New York) alumni People from Dobbs Ferry, New York People from Jackson County, Texas People from Old Orchard Beach, Maine People from Pickering, Ontario Professional bodybuilders Sportspeople from California Sportspeople from Maine Sportspeople from New York (state) Sportspeople from Ontario Sportspeople from Texas Sportspeople from Toronto Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York Afro-Guyanese people Black Canadian sportswomen