Camille Leblanc-Bazinet ( Facebook)
If you asked the average Canadian to name the country's fittest female, you might hear such names as Christine Sinclair, Kaillie Humphries or Justine Dufour-Lapointe.
Well, forget about all of them. They're poseurs compared with Camille Leblanc-Bazinet.
The 25-year-old student from Richelieu, Que., now proudly wears the title of the World's Fittest Woman after winning the Reebok CrossFit Games in Carson, Calif., on Sunday.
She beat out two-time champion Annie Thorisdottir of Iceland to become the first Canadian woman to claim the title as fittest female on the planet in the competition's eight years of existence.
In fact, based on her performance at the recent competition, Leblanc-Bazinet might even qualify as the fittest person in Canada. [Photos: Best shots from the Games in Scotland]
There aren't many of either gender who could even survive the CrossFit Games, never mind excel in a field of highly motivated competitors doing weightlifting, gymnastics and high-intensity interval training. Let's just say that the competition was pretty much a test of every physical skill and many mental ones, which might explain why first prize was $275,000 U.S.
For example, the first event involved swimming 1,000 yards in a rather choppy Pacific Ocean followed by kettle bell squats and burpees. Other events involved squats with weights up to 200 pounds, running and pull-ups.
'They really try to test everything,' Leblanc-Bazinet told the National Post.
The University of Sherbrooke chemical engineering student accomplished this feat after only five years in CrossFit, a sport she took up after looking for a way to keep fit after her gymnastics career ended.
Her victory came in her fifth shot at the CrossFit Games and followed a disappointing 16th-place finish last year.
'Last year it was my worst finish ever,' she told CBC. 'Last year was a little wake-up call for me. [Commonwealth Games: Canada's Beauchemin-Nadeau captures gold in weightlifting]
'Last year I realized what I needed to do to win and how much I had to have this mental fortitude in all of my training to be able to claim the first spot. Sometimes when you lose, you win. That's what happened last year. It gave me the opportunity to really face myself and get a lot better.'
Leblanc-Bazinet believes her victory will do a lot to promote the image of female athletes in Canada.
'I think it's changing the way we see women overall,' she told the Post. 'There's this huge movement, 'Strong is the new skinny' and women are just so proud of feeling strong. It's wonderful to see that.'
She also hopes it will improve the image of CrossFit, which critics have said is too demanding on the body and even dangerous.
'I think it's a lot of misinformation,' she said. 'I don't know anyone who does more volume than me - or lifts as much weight - and I'm not injured. If you have the right knowledge and people teach you the right technique and progressively take you higher into that intensity, there's no such thing as injury.'
Her training schedule alone might back that up. She spends between four and six hours a day training, six days a week. On her 'off' day, she just runs or swims.
If she can do this and avoid injury, the sport can't be that dangerous.
And it can be lucrative. Thorisdottir, the 2010 and 2011 winner, was featured in Vogue magazine and Leblanc-Bazinet is already getting offers.
'Since yesterday everything got crazy,' she said. 'My agent is dealing with everyone right now but I know there is a lot coming.'
That could make life even more hectic for Leblanc-Bazinet, who is married and works out at a cross-fit club owned by her parents.
'As one of my classmates told me: I have no life - not even watching TV ,' she told CBC. 'I always tell everyone as a joke that washing my hair is overrated.'
Leblanc-Bazinet said she will celebrate her achievement next week, after taking a break for final exams.
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