Bermuda will host the National Physique Committee Worldwide Pro Qualifier Caribbean Grand Prix for the second time in four years this spring.

Amateur men and women bodybuilders throughout the region will compete in various categories for nine professional cards that will be up for grabs at the event, which will be held at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts at CedarBridge Academy on March 26.

“Some of the region’s most elite athletes will grace our shores along with our local elite talent vying for nine pro cards,” Dion Smith, the event’s co-promoter, commented.

Only the overall winners of their respective categories will secure the available professional cards.

“Securing pro cards is a significant achievement for this event in Bermuda and is a key motivator for elite bodybuilders to participate as each pro card grants individuals access to invitation only professional competitions such as the Olympia and the Arnold Classic,” Smith added.

The last time Bermuda hosted the event was in 2019 with local duo Sueallen Lottimore and Lauren D'Amico both securing International Federation of Bodybuilding professional cards.

Lottimore, the multiple Bermuda women's champion, earned a pair of pro cards after winning the overall women's physique open and women's bodybuilding divisions, while D'Amico also earned a pro card after winning the overall bikini open division respectively.

Pro Wellness and Pro Bikini are two new additions to this year’s event.

“We added them purposely because what we wanted to do was put an additional flavour on to the twist from what we had last time,” Smith said. “Even though last time was great with those that attended, what we wanted to do was to try and expand it without hurting ourselves financially.

“It will be better because we believe having those two classes will attract a lot more people. We know that it is being viewed a lot online when we look at the online streaming results and stuff like that. Those two categories are the categories that are really pushing it every time the International Federation of Bodybuilding seems to implement something new.

“We’ve seen that this part is geared to women and they have been more successful in creating more champions and stuff like and we find that is the better option for us to go.

“That’s what made sense to us. We wanted to get something that we felt would add and give us good taste as we move forward.”

The event was originally scheduled to be held on November 20, 2021 but was postponed and rescheduled due to the spike in Covid-19.

“We would like to attract as many competitors to our shores as possible,” Smith added. “This is a large undertaking but we are committed and have a great team in place.

“We want to thank NPC Worldwide president Jim Manion, Tyler Manion, our promoter Serge Seric and my co-promoter Ross Caesar.”

Caesar, the six-times men’s national champion, earned an IFBB pro card after winning the men's classic Physique A class title at the Joe Weider's Olympic Amateur South America in Medellin, Colombia in February of 2019.