The Bermuda bodybuilding team headed to Vancouver, Canada, today for the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness Diamond Cup.

A team of eight athletes were selected, with Monica Teixeira, Cleo Darrell, Alexa Lightbourne and Lisa Kolesnik competing in the Bikini class, and Kamel Dickinson, Julian Johnson, Sunder Singh and Sheldon Effs in the Men’s Physique.

Teixeira and Johnson both won a pair of titles at the Night of Champions at the Fairmont Southampton last month, Teixeira in the Bikini and Women’s Figure and Johnson in the Men’s Physique and Classic Men’s Physique.

Laura Laws was picked for the Bikini class is unable to travel because of prior commitments.

Several athletes have also been invited to take part in the Diamond Cup, which takes place on Saturday, at their own expense; Kolesnik and Tiffinie Smith in the Bikini, Michael Jones in the Classic Physique and Cervio Cox and George Moroianu in the Men’s Physique.

Bermuda opted out of sending a bodybuilding team to the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mexico City because of “safety, security and organisational” concerns.

The CAC Games had been slated for last September but was cancelled after the region was hit by two earthquakes and subsequently rearranged for July 27 to 29.