Carla Dunlap-Kaan (born October 22, 1954) is a professional American female bodybuilding champion.

Early life and education

Dunlap was born in 1954, in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

at age 10. She later competed in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, both speed and synchronized. Dunlap attended the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts on a full scholarship, earning a degree in Advertising Design. She won the gold medal in synchronized swimming in the 1977 Junior National Team Championships, and a bronze medal at the inaugural National Sports Festival in 1978.

Bodybuilding career

In 1979, Dunlap decided to enter the "Best in the World" bodybuilding contest at the suggestion of Steve Wennerstrom. She had never trained for bodybuilding, but still placed fifth among 45 entrants. She started training seriously for bodybuilding the following March, and was soon competing successfully in top level amateur contests. She won the NPC Nationals in 1981, and 1982. Her most successful year of competition was 1983 when she won three pro shows, including the Ms. Olympia contest (she had lost the Ms. Olympia to

Rachel McLish Rachel Livia Elizondo McLish (born 21 June 1955) is an American female bodybuilding champion, actress, and author. Early life and education McLish was born as Raquel Livia Elizondo in 1955 in Harlingen, Texas, the second-youngest daughter born. ...

by two points in 1982). In addition to her individual accomplishments, Dunlap won the World Professional Mixed Pairs title in 1984 and 1988 with Tony Pearson. Dunlap is the only female bodybuilder to have competed in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In January 1999, Dunlap 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 June 2009, she was inducted in to the AOBS Hall Of Fame (Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen) Away from the contest stage, Dunlap appeared in the bodybuilding documentaries ''Women Of Iron'' (1984, with fellow competitor Deborah Diana) and '' Pumping Iron II: The Women'' (1985). She was selected by ABC to represent women's bodybuilding in the women's '' Superstars'' competition in 1984, where she finished seventh in a field of eleven competitors. Dunlap was a regular on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's '' BodyShaping'' series from 1990 to 1995. She has also appeared as a color commentator on bodybuilding and fitness telecasts for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

U.S. 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 ...

, and

Contest history

*1979 IFBB Best In The World - 5th *1980 AAU Ms. America #1 - 1st *1980 Eastern Cup - 1st *1980 Ms. Atlantic Shore - 2nd *1980 Bodybuilding Expo I - 1st *1980 NPC USA Championship - 9th *1980 NPC Nationals - 3rd *1981 World Games I - 4th (MW) *1981 NPC USA Championship - 2nd (HW) *1981 NPC Nationals - 1st (HW and Overall) *1981 Pro World Championship - 4th *1981 Night of Champions - 1st *1982 Super Bowl of Bodybuilding I - 1st *1982 AFWB American Championships - 1st (HW and Overall) *1982 Swedish Grand Prix - 1st *1982 NPC USA Championship - 2nd (HW) *1982 NPC Nationals - 1st (HW and Overall) *1982 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 2nd *1982 Pro World Championship - 1st *1983 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st *1983 IFBB Caesars World Cup (Grand Prix Las Vegas) - 1st *1984 Pro World Championship - 2nd *1984 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 4th *1985 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 4th *1986 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 9th *1987 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 12th *1988 Pro World Championship - 10th *1988 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 9th (originally 10th) *1993 Ms. International - 13th

References

External links

Official web site
, colspan = 3 align = center , Ms. Olympia , - , width = 30% align = center , Preceded by:

, width = 40% align = center , First (1983) , width = 30% align = center , Succeeded by:

Cory Everson Corinna "Cory" Everson (née Kneuer; born January 4, 1958) is an American female bodybuilding champion and actress. Everson won the Ms. Olympia contest six years in a row from 1984 to 1989. Education Corinna Kneuer was born in Racine, Wisconsin ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap-Kaan, Carla 1954 births Living people Professional bodybuilders African-American female bodybuilders 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women