Laura Combes was a 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.

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Born on October 19, 1953, in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, Combes moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

in 1966 at age 13. As a teenager she played many sports, including

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the u ...

water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

, and

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. Combes attended St. Petersburg College Prep School, and then went to the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. In the late 1970s, she began lifting weights to rehab injuries to both knees suffered while playing rugby. Soon, she became involved in the fledgling sport of women's

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...

. She won the first NPC Nationals in 1980, and won the AAU Ms. America title in 1981. Combes made a dramatic national television appearance that year on the

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series Real People. After the airing of a taped segment about

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

in which she had been featured, Combes carried host Skip Stephenson onto stage in front of the studio audience. Combes competed in three professional shows, retiring after a sixth-place finish at the 1982 Ms. Olympia. Combes authored ''Winning Women's Bodybuilding'' () in 1983. Laura was inducted into the IFBB Hall of Fame in 2002. Laura Combes was found dead in her apartment in

Odessa, Florida Odessa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,173 at the United States Census, 2000, 2000 census and more than doubled to 7,267 in 2010 United States Census, 2010. Northwest of Tampa, Flor ...

on October 4, 1989, from acute

alcohol poisoning Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. The technical term ''intoxication ...

Contest history

*1979 Ms. Brandon Physique – 4th *1979 Ms. Florida – 5th *1979 Ms. Suncoast Body Beautiful – 2nd *1979 IFBB Best In The World – 6th *1979 Ms. Tampa Physique – 1st *1979 Ms. West Florida – 1st *1979 Ms. Northwest Florida – 1st *1980 AAU Ms. Florida – Overall Winner *1980 AAU Ms. America – 1st *1980 NPC USA Championship – 7th *1980 NPC Nationals – 1st (Overall) *1981 Pro World Championship – 6th *1981 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 4th *1982 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 6th

References

*Roark, Joe, "Factoids: Featuring 2002 Hall of Fame Inductee Laura Combes", '' Flex'', October, 2002

External links

IFBB Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Combes, Laura American female bodybuilders American professional bodybuilders 1953 births 1989 deaths Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin People from Odessa, Florida 20th-century American sportswomen University of South Florida alumni Sportspeople from Tampa, Florida St. Petersburg College alumni Alcohol-related deaths in Florida