It felt wrong just to forget about the women we intended to feature at some stage during 2017 but didn't. Firstly, the fact they have come to our attention at all is the result of some pretty solid sifting by the FMS research team, and it would just be plain rude to ignore all that hard work. And secondly, it's not the case that we once thought these women were worth posting about and don't anymore - we still do.
The solution we came up with is The FMS January Clearance - we're going to feature all the women who are taking up space in the "TBC" folder on the 2017 planner. And you're getting them all together in a sort of but not really alphabetical order (you'll see what I mean). Further your enjoyment by clicking on the names.
Five beautiful bods a day for seven days. Have fun!
OLIVIA TAYLOR
Sometimes... Sometimes it's HARD to type. I mean, look at this young woman. Wow.
Olivia is an NPC Figure competitor with in excess of 22,000 Instagram followers, and is yet to do a national level show. I wonder how many people look at me and assume I’m completely normal, she says. Hmmm. Exactly zero people, I would imagine. Unless having more than your fair share of the Lauren Martin Stow vibe is what "normal" looks like in Phoenix, Arizona. And if that's the case I need to relocate there. Now.
Or at least right after I sort through the 100+ images of Olivia that made the shortlist for this post, which may take a while. Sometimes this blogging lark is HARD work.
SAMANTHA OPIDA
And here's another young lady not exactly lacking in the looks department.
Samantha's own unique beauty is of Filipino origin, though she's based in the state of New York. Her brains are currently being employed on a Biology major at university, while her brawn probably came in handy during her times in the US Marines.
That top wasn't ripped when she started her workout...
PIA MAHLAKAARTO
Finland has produced more than its fair share of worshipful women over the years, and Pia is yet another muscle beauty for the country to be proud of. If you don't already know, take a wild guess as to her age. I'll let you know how accurate you were in a bit.
She doesn't seem to compete, but she is a supplement company "brand ambassador", so taking pictures of herself looking gorgeous and fit, which is not something I have a problem with at all, is basically her job. When she's not working out, filming herself working out or making other women her age feel inadequate by taking impossibly gorgeous selfies of her lean and muscular body, she's probably tearing along one of Finland's freeways on one of the motorcycles she has an (almost) equal passion for.
Guess the age? 42. For real.
ASHLEE POTTS
I felt like we probably had featured Ashlee before, but I turned out to be wrong, so here for the first time on FMS is one of the more well-known bodies and faces that we've brought you this week. And it's not difficult to see why she has over 40,000 Instagram followers and an ever-growing fanbase among the brethren. Well, at least among the ones who aren't averse to a bit of NPC Figure with a Cameron Diaz vibe thrown in.
Ashlee was competing in 2015, but we haven't found her on stage again since then (though we may be wrong). This hasn't stopped her star rising though - professional photoshoots, appearances in Figure Goddess of the Year polls, that sort of thing. And she's not getting any less good-looking, is she? Nor are those arms getting any smaller.
Another one in the eye for the fake news "muscle women look like men" brigade.
RAYNESHA SHARPE
She competed for the very first time in November 2016 and just about bang on a year later she was receiving the runner's-up prize on her pro debut. In between she had won her class at the Jr Nationals. 3 shows, 2 wins and a second. New pro, big potential.
She's pretty much got everything. Those cuts on her legs are sublime, Raynesha-sharp abs, and when she turns around and gives you an eyeful of that back and those glutes, it gets even better. The body of a lifetime athlete - cheerleading, diving, rowing, track - honed to perfection in the gym. And she hasn't been training for that long either, only really focusing on weights since the May before her first contest. Great smile too!
You get what you work for, she says. She must work HARD.
Ten more never-before-on-FMS beauties to come this week. Five of them tomorrow.
