CALGARY -- Terra Plum is in Orlando not Las Vegas, in December not September, as she continues to roll with the pandemic-related punches to compete in one of the world's most prestigious fitness events.
DEC. 24 UPDATE: Terra Plum says her experience at Olympia was "amazing" and she "loved every minute' of it. She says finishing 12th out of the field of 12 was not a surprise as she was competing in her first Olympia. "It was huge just to get up on stage and in front of that judging panel."
Here's Plum's 2020 performance at the Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend 2020:
The Calgary-based fitness athlete is vying for the coveted title of Ms. Fitness Olympia at the rescheduled and relocated Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend 2020.
"I'm totally stoked to be here," Plum told CTV News shortly after arriving in Florida. "It's a really stacked lineup. The defending two-time fitness champion is here and the woman who won the four years before that is here, and the woman who just won the Arnold."
Plum, who is competing in her first Fitness Olympia, is the lone Canadian in the field of 12 qualifiers, says she's embracing the experience and isn't overly concerned with how she places in such a competitive field.
The first segment of the competition will be the posing round on Friday morning, accounting for a third of each athlete's score, followed by Friday evening's two-minute long fitness routines complete with, what Plum calls, "flips and tricks and jumps and push-ups and all of those crazy things" that will likely decide the winner.
"The routines Friday night are just going to be insane from everyone. Everyone's definitely bringing their A game."
The competition will take place in front of a live audience — and also available on pay-per-view — as Florida's current public safety measures do not restrict such gatherings. The original plans to host the event at the Planet Hollywood resort in the fall in Las Vegas, where it had been held for several years, had to be altered due to Nevada's regulations.
Plum, who is originally from London, Ont. but received her undergrad degree in contemporary dance and her degree in physiotherapy from the University of Calgary, has proven to be a master of the art of adaptation during the pandemic.
When provincial safety measures mandated the closure of her Pulse Physiotherapy clinic, she began conducting sessions through video conferencing as well as offering virtual strength and conditioning courses. The move paid dividends when she, as a health-care professional, would go into the required 14 days of isolation after returning to Canada following previous fitness competitions in the U.S. and IFBB Europa Pro Fitness 20202 in October in Alicante, Spain.
"So I got back from Florida and I was isolating for two weeks but 10 weeks later I had another show and same thing. I got back from Spain and I was isolated for two weeks and 10 weeks later here I am at Olympia. You still have to make the most of those two weeks even though you're stuck in your house. So just trying to make the most of home workouts for those couple of weeks."
The shuttering of gyms and studios in Alberta prompted Plum to move all of her cardio-training outdoors even during inclement weather. Her training sessions with her Arizona-based coaches — Damian Segovia and Whitney Jones — were also altered and she's now the owner of a healthy amount of credits with travel companies due to competition and flight cancellations.
Plum is scheduled to return to Canada on Sunday where she will return to isolation over the holiday season.
For details on the weekend's events, including results, visit Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend 2020 or Plum's Instagram account.
