{"id":14763,"date":"2026-02-24T01:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:33:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:33:19","slug":"women-athletes-fighting-back-after-being-cut-from-tampa-bodybuilding-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763","title":{"rendered":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"898\" height=\"393\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Psws4JVgYQT9lKF3ed2vVg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/wfla_article_174\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2013 A group of athletes is turning to the community for help after they were suddenly shut out of an upcoming bodybuilding competition.<\/p>\n<p>Anastasia Rider is among the women who planned to compete at the Tampa Pro this summer. However, their future at the event is now in limbo after it was announced that the women\u2019s bodybuilding division is being dropped from the show.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly, it was very disheartening,\u201d said Rider. \u201cMost of us have been training a long time, and we look forward to these shows every year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Event organizers said the IFBB Professional League Open and Masters Pro Women\u2019s Bodybuilding division were cut from the event due to a lack of sponsorship.<\/p>\n<p>The same categories have also been dropped from upcoming competitions in Chicago and New York.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the athletes are refusing to give up.<\/p>\n<p>The women are banding together to keep their competition alive by raising the funds that would otherwise come from event sponsors.<\/p>\n<p>The athletes have\u00a0started a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/support-the-womens-bodybuilding-category-in-the-us\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:GoFundMe;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">GoFundMe<\/a>\u00a0in hopes of collecting enough donations to revive their category in the Tampa show, along with the competition in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Rider, who is an IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, said she\u2019s hopeful the community will help them save the sport they love.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was finally a place where we were able to find our home, to find our people, to be a part of something where we belonged and are represented the way we wanted to be,\u201d said Rider. \u201cTo have that taken away from us is like, okay, where do we go from here?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i>Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wfla.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/women-athletes-fighting-back-being-101711805.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2013 A group of athletes is turning to the community for help after they were suddenly shut out of an upcoming bodybuilding competition. Anastasia Rider is among the women who planned to compete at the Tampa Pro this summer. However, their future at the event is now in limbo after it was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2013 A group of athletes is turning to the community for help after they were suddenly shut out of an upcoming bodybuilding competition. Anastasia Rider is among the women who planned to compete at the Tampa Pro this summer. However, their future at the event is now in limbo after it was [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Psws4JVgYQT9lKF3ed2vVg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/wfla_article_174\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2\"},\"headline\":\"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763\"},\"wordCount\":308,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763\",\"name\":\"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png\",\"width\":898,\"height\":393},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14763#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"description\":\"Data, Rankings, Results.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2\",\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo\",\"caption\":\"World Bodybuilding News\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?author=3\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News","og_description":"TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) \u2013 A group of athletes is turning to the community for help after they were suddenly shut out of an upcoming bodybuilding competition. Anastasia Rider is among the women who planned to compete at the Tampa Pro this summer. However, their future at the event is now in limbo after it was [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763","og_site_name":"World Bodybuilding News","article_published_time":"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/Psws4JVgYQT9lKF3ed2vVg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQyMDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/wfla_article_174\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"World Bodybuilding News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Bodybuilding News","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763"},"author":{"name":"World Bodybuilding News","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2"},"headline":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition","datePublished":"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763"},"wordCount":308,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763","name":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition - World Bodybuilding News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png","datePublished":"2026-02-24T01:33:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/77b1e416e83ace31ddd15da4d2ab2c60.png","width":898,"height":393},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14763#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Women athletes fighting back after being cut from Tampa bodybuilding competition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/","name":"World Bodybuilding News","description":"Data, Rankings, Results.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2","name":"World Bodybuilding News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3a97dc2b632583ef0db5105000be61b101080263520a02b1a9096e649f18e5e?s=96&d=initials&r=g&initials=wo","caption":"World Bodybuilding News"},"url":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?author=3"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}