Iain Valliere has retired from racing! What made him do it?

At the age of thirty-two, professional bodybuilder Iain Valliere has decided to end his sporting career! The Canadian athlete announced his decision to retire from professional bodybuilding to fans via a YouTube video this week. In the video, he explained that he is not leaving the world of sports due to health problems or injuries, but rather because he has lost his passion for his sport.

Putting so much effort into something that no longer brings him satisfaction seemed pointless, and he decided not to take the risk of possible health problems or serious injuries in the future. Valliere has been a professional bodybuilder since he was eighteen years old. At just twenty-three years old, he achieved what many do not achieve in their entire lives, winning the 2014 Amateur Olympia Latin America and earning his professional card.

He made his first start in the IFBB Jim Manion Professional League a year later at the Europa Orlando Pro where he placed seventh behind Fouad Abiad, Michael Lockett, Alexander Fedorov, Pablo Ayala, Daniel Toth and Alfonso del Rio. He waited until 2018 for his first triumph among professional bodybuilders, when he beat all his opponents at the Bigman Weekend Pro in Benidorm, Spain.

Among his opponents were Igor Illés, Roman Fritz, Andrea Muzi and Mohamed Shaaban. Valliere went on to win five more times in Manion's pro league, most recently at this year's Toronto Pro Supershow, which was the last competition of his career. Also of note is his participation in the prestigious Mr. Olympia event, where he competed a total of four times and achieved seventh place, both in 2020 and 2021.

However, Iain Valliere plans to stay connected with professional bodybuilding in different roles. He plans to attend this year's Olympia World Fitness Expo, which takes place during Olympia Weekend, and watch the battles of his recent opponents from the Mr. Olympia auditorium. He also plans to continue appearing on podcasts and would even like to try out for a judging role. So it looks like we'll continue to hear from Iain, although it will no longer be connected to his own competition preparation.