CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE July/August 2020 | Page 44

Fouad Abiad &
first show he judged ironically was the
Festival City Classic in Stratford.
He made a comeback to the stage
in 2004 at of course, the Festival City
Classic ("something about Stratford that
I always liked I guess"). He placed 2nd in
the light heavy weight class and went
on to win his class at the 2006 Ontario
Championships.
The last time he competed was at the
2008 Canadian Nationals where he
placed 9th in the heavyweight class.
Injuries, parenthood and marriage
followed him after that and competing
was no longer a part of his life but the
bodybuilding lifestyle "still is and will
always be the way I live".
In 2008 he also became a provincial
judge and he worked very closely with
CPA Head Judge Rudy Jambrosic during
those years he learned a wealth of
knowledge from Rudy. Those years were
pivotal for him in becoming a better
judge and OPA official and he says "I’ll
always be grateful to Rudy for taking me
under his wing and mentoring me all
those years".
In 2017 he become a national judge and
last year he proudly achieved status as an
IFBB Pro Judge, along with his longtime
judging colleague Tami Beckers.
In 1992 Paul competed in his first
bodybuilding show the Festival City Classic
in Stratford Ontario where he won the
junior heavyweight class. From there he
competed in 4 more shows until 1994 when
he stopped competing for a while but
remained a fan and involved in the sport
and regularly attended OPA shows.
He became an OPA judge in 2000 and the
Fouad competed in his first show in
2001 at the Windsor Bodybuilding
championships, where funny enough, I was
a judge on that panel. I knew Fouad at that
point but not very well. It wasn’t until about
3 or 4 years later that we became close
friends and training partners.
He won the overall at that first show and
went on to achieve his pro card at the 2005
Nationals.
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