Joe Lenihan|March 6, 2025

Q&A: Who Were the First Bikini Competitors to Win IFBB Pro Cards?

This topic came up on a reddit sub I frequent (they started talking about myself and my company a few years back, and sometimes when you talk about someone, that same someone shows up and says hello for a few years 😂). Who were the first bikini competitors to win the IFBB Bikini Pro Card?

Having been one of the VERY first bikini teams back in 2010, I thought to myself…who better to answer this question. And then I realized I didn’t know the answer. So I read the replies from everyone who apparently doesn’t have that same inner voice/love of reality, and realized that SOMEONE had to do some proper research and get the answer right. Not just get the most upvotes, but actually get the answer RIGHT. I know that’s neither very 2025 nor very reddit, but neither am I.

So, since reddit, Google, and AI didn’t have the correct answer (they all said Jessica Keisling/Anderson at Nationals…but we all know Nationals is the LAST pro-qualifying show of each year since forever), I decided to take matters into my own hands. After all, how could the winner of THE LAST NATIONAL SHOW OF THE YEAR possibly be the first pro card winner? 🤔

I bring to you…the CORRECT answer(s) to the question: Who was the first IFBB Bikini Pro:

Shelsea Montes and Stacey Oster were the first to earn IFBB Pro status at the first ever Bikini IFBB Pro Qualifier, Jr USA on May 23rd 2009. Shelsea Montes won the overall, and Ms. Oster was the other class winner to get the pro card.

Anyway, let’s give everyone their due credit. All competitors who earned IFBB Bikini Pro status in 2009, along with their respective qualifying shows: