Nunavut bodybuilder winning medals and hoping to lift Inuit in the process

Emma Tranter · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 14, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Diane Marin has ever been determined. 

From a young age, the Inuk competed successful sports successful precocious schoolhouse and assemblage earlier uncovering bodybuilding successful her precocious twenties. 

"I've ever had specified a passionateness for wellness and fitness, particularly weightlifting," Marin said. 

Marin, 31, was raised successful Rankin Inlet and Yellowknife earlier moving to Alberta for school. She has a bachelor's grade successful kinesiology and present is studying massage therapy.

She said she recovered bodybuilding a mates of years agone "and fell successful emotion with it."

Preparing for a bodybuilding contention takes anyplace from 16 to 20 weeks, Marin said. That means weighing and measuring all of her food, making sure she's doing a certain magnitude of cardio everyday, on with circumstantial workouts. 

It besides means nary cheat meals — Marin says she went 16 weeks without 1 during this past competition. 

"It's astir similar a job," she said. 

She competed successful Red Deer, Alta. astatine the extremity of May, coming successful 3rd successful the bikini class of the competition. 

"I truly tested myself and improved a lot," she said.

'I emotion pushing myself'

Even successful her disconnected play the remainder of the year, Marin doesn't dilatory down. She's inactive grooming and eating good earlier she throws herself into different multi-month mentation phase. 

"I emotion it. It takes a batch of subject and determination," she said. "I emotion challenging myself, I love pushing myself."

"I find it precise satisfying erstwhile I'm susceptible of hitting each cheque people successful a publication of what I request to bash each day, time aft time for 16 weeks." 

Marin's ma and her champion person besides flew successful to ticker her compete. Both sat in the beforehand row. 

Marin's mother, Rachel Aliyak, wipes distant tears arsenic she talks astir her daughter. 

"I'm precise arrogant of her. She's truly good. I privation you could each spot her," Aliyak said. 

She said her girl has ever been focused. 

"Diane was precise determined. She was precise helpful," Aliyak said. 

She said she watched successful awe implicit the past fewer months arsenic her girl followed a strict fare and grooming regimen. 

"It was hard to accidental 'oh, I'm going for a ample sheet of fries oregon a pizza,'" Aliyak said. 

This was besides her archetypal clip watching the contention in-person. 

"There's a batch of muscle. A batch of muscular radical successful 1 room," she said. "You can't beryllium shy to bash this benignant of lawsuit … but it besides shows however overmuch enactment these athletes enactment into it."

Marin said she hopes different young Inuit get excited astir moving retired and surviving a healthy lifestyle. 

"Just effort your best, person amusive doing it. Work out, get moving and bask what you do," Marin said. "Only bully things travel from wellness and fitness. You consciousness better, you person amended days." 

Marin said she's seen fewer Indigenous athletes vie successful bodybuilding, fto unsocial Inuit. 

"I don't cognize immoderate Inuit different than maine who's a bodybuilder," she said. "With these Inuit genetics, you tin physique musculus truly quick. We're beauteous strong."

And for her post-competition meal?

"A charcuterie committee of a assortment of cookies," she said.