EOB News

Former Ms. Olympia and WWE competitor Melissa L. Coates passes away

June 24, 2021

Former Ms. Olympia and WWE competitor Melissa L. Coates passes away.

The bodybuilding and wrestling world are in shock after hearing the news that Melissa Coates has passed away.

Melissa died at the age of 50. Until the time of publishing this article, the cause of death has not been revealed.

Melissa had some serious medical complications last October 2020, when she had to have her left lower leg amputated. It is not known if this had a factor in her death.

Former Ms. Olympia competitor Melissa L. Coates had to have her left lower leg amputated to save her life last October.

Melissa was admitted to University Medical Center Las Vegas on 13 October, 2020 to assess recent onset of excruciating pain in her left leg.

The doctors discovered that the arteries supplying blood to her left lower leg were completely obstructed by blood clots.

Over the next few days several procedures were performed in an attempt to remove the clots and thus save her leg but these operations were unsuccessful.

Ultimately Melissa and her doctors had to make the agonizing choice to perform a life-saving above knee amputation of her left leg.

Melissa unfortunately is going through the exact same difficult situation that bodybuilding legend Flex Wheeler had to incur.

Due to this medical emergency, Melissa has incurred substantial medical bills and will be out of work for an indefinite amount of time as she rehabs her injury.

A gofundme page has been created to raise funds to help Melissa last October. Donations are still being accepted.

We at Evolutionofbodybuilding.net send our deepest condolences to the friends and family of Melissa during this difficult time.

Career

Throughout the 90’s, Melissa competed in the International Federation of Bodybuilding, placing highly in their Ms. Olympia and Ms. International events. Due to her success, in 1996, Melissa was ranked 9th in the world in women’s bodybuilding.

Melissa turned pro in Canada by winning the 1994 CBBF Middleweight class at the Canadian National championships.

As her popularity increased, Melissa was featured extensively in fitness magazines, including Muscle & Fitness, Flex, MuscleMag, Muscular Development and IronMan.

After retiring from bodybuilding, Melissa Coates trained with Hall of Fame pro wrestler, Killer Kowalski. She would later compete in the WWE and throughout the independents. Melissa currently performs as “The Super Genie” and manages legendary pro wrestler, Sabu. They perform for various pro wrestling companies across the globe.