Contest of the Day: IFBB Worlds

IFBB Worlds
14-15th September, Kiev

Or, to give it its full name, the IFBB Women's Bodybuilding, Fitness and Body Fitness World Amateur Championships. Not the most talked-about of contests, but fans of female muscle could do a lot worse. Apart from a few Men's Fitness classes, there were 200+ female competitors on show in a variety of divisions from Bodybuilding to Bikini Fitness, all (except Bodybuilding) divided into height classes before overall titles were decided. And there's a team contest thrown in for good measure, based on points awarded for individual results and won, incidentally, by Ukraine.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to take you through all the myriad classes and divisions that were on display in Kiev, although it is worth noting that a certain Kateřina Kyptová made her Physique debut in the taller of the two classes, finishing 2nd (is it just me or does she ALWAYS finish as runner-up no matter what contest, division or class she's entering) to the new Overall Physique World Champion, Susanna Mantila of Finland.



There's no better resource for European contests than the German übersite TEAM-ANDRO.com, so if you do want to know who won the shorter of the Physique classes or the mid-height Bikini Fitness class or who was the Overall Athletic Fitness champion, then that should be your next port of call.

Today, FMS will focus on the Bodybuilding division, for the first time at the IFBB Worlds an Open division (ie there were no weight classes). And in time-honoured tradition, we'll do it in reverse order...



Eva Lagerhorn Blom, from Sweden, possibly the world's most facially expressive poser (actually, scratch the 'possibly', she can't help herself, make it 'definitely') was given 6th place, and her compatriot, Deniz Faith, finished 5th. Deniz was completely new to me before I looked into this contest, and one of the reasons I'm glad I did. FMS will certainly be keeping our eyes peeled for her sexy Scandinavian package from now on.



In fourth, another competitor who is new to us, Elena Stasiukyniene from Lithuania, and in third, a place lower than last year but nevertheless picking up valuable points for her country in the team contest, Ukraine's Maryna Alf.



The runner-up (this time) was Jana Purdjakova of Slovakia, a woman whose competitive record in this contest is second to none. Apart from 1999 and 2009, she has competed at every IFBB Worlds since 1997 (when Peggy Schoolcraft won Jana's class!) In that time, she has won her weight class on eight occasions in all, and twice she has gone on to be the Overall winner (2010 and 2011).



But this year, Jana lost out to Russia's Olga Belyakova.



Russia's beautiful Olga Belyakova.



Information about European competitors is not always easy to come by, and unfortunately, that is the case with information about Olga, even though I've been a fan of hers ever since I first came across her a couple of years ago. What I do know is she's in her early thirties (32 on October 25th as far as I can work out). I also know she's from Russia, and that she finished 2nd earlier in the year to Branka Njegovec at the IFBB Europeans. I'm also pretty sure that she won her national title either last year or this year. And, of course, that she's now World Champion!



(I do also know that she's married. To Sergei. But I'd rather not talk about that.)



And the other thing I know about beautiful Olga Belyakova is that just a few weeks after she had won in Kiev, she competed again at the Arnold Classic Europe... in Physique! On the fan forum whose first rule is that you do not talk about it I've seen a rumour that Physique is where 'she sees her future'. Fortunately (if you have the same point of view as me), she didn't do very well at the ACE. Hopefully (again if, like me, you'd rather see more of Olga the bodybuilder) that result might make her rethink her future.



She wasn't the biggest woman on stage in Kiev. Nor was she the best conditioned. In many ways I agree with the fan who commented that 'I think the judging at the Worlds in Kiev was really strange'. On the other hand though, those are definitely World Champion legs. And sometimes the 'wrong' result is the right one. After all, it can't be a bad thing for the sport to have such a young and such a beautiful World Champion.



Check out the IFBB Worlds on the YouTube channels of Vasily Zaitsev and/or Art's Sport Vision, and visit the mighty TEAM-ANDRO website for hundreds more images.

Enjoy!

Contest of the Day: Ms Olympia

This week on FMS we'll be looking back at some of the contests that have been held recently. But don't expect any considered, objective opinions...

Once upon a time, the only way I could get the results of female bodybuilding contests was from muscle magazines. I was excited to see the handful of images of the winner and the other top finishers, but then again being dependent on the magazines for female muscle material meant I was pretty excited about any image of a female bodybuilder in those days. But by the time I was reading that Cory Everson or Lenda Murray had won the Ms Olympia title again, and drooling over the pictures of them posing on stage, a month or more had passed since the contest itself.

It's all different now. Big contests like the Olympia have live webcasts. I can actually watch the show. If there isn't a webcast, there will be a website where I can follow a 'play-by-play' description of what's happening on stage. Images are uploaded within hours of the show, and hundreds of images of each contest, sometimes of each contestant, are available online within days. I'm so much more engaged with female bodybuilding as a sport now.

What hasn't changed is the way I personally 'judge' the contests. From those magazine years until the present I have never been able to look at the women in any objective way. I want my favourite to win. I judge with my heart (or perhaps groin would be a more accurate description). Back in 1988 I would have been looking at the pics in Muscle & Fitness and wishing Anja had beaten Cory (and don't get me wrong I thought Cory was great, but I was in love with Anja). A few weekends ago I followed the play-by-play description of the recent UKBFF British Championships (by reigning champ Rosanna Harte, no less) hoping that my favourite lady would win.

I'm completely unable to think about contests in any other way.

More about the UKBFF later in the week.

But we begin our week of reviews with the biggest contest of them all...

Ms OLYMPIA
26th September, Las Vegas

The result was no surprise, no surprise at all. Iris Kyle was crowned for the ninth time (a record for any bodybuilder, male or female) and for the eighth time in a row. It is a magnificent, unique achievement, and to my untrained and ignorant eye, she really did look back to her best after a disappointing showing at the Ms International, when she had been suffering from illness (though that hadn't stopped her winning it). One spectator who attended the show agreed, I saw her at the Arnold and was not that impressed with her performance. But at the Olympia people were in awe when she flexed her back and hit her poses. Another female muscle fan claimed, You had to be there to believe it. She exudes champion attitude. She was really shining with confidence and really had the most professionalism.



It's easy to knock Iris (as we noted here on FMS in our Ms O countdown). She is held by some to be responsible for the demise of female bodybuilding at its highest level, simply because she has turned up in her best shape year after year. It seems to me that is a peverse way to look at it. In fact, I think what has happened is that Iris has forced her competitors to raise their game. To challenge her, to really challenge for the Ms Olympia title, you are going to have to bring a spectacular package to Las Vegas. In years past that spectacular package has been brought a number of times by Yaxeni Oriquen. In 2009 it was Heather Policky, and last year it was Debi Laszewski who had never been better. This year, though, the challenge came from Alina Popa.




Before the show we wondered how she could improve on the physique she had presented the judges in 2011 and 2012. We knew she hadn't been seen on stage since last year's Olympia. We knew she had been preparing in Colorado at Heather Policky's ex-husband's gym, the gym frequented by Mr Olympia Phil Heath. We thought that if there was anywhere she could find that little extra surely this was the place for her to be. We imagined her emerging from the Rockies bigger and better than ever.



And we were not disappointed.

Debi Laszewski finished in the top three for the second year in a row. Yaxeni Oriquen, the Olympia veteran of Olympia veterans, was fourth, her lowest placing since 2009 - which was probably more indicative of the high overall standard than any shortcomings on her part. Gorgeous Brigita Brezovac, in what we now know was sadly her last ever competition, was fifth, and the top six was completed by rising star Juanita Blaino, competing in her first Olympia.




Personally, I was very very taken with Juanita, as I have been every time I've seen pictures of her in competition. Her glutes, I am quite happy to admit, are two of my favourite things in female bodybulding at the moment. I was also, as I always am, extremely excited to see the bounteously muscular physique of Mmmmonique Jones (8th place) in a posing suit. Her routine, full of understated slinky sexy moves was one of the 2013 Ms O highlights for the area in and around my groin.




My heart went out to Tina Chandler, a long-time FMS favourite, who finished 12th (last because Tammy Jones withdrew). I'm beginning to wonder if we are ever going to see the stunning 2011 Tampa Pro Tina again, but having said that, if Slave had been judging the show, Tina would have been in the top six just for being Tina.



But 2013 at the Ms O was, for me, all about Alina. And not just for me. She has that je ne sais quoi, that x-factor, that makes her appeal not just to the fans, but to her peers, and just about anybody else with an interest in the sport. It was unanimous that Alina should have won, said one of the fans who attended. Not the first time that a female bodybuilding result has been questioned, I don't want to make that tired, old point again. But that fan continued, From other ladies who were on that stage to the countless FBBs at the event. From fans to photographers all in favour of Alina. It was overwhelming. And not to mention social media was heavily in favour of her as well. No one, it seems, is immune to Alina's charms.



With the genetics I have bodybuilding is my only option to compete right now, tweeted Tarna Alderman after the Ms Olympia. @ALINAPOPA1 shows it can be feminine! I've been a big fan of Alina since I got into bbing, [she's] literally the only reason I've stayed with bbing, very inspiring.




Alina certainly has more followers than Iris has ever had. For all her achievements, and despite her consistent excellence over more than a decade, Iris has never won the fans' hearts in the way Alina undoubtedly has. More pertinent than that though, is the reaction of Alina's peers to her Olympia performance. They might indicate that it is now Alina, not Iris, who sets the standards other female bodybuilders aspire to.

Alina now leads the challenge to dethrone Iris - in fact she looks like the only contender. She leads the popularity stakes with the fans, and female bodybuilders the world over look to emulate her. And since the Olympia she has taken to her Facebook page to speak to her sisters of iron, calling for a collective effort to reinvigorate the sport. Alina may not be Ms Olympia. Not yet, anyway. But, it seems to me that she can rightly claim to be the leading female bodybuilder in the world now.



Review the 2013 Ms O routines on YouTube (first of three parts) here

Enjoy!

Arms of the Day

And to end our week of female muscle weaponry, what I believe (in my typically British ignorance of all things gun) are called 'handguns'.



Natalia Scantamburlo with what are probably not real guns (although that might be one way to sway the judges in your favour - Give me the trophy or I'll shoot...) as Lara Croft, I believe. She wore that costume well, didn't she?



Nicole Ball


left: Rosita Triglia models the uniform for female officers of the Polizia di Stato that Silvio 'Bunga Bunga' Berlusconi tried, and failed, to introduce in one of his last acts as Italian Prime Minister. He wasn't all bad.

right: Joanna Thomas and what looks like (to my untrained eye anyway) like something that could blow your head clean off.


And finally for the week, an already iconic image of Crossfit überbabe Christmas Abbott and her pistol and her pistol tattoo.

Enjoy!