Today, FMS features the three NABBA Miss Universe winners to have come from Italy - Flora Conte, Lorena Bucci, and the incomparable Giovanna Rosa, as well as a little tribute to another Italian NABBA contestant that we have a real soft spot for, the lovely Federica Ortu. All of them competed or compete in the Trained Figure category, more or less equivalent to the recently invoked Physique classes in the USA.
As always, bear in mind that NABBA is an amateur bodybuilding federation, and this, we think anyway, makes the achievements of these women all the more remarkable.
Flora Conte
NABBA Miss Universe 2010
A mother of two, Flora won her title at the age of 36, twenty years after she crossed the threshold of the gym, as she puts it. But she was not alone. Her boyfriend at that time, later to become her husband, had also 'crossed the threshold' with her, and as they say, the couple that trains together... Now they co-manage a gym in Tuscany and what's more, Flora's husband, Giuseppe, is also the President of WFF-NABBA Italia, or at least he was until a year ago (it's frustratingly hard to find decent information about the organisation), so I guess that makes Flora Italian bodybuilding's 'First Lady'.
Of her early inspirations and her intial motivation to train, she says, I was enchanted by pictures of Cory Everson... fascinated by the beautiful Lenda Murray, but the athlete I wanted to most be like was our wonderful and inimitable Giovanna Rosa. How fitting then that a decade after her heroine had done so, Flora was to claim the Universe title. And it seems that Flora has provided some inspiration of her own. Waiting for her children outside their school, other mothers at first stood wide-eyed and disgusted, especially those mothers covered in cellulite, she says. But times, it seems, have changed. Over the years, their eyes gradually got less and less wide, and slowly, some of them even began to ask my advice!
Here is Flora's routine from the 2010 NABBA Universe and the subsequent posedowns and awards. If you can find another link to the clip where the sound hasn't been muted, please let me know and I'll replace this one.
Lorena Bucci
NABBA Miss Universe 2004
I'm afraid this is all we have to admire of the 2004 champion. We found just this one photo was suitable for the blog, and we haven't tracked down any clips of her (or the 2004 event) either! A pretty poor showing given Lorena is a past winner (and it's not like she won it in the '60s) of a major international bodybuilding contest. And that's really all we have to say about it other than a message to Lorena herself: Lorena, you really should be more famous than you are, so if you ever drop by and read this, we would love to do an interview with you.
Federica Ortu
Now in her early thirties, Federica has been competing in national and international NABBA, WABBA, IFBA and WPF competitions since for the best part of ten years. She was NABBA Italian champion in 2005, and has three 3rd place NABBA Universe finishes to date. She was also IFBA World Champion in both 2005 and 2006.
So what is it that makes her such an FMS favourite? Well, first of all, there's the beauty. Federica is, without doubt, a very beautiful woman - and I am a particular sucker for her kind of dark, Mediterranean looks and those luscious frizzy locks. On top of that, there's the brains - Federica is a Law graduate. And then when you consider the sacrifice, effort and dedication it takes to compete just once, and then you consider she's been at it since 2003, and as an amateur at that, then you can't help but admire this beautiful and intelligent woman even more.
And then there's the fact that at every contest Federica's conditioning is nothing short of astonishing. I'm reminded of a visit to Florence, where I saw Michelangelo's equally astonishing Unfinished Slaves (an example of which, The Awakening Slave, is shown above) because it's as if the sculptor has chiselled her contest muscles out of her off-season curves. She embodies the idea of the body as a work of art, a living sculpture.
Here is Federica, as sexy as ever, as she performs her routine from the 2011 Universe.
As I was saying the other day (see Forza e Bellezza: Due Artiste) don't you wish routines were longer? Well, you can find another sizzling, but frustratingly short routine from Federica here
Giovanna Rosa
NABBA Miss Universe 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
And finally, FMS in association with NABBA Italia is proud to present the undisputed, undefeated NABBA Champion of the Universe, Giovanna Rosa.
If the Miss Olympia winner changes, it's because the reigning champ (who's won it six/seven/eight/twenty-four times in a row already) has retired. If the NABBA Universe winner is the same as last year, although it's not unheard of, it's surprising. Giovanna's four consecutive titles at the turn of the millennium, though, is an absolutely unique achievement, and it's extremely unlikely it will ever be matched.
But except for this, what do we know about Giovanna? Well, not much, actually. As noted above regarding Lorena Bucci, there is a paucity of information about NABBA champions (about NABBA competitors full stop) from the eras before the internet went global, frustrating right now, but also perhaps an opportunity at a later date for me (or someone else) to be the author of the definitive Giovanna story.
However, there are clips of this elegant and phenomenally successful competitor in action, including her 1999 and 2002 routines - her first and last triumphs...
1999
2002
And for more Giovanna than you can shake a shitty stick at, go here
Buon divertimento!
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