Chicago 2017: The Rise of Brittney O'Veal

The seemingly inexorable rise of Brittney O'Veal continued in Chicago, as she picked up the winner's cheque on her professional debut, the third show of her career.



It wasn't even two years ago that, as a Physique competitor, she was doing her first show, placing 3rd (out of 5) in her native state of Texas, and only a year ago that she was winning her pro card at her second ever show, and her first as a Bodybuilder, the NPC USAs. Her victory in Chicago means that her 4th show will be the 2017 Rising Phoenix. Few competitors in history have had such a fast rise to the top.



Brittney was an athlete and then a boxer (with a 12-1 record, apparently) before she came to Bodybuilding, a decision made as casually as Brittney picks up trophies. I'd been contemplating it for a while, but I never really wanted to get right into it, she says. People kept telling me "You've got the genes for it", so I was like "What the hey!".




Those genetics are, according to Brittney, what convinced Margie Martin to be her trainer after Brittney - impressively pro-active - contacted The Queen via Facebook before her 2016 USAs win, and - in my inexpert opinion - it's when Brittney faces the back of the stage that those genetics, and what Brittney has done with them, are best displayed, from head to toe, in all their magnificent shapely muscular glory.



I'm ready to go to the Rising Phoenix and step on stage and win that title, an "exhilarated" Brittney declared afterwards. I certainly wouldn't bet against her.



Brittney on Instagram. Chicago all week on FMS.

Enjoy!

Mrs Swell's Easter Surprise: Wish You Were Here (Part 2): WoS Muscle Mansion Weekend

A lot of beef. Looks like a female muscle all-star team.



Right now, I'm sitting on a hotel balcony overlooking the Cypriot coast. It's a balmy 25°C and it's not 10 o'clock yet. Down below, at the hotel swimming pool, my wife is lying out on a sun lounger. Her body looks great even from here, and I know when I finish this up (as well as "a few work emails") and I go down to join her, the closer I get, the better her body will look. It's all rather perfect. There's nowhere I'd rather be...



Although if you offered me a place at female bodybuilding's most exclusive get-together in exchange for my current situation, a sort of reporter on the ground kind of assignment perhaps, well, I would certainly have to think about it before I packed my bags, hightailed it to the airport, and hopped on the plane to Arizona.



I seriously doubt many other female muscle fans would be so circumspect.




The "Muscle Mansion Weekend" is a combination of business and pleasure for eight of the world's current best plus Wings of Strength spokesperson Lenda Murray, organised by Kristal and Jake Wood. And they know how to treat them right. Gifts, dinner, an evening out at the ice-hockey. Dressing up for photoshoots, a workout, and a little bit of contract signing as well it seems. A weekend of FBB wins all round.




There was reigning Ms Rising Phoenix Margie Martin, Helle Trevino, and Alina Popa. There was Aleesha Young, returning to the stage this year in Omaha, and Shawna Strong, Arizona local, scheduled to flex in anger again soon at the Toronto Pro, plus 2016 Puerto Rico champ Kim Buck. And there were two new pros, Margie protégé Brittney O'Veal, and Hot and Hard 100 runner-up, Theresa Ivancik.



Feast enough. But as well as Lenda, who still looks glorious at 55, I can't be the only one who's noticed just how much beef there is on Kristal Wood. No mean feat to make Alina's arms look insignificant. Being married to arms like Kristal's would be enough for most guys. Hulk Hogan lookalike Jake gets that and much much more besides.



To be fair though, he is 50% of 50% of the team who are slowly but surely cultivating the resurrection of professional Female Bodybuilding, so it's hard to dislike him.



Wish you were here? Perhaps the question should be "Wish you were him?"



Enjoy!

More at #musclemansion

And - bonus - recorded at the NPC Nationals last year but only recently uploaded to the Wings of Strength YouTube channel, if you've ever wondered what Theresa Ivancik sounds like, well wonder no more... (even sexier than I imagined).



SWOOOOON!!!

Wings of Strength to Strength

We recently praised Jake and Kristal Wood, aka Wings of Strength, for firstly saving in 2015, and then, within a year, presiding over a small but significant expansion in professional female bodybuilding. We've also recently highlighted and praised how Alina Popa (Jennie Roosa etc.) and Margie Martin (Brittney O'Veal) seem to have taken it upon themselves to ensure there is a new generation of female bodybuilders coming through to the pro ranks.


The future: Jennie Roosa (left) and Brittney O'Veal

However, for female bodybuilders outside of the US and Canada, where national level shows can provide FBBs with pro cards, the problem of how to become part of this exciting new pro FBB world remained. At the Omaha Pro this year we saw how WoS - working with Alina Popa - provided Elena Oana Hreapca with a guest posing spot partly to highlight the quality of talent that had reached the top of the amateur FBB tree in Europe (and elsewhere) and simply had nowhere left to go.



Wings of Strength Facebook page, September 24th

As I write this the world has changed just a little. I am happy to say that amateur female bodybuilders in Europe, Central and South America, Australia, Asia and the rest of the world now have an opportunity to earn an IFBB Pro Card.
This also includes Canada and the US.
Announcing that the brand new IFBB Ms. Wings International will qualify three female pro bodybuilders in 2017 - one from each of the light, middle and heavy weight divisions.
This will all take place at the IFBB Wings of Strength Chicago Pro in early July of 2017 at the Tinley Park Convention Center. The three new pros will be eligible to compete in the Chicago Pro later that same weekend.
My wife Kristal and I would like to thank IFBB Professional League President Mr. Jim Manion and IFBB President Dr. Rafael Santonja for working with Mr. Tim Gardner and myself to provide a path to a pro card that has been absent for many women around the globe. We would also like to thank Ms. Oana Hreapca of Romania for shining a light on this need during her guest appearance in Omaha in 2016. We also extend our thanks to Mr. Jack Titone along with his dear wife Ms. Ann Titone for gracefully allowing us to highlight Ms. Hreapca during their Omaha Pro Show.
We at Wings of Strength are very excited about the coming year and the direction women’s bodybuilding is going. We rise!
Best Regards,
Jake Wood

Well that is good news!

Imagine! The best amateur FBBs in the world lining up against each other.



From Europe, Oana; from South America, Flores Neide Souza Campos... I'm sold already! But as well as being an "international" event, North American women will be taking part too. That means you could see Oana and Flores and Theresa Ivancik (assuming she hasn't decided to stick with Physique permanently!) on the same stage.



I'm almost too thrilled to think of the names of other women from around the world who could compete! There must be a whole bunch of Brazilians whose names are not coming into my excited mind right now. Australians, Asians, Kashma! Kashma could be there!!! From the UK, IBFA champion Christal Cornick, or the rising young star Maz Burn now have a potential route through which to follow Lisa into the pro ranks.

And then there's the possibility of...



Who would you love to see at the 2017 Ms Wings International?
Who have I forgotten? Who would best represent your country?

And Wings of Strength have even managed to resurrect the "Ms International" name! What's next? Continental qualifying events for the IFBB Ms. Wings International?!

I can dream!

Time to watch Oana guest posing again methinks...



To remind ourselves how significant it was, of course.

Summer Break @NPC USAs

In the past, FMS has tended to close up shop for weeks over the summer, usually during August. We've tried not to leave you FMS-less on those occasions, and have consequently come up with ideas like Legs Month, August Picture Post, and, last year, While the Slave's Away to tide you over while we're sunning ourselves.

This year we're not shutting up the offices for one long holiday but a series of shorter breaks, but our commitment to give you at least one stunning example of female muscle heat to look at every day remains. So this year it's Summer Breaks, and part deux reviews the recent NPC USAs. We hope you enjoy our selections.

THE BODY

It kind of went something like this... SO, he thought angrily, who exactly is this O'Veal woman whose body the judges deemed to be better than my Theresa's?




Holy s**t she's INCREDIBLE!!!




I so wanted her not to be, I really did. Regular readers will know I love a righteously indignant pop at the judges, and NPC judges are only slightly not as good as IFBB judges for having a rant about. But as soon as the first image I clicked on appeared on my screen, I was somewhat less surprised that Theresa had come second (again), and rather more surprised that Theresa had come second by just one point.



Brittney v.2015, 3rd Physique NPC Texas Cup

Brittney was competing in only her second contest, and her first as a bodybuilder. Last year she had come 3rd in the Physique class at the NPC Texas Cup, and, more importantly, picked up a rather famous fan. When she was thinking about the USAs, she "reached out", with some trepidation, to that fan via Facebook. And that fan became her prep coach, and the results speak for themselves. Brittney looked pretty amazing before. Now she looks unstoppable. The name of her fan is Margie Martin.



Check out her post-win afterglow - and those big beautiful eyes and that knowing smile that spreads at least as wide as her monstrous lats. She says she's taking a year off, "to grow". I'm almost too frightened to imagine how swoonworthy she might look this time next year when she's packed even more muscle onto that thoroughbred frame.



Brittney has given herself the modest IG handle of "The Body". Margie, "Queen of Quads", has dubbed her the "Queen of Glutes". She's the NPC USA Heavyweight and Overall champion, and a new IFBB pro. But whatever you call her, that is some body.




Enjoy!

More from the NPC USAs tomorrow.