Champion of the Day: Jackie Paisley 1962-2017

1987 NPC USA Heavyweight & Overall, 1989 Ms International

Jackie Paisley, one of the most beautiful and talented IFBB pro bodybuilders ever, passed away on March 17th at the age of 54, finally losing a long battle with illness.



We thought it an apt moment, as we begin a week of women who have already been crowned champions in 2017, to pay tribute to this great champion of the past.



She was from Pennsylvania originally, a cellist, educated at music conservatory and the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh before she settled in Scottsdale, Arizona after doing a joint degree in Sports Medicine and Music Performance at the state university. She was competing at national level as a bodybuilder by the mid-80s, and didn't have to wait long for her pro card, winning Heavyweight and Overall titles at the NPC USAs in 1987, first in a field of 50+.




She went on to shine very brightly, but all too briefly, as a pro. 3rd at her first Ms International in 1988, she returned the following year to finish runner-up to Tonya Knight. However, as Knight was later disqualified, Jackie is in the record books as the 1989 champion. I got the difference in prize money, she told Muscle Insider a few years ago, but never a first-place medal or certificate with my name on it.

The IFBB - ever classy!



Later in 1989 she was runner-up again at the World Pro, this time to Diana Dennis, and debuted at the Ms Olympia, finishing 4th behind only Cory Everson, Sandy Riddell, and Bev Francis. In 1990 she was runner-up at the Ms International again, and 5th at the Olympia. Women were getting much more muscular, and I didn’t have the body type or desire to, she said of her decision to call time on her FBBing career. I didn’t have a mentor then either, so things may have been different if I had, but I had a business to attend to, and a recent relationship breakdown, so I had a lack of focus. She did one final Olympia in 1991, placed 11th, and never competed again.



She was married, became a mother, and for many years afterwards, she ran a successful training business. In 2005, though, complications resulting from her breast implants began to affect her health, and the last ten years or so had been a bit of a struggle for her physically and financially, although there were times when she felt she was on the road to recovery, and at one time Jackie was quoted as saying she would like to give the Physique division a try. Sadly, she was never able to do so.



Like many other fans, I fell for Jackie during my formative female muscle lovin' years, and especially I found images of her demonstrating her legendary flexibility, among the first of her I saw, utterly mesmerising. They, she, will stay with me as long as I live.



Read Muscle Insider's full 1-on-1 with Jackie here.

Marja of the Day

Marja @ Ms Olympia 2004

Special thanks to JL, to whom today's post is dedicated.



For Marja, the 2004 Ms Olympia was the realisation of a long-held dream.

Qualifying for the Olympia beats all the experiences I had before, and will beat all I will have after, she said. When I remember how I felt, I well up with tears of joy.



Marja finished 3rd in the Lightweight class, behind winner Dayana Cadeau and runner-up Denise Masino. It was the first of just two Olympia appearances she made.

The following year weight classes were scrapped, and Marja placed 14th.



But it wasn't just the 3rd place that made 2004 such a special time for Marja. One of the greatest moments there was to see and meet Lenda Murray, who had been one of my inspirations ever since I first saw photos of women bodybuilders, she said.

It reminded me of those early years when I wondered how it would feel to be like Lenda, or Cory Everson, Anja Langer, or Juliette Bergman. It's amazing how long the road has been since then, but it's been worth the work and sacrifice.



And 2004 was the year when "costumes" were permitted at the Ms Olympia, so, as did some of the other competitors, Marja introduced a bit of "strip" to her routine.



Check out HerBiceps free gallery of Marja @ Ms Olympia 2004 here.

Enjoy!

Svensk Muskel: Historia

The FMS editor may still believe that I spent the best part of 2014 doing nothing more than "stalking" Sexy Sophie Arvebrink, but the truth is somewhat different. During my time in the land of ABBA and Volvos (and Sophie) I admit that, yes, I may have spent longer than was absolutely necessary locating and frequenting the very gym where the divine Ms Arvebrink trains, but I also took the opportunity to do some extensive research into Swedish female muscle both past and present.

I hope readers will enjoy the fruits of my labours as we spend our first week back in 2015 with Den Muskel Kvinnor i Sverige - The Muscle Women of Sweden.

6ft1Swell



HISTORIA

Who, I wondered, is the most successful Swedish female bodybuilder ever?




The first name and the first muscles that came to mind was Klaudia Larson and her once-seen-never-forgotten bicep peaks. Klaudia was active as a pro from about 2006, and she had a few top 3 finishes in big pro shows, but her beautiful physique never graced either the Ms International or Ms Olympia before her retirement in 2009.




So, thinking she must have fared better, I looked into the career of the self-styled "Viking" of Swedish female muscle, gorgeous Marika-ka-ka-ka Johansson. If success is measured in longevity, Marika certainly has Klaudia beat. In a decade-long amateur career, Marika's finest hour came at the Jan Tana Amateur (Jan Tana Amateur! - how times have changed!), where, one of four heavyweights, she won her class. She turned pro around 2005, but failed to place higher than 4th in any of her six pro outings.

If neither of the best-known, the most obvious candidates fitted the 'most successful ever' bill, and with the sole active Swedish female IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, Frida Palmell, now competing in Physique, clearly I needed to go further back.




I came across Birgitta (or Brigitta, or Gittan) Hallstrom (or Karlsson, or Karlsson-Hallstrom). As you can probably guess from the myriad names she is/has been known by, I didn't find a lot of information about her - and to be perfectly honest I'm not 100% sure that all of these names refer to the same woman! She appears to have been active from the late 1990s, and her muscle CV includes a Ms International appearance (1998). She is still, apparently, involved in Swedish bodybuilding. But in spite of my lack of definitive sources on Brigitta (/Birgitta/Gittan), I couldn't resist posting an image of this vision of old school muscular beauty - whatever her name may be!

I read around. Jesper Andreasson and Thomas Johansson's 1998 book, The Global Gym, told me that "In Sweden, interest in bodybuilding increased among women in the beginning of the 1980s". So I went back to that decade, and, unexpectedly (to me, anyway) it was there I found Sweden's champions of female muscle, Sweden's Ms Olympia contestants, and Sweden's most successful ever female bodybuilder.



One of only two Swedish women to win her class at the IFBB World Championships, Veronica Dahlin was the 1988 Middleweight champion. It was a obviously a vintage year - Laura Creavalle won the heavyweight class, Janet Tech the lightweight.

Even further back, two Olympia contestants whose names were new to me - Carina Johansson (who didn't place in 1984) and who, sadly, I haven't been able to find a single image of), and Lena Trulsson. Lena was the first ever Swedish woman to compete at the Ms O, in 1982, and, more happily, there are a couple of images of Lena out there, as well as a Strength & Health magazine cover from 1984.



And, best of all, I found the woman who has, I think, the best claim to be called the most successful Swedish female bodybuilder ever - Inger Zetterqvist.



A national level junior swimmer, Inger started bodybuilding in 1979. Two years later, she competed and finished fourth at the Swedish National Championships. She returned in 1983 and won the title. It was the start of a very good year for her.




She won the IFBB European heavyweight title, and then, at the first IFBB World Championships to feature the women, she repeated that feat. At the Ms Olympia, she finished 3rd (behind Carla Dunlap and Candy Csencsits) - by far the highest ever placing by a Swede, and still one of the ten best ever finishes by a European.



She never achieved such heights again, one more Olympia in 1984 (she finished 15th). Nevertheless, as far as the Swedish online bodybuilding resource Body.se is concerned, her Swedish Muscle Queen crown has never slipped. Although her career was unnecessarily short, and she has been extremely quiet since, she will remain in our memories. We hope that one day a new, similar talent will emerge in modern times. But will it be possible to beat Inger's record-breaking feats in 1983?



These days, of course, there's a lot less "bodybuilding" and a lot more other stuff. If the Swedish bodybuilding community is waiting for another female bodybuilder to match Inger, they may have a long wait. But having said that, it's undeniable that Sweden's got female muscle talent, and for the rest of the week we'll be meeting some of it. Njut!

IK Rules, OK? VII

SHE'S A LADY

The lady with the "TOLD U SO" number plate.




IRIS SEZ...



Whatever it takes to find the real you, don't be daunted if the rest of the world looks on in shock. Just keep on keepin' on. Go for it.


EVERYBODY LOVES IRIS

Even the woman she has beaten into second place more times than any other!




DAT BACK DOE!

Pumping up back stage animal style... is how Iris describes the image below.



OK, OK, of course there are some effects, but really, look at that. Look closely, look long. It's not just the insane size, the incredible detail, the height of those damn traps... It's everything you could want in a female bodybuilder's back. Best for last.




In contest shots it's both the size and the detail that gets me, but some of my favourite images of Iris' back are "from behind" candids, those where she isn't even really flexing it at all. Her back seems to be spreading right across the Earth.



Her best, and also her favourite bodypart. SWWWOOOOON! Dat BACK doe!




KYLE BY NUMBERS

Iris' last contest was the 2014 Ms Olympia on 19.9.14.



Her tenth win came with a winner's cheque for $22,000.



Her competitor number for the contest was 13.


KYLE IN MOTION

IRIS KYLE 2014 Ms OLYMPIA

And here is her last ever routine...




IRIS SEZ...



I truly believe [having] fans is a privilege, and I'm honoured that each one of my fans supports me as they do. I love you. Thank you so very much for being a part of my life, my preparation... everything.
Thank you!