Igor Kopcek @UKBFF British 2017

It's absolutely unprecedented! Krish Kataria (centre, 1st), Livia Melo (right, 2nd), and
Zulmira Woodrow (left, 3rd) flex their muscles after the up to 163cm Bikini class awards

Yes yes YES! It's absolutely unprecedented, and most welcome - FMS' favourite female muscle contest lensman, Eastlabs' Igor Kopcek, was at the recent UKBFF British Championships doing what he does so well. For once, I am able to put together a report on the show where my problem is not where to find images without big f*** off watermarks saying DO NOT F***ING COPY all over them, but how to choose which of the 2,799(!) images of the female classes to include. I've been in heaven for the last few hours, and I don't mind admitting it. Mr Kopcek, I doff my chapeau to you, sir!


Jo Griffiths, 6th, Masters Bodyfitness

Of course, I'm still going to have whine about the paucity of information available regarding the results. Were it not for John Plummer's excellent reports on the UKBFF Facebook page (I ask you, what kind of federation has its results released via Facebook by a third party?), I'd know even less than the top six in each class that I do know.




Many of the winners and high finishers from Nottingham (the show's now traditional setting) were those who had competed and in many cases done so well for Britain in Barcelona at the Arnold Classic Europe a few weeks before. Sandra Mackie became Britain's first ever "Wellness" Queen, and Marta Mila the new Junior Bikini champ. Connie Slyziut won her second consecutive Junior Bodyfitness title, and Samantha Forbes the up to 163cm Bodyfitness class before being crowned Overall winner too.




However, Danielle Osborn, Britain's big Bodyfitness winner in Barcelona, didn't fare quite so well. In the over 163cm Bodyfitness class, she placed only 3rd. Now I've got nothing against class winner Anna Banks, good on her, but if any of the UKBFF Bodyfitness judges would like to get in touch and explain to FMS exactly why it is that the woman on the right beats the woman on the left, I promise I will be all ears.



There was a tense few days after the photos from the Saturday had gone up on Eastlabs before Sunday's were added. Tense because Women's Physique was the sole female event on the Sunday. Had Igor just come for the Wellness and Bikini bums and flown home early? I wondered. Thankfully, the answer was no, and while he took more photos of just bums (and I mean "just", whole frame = a bum) in the Wellness and Bikini classes than all of the Physique division put together, by the following Wednesday, our Linda and her UKBFF Physique sisters had been added to the gallery. Phew!


Physique Dreams: FMS fave Hayley Brylewski (left), and Anita Tryc (6th)

And talking of bums... Linda had a bit of an issue on and off stage. I couldn’t contract my quads or lower back, and I was shaking like a shitting dog, she explains. People have said it was because I was posing too hard and nerves, but no, it was my ASS. It had locked up and trapped my nerves in my back and legs. And despite the pain and the "locked up" glutes, and her inability to flex her quads or lower back properly, and the "shaking like a shitting dog" (don't you just LOVE her!) she still placed 3rd!



The contest marked the UKBFF British debut of the current NABBA Trained Figure Ms Universe Emma Gormley. Like Linda before her, Emma has made the switch to Women's Physique from the most venerable federation of them all. A lot less peeled, and somewhat more covered in the bum area than she was when she won last November, she placed 5th here in her first UKBFF national level appearance.



4th in the Physique class was UKBFF vet Ade Bishop, who FMS knew of (thanks only to Mr Kopcek and Eastlabs) from international contests such as the Arnold Europe and various Diamond Cups over the last couple of years. This was Ade in by far her best ever shape, and she was perhaps a bit unlucky not to be rewarded with a top 3 placing.


Ade Bishop (left, 4th), and Andrea Corbett (right, 2nd)

A lot happier - probably the happiest woman on stage even though she didn't win - was runner-up Andrea Corbett, another UK Physique trooper in European contests who rarely gets placed near the top. Again, nothing against Andrea, congratulations to her, but while I've got the UKBFF judge on the line educating me about the Bodyfitness criteria, perhaps they could also fill me in as to why Andrea finished above Ade.



And the winner was...

Tune in tomorrow for a dose of serious star quality.



Isn't it a shame we - and more importantly all the wonderful UKBFF British ladies - have had to wait until 2017 to get top-notch, comprehensive, and freely available photo coverage? I can't help wishing Igor had been there in 2014 to see your Hot and Hard 100 #5 Sarah Williams win the Physique title, or Ria Ward the year before that, or he'd been there back in 2011 to see Rene Campbell become the UK's Queen of Muscle, or indeed the year before that, when Rene was runner-up to Lisa Cross... [seriously? 2,799 photos and you're still not satisfied? tut tut - ed.]

Full galleries here. Enjoy! It may be the one and only time...

FBBUK @ACE 2017

A couple of years ago, FMS was getting quite excited about the fact that there were forty British women in the various Amateur classes at the Arnold Classic Europe.

Well, check it out - this year... SEVENTY!

Yesterday we met the very highest of these achievers, Danielle Osborn, who won her Bodyfitness class (and, I think I neglected to mention, was awarded 3rd in the Overall posedown). Today we meet (almost all of) the best - in terms of placings - of the rest. Sadly this time there were no women from the UK in the Fitness classes to follow in the powerfully bouncy footsteps of our new Olympian Emma Paveley, but we had British representatives in "Wellness" (you'll see), Bikini, Bodyfitness and Physique.

WELLNESS

Sandra Mackie
5th, Open



OK, so what exactly is "Wellness"? you may ask. Well, as far as I can ascertain, it's pretty much the same as Bikini in terms of presentation, but with that Brazilian-style chunkiness below the waist. So we can see why our Sandra did so well. Apparently, this class is growing like mad here in the UK, and quite honestly I'm not sure how I feel. It's not exactly what I think about when I think about female muscle, but trawling through images of the Wellness ladies to find a couple of Sandra has been far from unpleasant.

BIKINI

With 39 of the 70 UK ladies in Barcelona competing in one of the myriad Bikini classes, I'm afraid there are simply too many to mention here today, so we've had to edit this down to mentions for those that placed, and special mentions to the two women - one a Master, one a Junior - who placed in the top 3 in (one of) their respective classes.

First, the Master!

Zulmira Woodrow
2nd, Masters up to 163cm; 3rd, Open up to 160cm



It’s a massive confidence boost for me knowing I’m competing against girls who are in their 20s and beating them, says the 39-year-old current British Bikini champ, who beat a few younger women in her Open class in finishing 3rd, and took a silver in her Masters class. Her husband is said to be "really proud" of her. I bet he is. Lucky devil.

Marta Mila
2nd, Junior over 166cm; 4th, Open up to 172cm



I am obsessed with becoming a woman who is comfortable in her own skin, says Marta, who seemed fairly comfortable on the biggest stage she's been on so far. Marta is coached by our British IFBB Bikini pro Karina Skowronska, and has to be one of the favourites to challenge Zulmira for the British title in Nottingham this weekend.

And the other placing UK Bikini ladies were: Rose Inglesias (5th, Junior over 166cm), Carlie Davies (9th, Open up to 158cm), Sally Legg (10th, Open up to 162cm), Keeley Johnson (5th) and Jayne Lo (9th, both Open up to 164cm), Nikki Harvey (8th, Open up to 166cm), and Agnes Lucaszek (10th, Open over 172cm).

BODYFITNESS

When we met our Arnold Europe Amateur Bodyfitness champ Danielle Osborn yesterday, I mentioned that I thought this was the division the UK has the most talent and potential in, and the placings British women obtained in the various Bodyfitness classes here certainly don't hurt my theory any. Of our 19 Bodyfitness competitors this year in Madrid, almost half of them placed. Here they all are, in reverse placing order, if you see what I mean. See if you agree that the UK's Bodyfitness future is bright.

Sandra Lippingwell
9th, Masters



Sandra, according to Flex Magazine UK's John Plummer, has "a terrific sculpted shape", with "eye-catching legs". Great smile too. This Masters competitor provides conclusive proof that being over 35 is no barrier to success in Bodyfitness, adds Plummer.

Katalin Jasztrab
8th, Open over 168cm; 10th, Masters



After placing 2nd in her class in Barcelona in 2016, an achievement she repeated at the Arnolds in Ohio this March, the smart money would have been on Katalin being the most successful Brit at the show. Not quite how things panned out, but, as always, this (for real) former tennis pro's head-turning beauty and statuesque frame made her one of the more striking competitors from any country. Love her abs. And so does she.

Barbara Kiss
8th, Open up to 163cm



Am I disappointed that I didn't win or make top 6? Very! says Barbara, British champion in the up to 163cm class she competed in here. But... Show after show I have learned more and more about the sport and accepted that the only thing I have control of is my own performance, that I do everything possible to bring my absolute best and improve every time I step on stage. And she was "very proud" of the package she brought to Madrid, rightly so I think - her legs are simply amazing. This sport can be very unfair at times, adds Barbara philosophically. But such is life. Accept it.

Emi Wokoma
6th, Open over 168cm



Emi only made her competitive debut last year but has already made waves in the UKBFF Bodyfitness world, winning that debut show - the Kent Classic - and the Fitcon Classic and South Coast Championships this year. "Tall, beautiful, superbly balanced, her proportions are breathtaking," gushes John Plummer. UK readers may think Emi is strangely familiar. Well, if you watch Eastenders, Casualty or the daytime TV soap Doctors you might have seen her in her other life as an actress. Or you might have seen her as Tina Turner in the West End musioal Soul Sister. I wasn't intending on competing at the Arnolds but very glad upon reflection that I did. I learnt an incredible amount. she said. So, this is her not 100% prepared then... Wow.

Connie Slyziut
5th, Junior; 9th, Open over 168cm



Still only 21, Connie is, for my money, getting better all the time. Stage shots don't perhaps do her justice like her early morning or post-workout Instagram selfies do, and, like Emi Wokoma, there's more going on with this talented young woman than "just" muscles - did you, for example, know she plays the viola? She has had better ACE's than this one but she doesn't give a monkey's about her placing here now I would guess because last weekend she won her class at the Ben Weider Legacy Cup in Finland, which may or may not make her a pro, but she did describe it as "a dream come true". You could think of her as Britain's answer to Natalia Coehlo. Or something.

Samantha Forbes
3rd, Open up to 163cm




Same placing as last year, but Samantha was happy because "it was twice as hard". And she was well worth the bronze I reckon. Huge quads, tight abs, deliciously meaty lats... looking awesome! Who the hell beat her?! Can we ask for a stewards enquiry, please?

Watch Samantha strutting her considerable stuff in Barcelona here.

Do you believe me now when I say Britain's got Bodyfitness talent?

PHYSIQUE

Lorna MacDonald
9th, Open up to 163cm




Lorna was a somewhat surprising judges' choice as British Physique champion this time last year, and she's found it hard to find judges as sympathetic since. The trend towards smaller women continued... with Lorna's tight physique finding favour with the judges, noted John Plummer in his 2016 UKBFF British report, rather damning her with faint praise methinks. Hardly Lorna's fault she rode the zeitgeist to that British trophy, and if she keeps turning up in the condition she was in here, I'm sure she'll find some more sympathetic judges again sooner rather than later. I thought her chest looked absolutely spectacular on this occasion. Too spectacular for the judges?!

No UK representatives in the taller of the two Physique classes, but also flexing open-handed for Britain in the up to 163cms were Ade Bishop, Ece Kilkis, and...

Find out who tomorrow.