Chicago I: All Hail Helle!

I've always loved anything that had to do with Art, Culture, Architecture, Sculpture and Sport, says Chicago Pro champion Helle Trevino. I thought to myself: "Why not build my own personal sculpture, one that I will be proud of." So I did.



Back in 2003, Helle Nielsen was a sensation. While still in her twenties she won the Jan Tana and finished 5th at the Olympia at her first attempt. For such a young woman, this was unprecedented, but Helle had both the muscles and the conditioning (and jaw-dropping legs in particular) to be a champion. It was just a matter of time.

Then, in 2005, a serious back injury, a herniated disc, destroyed her career. At first, walking was a challenge, but slowly she started to recover. Incredibly, and despite medical opinion that she would never be able to train, let alone compete again, she was on stage at the 2011 FIBO Power Pro. She won. Eight long years after that arresting debut, and against all the odds, Helle made her second Olympia appearance.

She went to the Olympia again in 2012 after a 2nd place in Chicago (the show seems to like her), but in 2013 and 2014 missed out on what may be the last two Ms Os.




But in Chicago this year she nailed the 3rd pro win of her career. I can't describe how happy I am to have won, she said on her Instagram afterwards. And I can't tell you how happy I am that she won. Helle (the 2003 version) was one of my Fantasy Contest choices, and previously on FMS I've called Helle "one of the all-tine greats".




As the photo from Chicago came trickling out, I thought Helle (now Mrs Trevino), looked as good as she has done since her return from that horrible injury in 2011. She had the beef, she had the definition, and she also had the styling plus two extremely provocative posing suits - black for the prejudging, blue for the finals.




But above all that - and I say this without having had so much as a sniff of video from the show - it seemed to me that on that stage in Chicago Helle felt like a champion. Her comportment on stage, the expressions on her face as she hit her poses - maybe I'm imagining it, or being wise after the event - but I get the distinct impression that Helle was feeling it in Chicago, feeling like the Muscle Queen she is. If I'd been one of those judges, 911 would've had to be called. The sheer power of the animal magnetism that Helle seems to be emanating in the contest pics would have downright slayed me.



I've seen it posted once or twice that Helle is, let's say, not the biggest fan of us fans. However, nothing I've ever come across that she has said or written has confirmed that, so I guess it's safe to assume she may simply not have been the biggest fan of the fan who started the rumour. But I sincerely hope that if she does ever happen to read today's little post that she understands that it is meant as a tribute. It is a tribute to her resilience, to her charisma, and above all it is a tribute to her "own personal sculpture", which I am sure she is rightly very proud of. A tribute to her from a fan.




And we'll be back in Chicago tomorrow with an FMS "Pick of the Rest" including muscliciousness from both the Female Bodybuilding and Women's Physique divisions.

Enjoy!

Pic of the Week

Cristina Goy Arellano tanned & topless at the beach. Need I say more?



A few more shots from this "family fun beach day" are on Cris' Facebook.

Enjoy!

Memories of Lynn

By now you've probably heard the sad news that Lynn McCrossin passed away on June 17th, two days after her 56th birthday, finally losing her battle with cancer.



Fans have been quick and generous in their tributes. Many credited Lynn as "the reason I got in touch with Female Bodybuilding" or something to that effect, and nearly as many others remembered "a real sweetheart", "so nice and friendly", a woman who "seemed to absolutely love what she did and who genuinely appreciated the fans".



My own personal Lynn memory would have to be the Impulse Productions video she made with Peggy Schoolcraft, probably the first self-consciously "erotic" female muscle DVD I purchased. My favourite scene? Definitely Lynn and Peggy doing their "light workout" in the gym, gradually peeling off their clothes as the heat rises. The undoubted highlight would have to be a topless Lynn talking a topless Peggy through the finer points of the pec bounce. They stand side-by-side, watching their own and each other's pecs go boing boing boing in the mirror. Female muscle gold.



What I never realised until I read Lori Braun's excellent tribute on Female Muscle was how much of a pioneer Lynn was - making her debut as a bodybuilder way back in 1984. Nor did I know that Lynn had spent years working in the mental health field. Whether it was her personal training clients, the addicts who she treated or fans whose eyes she opened to the joy of female muscle, one way or another it seems Lynn McCrossin spent her life transforming the lives of others for the better.



She was damn hot, writes one fan in their tribute. Though I've not met her, it feels like she has been with me for a lot of years now! It's a sentiment that sums it up nicely I think. Missed she will be, but she will also be there in our memories and the body of work she leaves behind. And in that sense, she'll be with us for many years yet.

Grexit? Flex It!

ANASTASIA PAPOUTSAKI



Our final Greek goddess of the week was, to me anyway, a surprising omission from FMS' Hot and Hard 100 for 2015. Still just 29, already an IFBB Physique pro, and the recently-crowned Mediterranean Physique champion, it's the absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Cretan Queen of Female Muscle, Anastasia Papoutsaki.


At last year's Olympia Amateur in Prague, where she finished 3rd

Anastasia (her name alone is worth a mini-swoon) is, you may recall from FMS passim, a former international 400m hurdler who was forced to retire due to injury. The success she has had in the two or so years since bears out the femuscle-headed theory that athletes, particularly sprint athletes, would all make great bodybuilders.




Anastasia says*: Crisis? What crisis? It's leg day!



Follow the very beautiful Anastasia's further adventures - her next contest will be the Arnold Classic Europe in September - on Facebook and Instagram.



Enjoy!

*Probably not a million miles away from what she really thinks about it all, but nevertheless, the FMS legal department insist I add this disclaimer:
Anastasia had nothing to do with this post and these are not her words.

Grexit? Flexit!

ELENA KAVVA



Greece's IFBB Physique pro "did an Aleesha" and dyed those lovely dark locks some time towards the end of last year. I have to say, I'm not 100% convinced by her new look, but given that Elena is a former martial artist, I wouldn't say so to her face!



And it was through her kung fu that she discovered and ultimately fell for weight training. I always liked to add a few weights in my training for muscular strengthening, and it was something that I started to like more and more until at the age of 17 I realized that I was madly in love with dumbbells, she says.



Regarding the crisis, Elena says*: As long as Olympiakos can remain competitive in the Champions League, I really don't care which currency we're using!



Elena is on Facebook.

Enjoy!

*While the quote about falling in love with dumbbells is real, this one is not.

Grexit? Flex It!

TEREZA PANTELA



A former Bodyfitness/Figure competitor, stunning Tereza Pantela is now a Physique competitor - and with so much new muscle looks like one! She is, in fact, the female Greek phyzeek this year, having won the class at the national championships.



She's now sponsored by Scitec Nutrition, who can usually spot a woman with the potential to compete at the highest level - Larissa Reis, Suzy Toldi etc. So it would be a fair assumption that Tereza's star is going to be rising in the very near future.



Tereza says*: Just give me 15 minutes alone in a room with those bankers...

And you'll be able to follow Tereza's ascent on Facebook.

And for today's muscle in motion, not the best-shot clip in the world, but what it lacks in pixels, Tereza's posing - not to mention her posing suit - more than make up for.



You might also enjoy Tereza training shoulders from her Figure days.

Enjoy

*Tereza had nothing to do with this post.

Grexit? Flex It!

NIKI ZAMAGIA



The unenviable task of following Vaso Dimitraki on FMS falls to the woman who is, without doubt, Greece's most successful female bodybuilder by some distance. It's probably safe to assume you've never heard of her, but Niki Zamagia has been so successful, in fact, that she has received honours for her services to the sport.




Niki was a World Champion in 2013, and followed that up last year by becoming Ms Olympia. Both titles were awarded by the INBA - the International Natural Bodybuilding Association. So you see why she isn't as well known as perhaps she should be given her achievements right there. Niki Zamagia's all natural.



Just like any other FBB - food and flexin'

Niki says*: We have spoken. Everyone's celebrating, but there's still a sizeable chunk of the nation who are deeply unhappy with the result of the referendum and the government now faces the task of uniting such a deeply divided country.



You can find more Niki on Facebook and Instagram.

And we leave you with an absolutely charming clip of Niki's dance moves backstage at the INBA Olympia in 2013. Very sexy. Or πολύ σέξι, as they say in Thessaloniki.



Enjoy!

*And remember, I'm making the quotes up...