THE FEMALE PHYSIQUE WEBZINE/GALLERY
THE 2002 IFBB MS.
OLYMPIA
Mandalay Bay, Las
Vegas – October 18th
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By Bill Dobbins
INTRODUCTIONThere were, of course, problems associated with the conduct of the contest. What else is new in the IFBB? I will discuss these in detail in this report. However, whatever lingering doubts Ben Weider might have about the impact pro female bodybuilding might be having on the public perception of bodybuilding in general should be dispelled by this contest. Even Muscle Mag publisher Robert Kennedy, who has not run a lot of material on female bodybuilding of late, was impressed enough to say that he was intended to feature more of these physique champions in the pages of his magazine in future.
The 2002 Ms. Olympia should prove to be a watershed event – perhaps the single most important contest marking the turn around in the progress and future success of bodybuilding for women.
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SCHEDULE
The 2002 Olympia involved a schedule change not seen before in pro female bodybuilding and fitness. In past years, prejudging for both the bodybuilders and fitness competitors was held on Friday – free of charge – at the Expo. The problem with doing this was primarily the lack of good lighting and facilities. And, of course, the fact that no income was generated by ticket sales (and no income = less prize money for the competitors).
Last year the situation was even more problematical since promoter Wayne Demilia scheduled both the bodybuilding and fitness prejudging at the same time in different rooms. Of course, this made it impossible for fans to see both (and for this Webzine to cover both). No reason for this was given except the wish to “get the judges out of there at a reasonable hour.”
This year prejudging was held in a smallish theater in the Mandalay Bay Hotel/Casino. It was scheduled to follow the Olympia press conference, the idea being that many of the 1000 or so people attending the press event would stay and buy tickets to prejudging. It turned out that this did in fact sell a number of tickets to the competition. The problem is the press conference is scheduled for Thursday, so for the first time the women would be competing on Thursday and then having to wait until Friday evening for the finals.
WEIGH-IN/MEETING
With prejudging scheduled for Thursday, the competitor meeting for the women and the weigh-in for the female bodybuilders was held Wednesday evening. The Ms. Olympia was being held using two weight classes rather than the three now recognized by the IFBB. The reason was simply that there weren’t enough competitors to fill out three weight divisions. Why? Not enough women qualified or were invited. This could be rectified in an eye blink, of course. This is, after all, the federation that qualifies huge numbers of fitness pros at every amateur championship. But with only 15 bodybuilders in the contest (and 15 fitness competitors) there would only be two weight divisions used.
Having the weight divisions helps to allow smaller women a chance to win a title, but if you are 122 pounds you don’t have much chance against a hard, dense, 134 pound competitor. So a real “lightweight” division is certainly called for. Perhaps Wayne Demila and the IFBB can arrange to have more than 20 women in next year’s event and hold it using three weight classes rather than two.
One surprise during the weigh-in was that Dyana Cadeau did not make the lightweight limit. She had expected to be around 130 pounds but was evidently something more like 136. I say “evidently” because we don’t actually know how much any of the bodybuilders weighed. The staff started to record actual weight, as is the rule, but at the last minute Jim Manion turned to Wayne Demilia and gave the opinion that all that would be necessary was to determine whether each bodybuilder was over or under the limit. So there is no record for history or for the information of the IFBB in determining proper weight division limits as to how much each competitor weighed. The heavyweights started coming up wearing jeans and shoes – although they are supposed to be weighed in posing suits – so even if anyone had attempted to do accurate weighing it would not have been possible.
The IFBB should stick to its own rules and the standard practice of international sport. Not only should each weight be taken carefully and written down, it should be witnessed. Not only does the sport need this information for its records, but suppose a Dayana Cadeau were to protest her weight was taken incorrectly and threaten to sue? How could the IFBB prove the procedure was done in the correct manner? If the IFBB wants bodybuilding to be accepted as a legitimate, international sport (which it is) they should conduct bodybuilding events in a legitimate manner according to international sport standards.
PRESS CONFERENCE
The way the press conference is organized is that all the male and female Olympia competitors sit behind long rows of tables, with Wayne Demilia presiding at a podium with the idea that the press will ask questions and get answers from the bodybuilders and fitness women. For this occasion the competitors are all dressed up – suit and tie for the men, semi-formal wear (for the most part) for the women.
I can understand this in theory. Present the physique stars to the press and public in a dignified manner, show they aren’t a bunch of uneducated “muscle heads.” Improve the image of the sport. Only two things wrong:
Conducted in this fashion, the press conference is largely a waste of time. It accomplishes nothing except to insure anyone wanting to attend has to be on hand a day early – meaning an extra night of hotel charges and one day more of lost work time. What to do instead? Perhaps to hold a publicity event that would attract genuine press. The bodybuilders/fitness women together at a local mall in tank tops and shorts. Something arranged in conjunction with a local TV station. Maybe an appearance at “Muscle Beach” at the Mandalay Bay beach/pool.
Or conduct the press conference at the Expo, on Friday instead of Saturday, so that the majority of attendees to the event would have a chance to see it. Suggestions from fans welcomed on this subject.
PREJUDGING
Not only did the women have to be ready for prejudging a day early, but they had little time to prepare. The press conference was held from 11 AM to about noon. The women had to come prepared with their contest suits, cosmetics, oil, coloring and whatever. They had about an hour after the conference to go downstairs to the dressing room and get ready to compete. None complained about this but it does not seem to be the ideal way to get ready for and focused on the most important contest of the year.
Once on stage for prejudging another problem became evident. Although this seemed to be a well-equipped theater there was only about 1/4 the necessary amount of illumination from the theater lights (as measured by light meters). Double the amount of light intensity would have been better but not really enough. This made it somewhat difficult for the judges to see clearly and almost impossible for normal photography. Many of the photographers began using flash and those of us shooting digitally bumped up the sensitivity of the cameras (the equivalent of film ASA) to get adequate images.
There was little question as to the outcome of the lightweight division. Juliette Bergmann, last year’s lightweight and overall champion, seemed even better this year – fuller to some degree and even harder. Juliette doesn’t have the “ripped to shreads” muscularity of some of the other bodybuilders, but she was in great shape, with excellent definition and has perhaps the best overall shape and symmetry in the sport except, perhaps (eye of the beholder), Lenda Murray.
The heavyweights were a different manner. Lenda Murray was as hard and ripped as she ever was, in tremendous shape and with those same qualities of wide shoulders, extreme V-shape to a small waist, overall beauty of physique and excellent stage presence and presentation. But Iris Kyle, last year’s heavyweight winner had improved over the past year. Comparing body parts, it was obvious that her legs were fuller than Lenda’s – especially the back of the leg. From certain angles Lenda’s legs seemed thin – and her cavles almost non-existent – while Iris had full glutes and hamstrings as good as anyone in the contest and excellent calves.
Lenda, on the other hand, had incredible width and unbelievable delts. Her back was wide and muscular. Her thighs were super-cut and separated, although perhaps with not as much sweep as she would have liked. In short, although Lenda was still the incredible Lenda Murray we have all admired in the past, in comparison to Iris it was kind of a toss-up. Lenda might have dieted a day or two too long or simply had some trouble coming back after a long lay off. But these deficiencies didn’t disqualify her from winning the class – they just put the contest into an “apples and oranges” category where the personal, subjective tastes of the judges were brought more into play.
I’ll go into more detail on each of the competitors in the section on the finals below.
One note: all thoughout the day on Friday I ran into people who asked me when and where prejudging was or expressed disappointment about having missed it. Although Wayne Demila responded “it’s on the poster” when confronted with the fact that so many (including me until a few weeks before) were not aware that prejudging had been changed, this fact should have been much more widely publicized…or this schedule not adopted in the first place.
ABOUT THE FINALS
The audience for the finals was a decent size, although far from being sold out. There were some difficulties with the organization, however. For one, although the Mr. Olympia was being televised pay for view, and the Fitness Olympia was live on the Internet, there was no broadcast available for the Ms. Olympia. The IFBB continues to believe there is a paying audience for fitness but not for female bodybuilding in spite of much evidence that the opposite is true. To get more coverage of the Ms. Olympia next year, contact Ben Weider or Wayne Demilia with your opinion. They always listen to potential paying customers.
Another snafu at the event was that the rule barring video cameras from the contests was misinterpreted by the arena staff to mean no cameras at all. Many VIP ticket holders were angered by this. One individual protested to such a degree he was taken away by the police. A constant problem with events like this is the lack of delegation of authority. Anytime a problem comes up the reaction is “I have to ask Wayne” and Wayne is not always there to deal with the situation.
Yet another problem had to do with arrangements for the press. If there is one thing women’s bodybuilding needs is more good press and publicity. But the only seats provided for the press were the last row of the VIP section, all the way across from far left to far right, with no assigned seats (although I did see some formal looking labels Iding M&F seats). This meant that writers frequently sat in the chairs needed for photographers and that the lowest “ranking” press member – from mimeograph monthly or whatever – who had nothing else to do could wander in two hours early and grab the best center seats. Other journalists and photographers, who were actually working and have little time to waste, ended up not having decent seats or any at all.
For example, Ove Rytter – who publishes four physique magazines in Sweden, had no place from which to shoot the Ms. Olympia and Fitness Olympia. Women’s Physique World – which has covered female bodybuilding for diligently from the beginning than any other publication – was not given credentials because they didn’t request them in time or because of some other technicality. Female bodybuilding needs all the friends it can get – don’t alienate supporters over minor quibbles. This is not a professional way to treat the press and it doesn’t help to get the kind of publicity women’s bodybuilding needs to grow and a sport and to MAKE MONEY for the IFBB and the promoters. Let’s deal with this situation better next year, guys.
Even yet another problem – the way the seating is set up the VIP ticket holders sit in the first 15 or so rows, then there is a single press row. The judges are behind this. Unlike other contests, those in the VIP section seemed to wander in when they felt like it – carrying drinks for the most part – no matter whether somebody was posing on stage or not. This gets in the way of the judges and photographers both and it seemed to go on throughout the show. Ushers should prevent anyone from being seated while a competitor is posing on stage.
Also, with the judges so far away it becomes difficult for them to see the kind of detail visible when they are close. This would benefit somebody like Lenda Murray over Iris Kyle, for example, since Lenda’s strength in the show was her overall symmetry, shape and appearance while Iris was superior in many cases in terms of detail. Anyone doubting this, try and experiment: At your next contest, look at the competitors from the back of the theater and get an idea of who you think is best. Then walk slowly down the aisle and watch how the appearance of the competitors changes as you get closer and can see more detail. Somebody who looks great from 100 feet away may not from the 4th row. This is something the IFBB and Wayne Demilia should keep in mind, although the seating situation at the Mandalay Bay can’t be altered by very much – and Wayne wants to sell those VIP tickets.
FINALS – ON STAGE
One thing to emphasize from the beginning: the women looked great on stage – all of them – the audience responded to them enthusiastically (and to Lenda Murray as if she were a rock star) and they all posed well. In the past, a lot of the women were intimidated by the IFBB emphasis on “femininity” and did not hit their poses forcefully and cleanly. They tried to “dance” around in ways not appropriate to bodybuilding posing. There was non of that here. No “dancing hippopotamus” steps or wiggling hip-hop moves. The look, presentation and posing of all the women was excellent.
Minor exception: Betty Viana – 7th in the heavyweights – should learn to hit and hold her poses longer. She tended to hit each for only a fraction of a second, keeping to the rhythm of her music. The result was the judges couldn’t really see the poses well and for the photographers it was like shooting skeet or one of the combat pistol courses where you have only a fraction of a second to decide to shoot or not. The fact that so many photos of Betty caught her in mid-pose is not the fault of the photographers.
As discussed above, the lightweight class clearly belonged to Juliette Bermann. But that doesn’t mean the others were blown away. The beautiful Valentina Chepiga, who won this class a few years ago, did one of the best posing routines in the contest. Valentina did a bodybuilding version of the ballet “Swan Lake” and the audience was mesmerized. Very beautiful and theatrical, but with enough muscle to qualify as a good bodybuilding routine. The bodybuilding equivalent of the routine performed by Aleksandra Kobielak in the Fitness Olympia.
Fannie Barrios finished third and there is nothing you can criticize about her physique. It is excellent. Fannie’s only handicap is that she does not have the facial beauty of, say, a Valentina Chepiga and in a sport of aesthetics having a “complete package” is a great advantage when you get to such a high level.
Sophie Ducquette was, as usual, in great shape, was inventive in terms of costume and presentation as we’ve come to expect and was an audience favorite. Sophie’s major problem is being very short-waisted, which detracts somewhat from her overall symmetry. She needs to work hard on minimizing her waist size and to work on poses (as Arnold always did) that involve making the waist seem smaller. There is only so much you can to do overcome genetics like this, but each competitor needs to do whatever can be done to be the best bodybuilder possible.
There is nothing critical that can be said about Angela Debatin other than she needs more – more size, shape, etc. What she has is fine - except it isn’t quite enough for the Olympia level. But hard, smart and consistent work over time could change that.
Laura Crevalle is a great and enduring champion but she didn’t really seem big or hard enough for this contest. She has been both small and good in the past (the 1999 Ms. Olympia, for example) but it didn’t work this time. If she wants to continue to compete and do it more successfully, she needs to match the fullness and hardness of the much of the rest of the line-up. However, it may be what she really needs is a third class, a real lightweight class, rather than to try to conform to the standards of what is really a middleweight class in a contest without actual lightweights.
Susanne Neiderhauser is a perfect example of a real pro lightweight who doesn’t belong in what is really a middleweight division. Susanne is sleek and aesthetic – and pretty as well – and presents herself well. She just isn’t big enough for the real middleweights and should try to be. THAT was the point of weight classes in the pros in the first place. She was 7th in this class but would have been near the top in an actual lightweight class.
The most exciting and entertaining aspect of the heavyweight finals was the posing routine by Lenda Murray. Lenda has always been a great poser – she’s a real show-off on stage, especially surprising since she is somewhat shy in person. She began by doing a “Terminator” routine clearly patterned on that of Masters Mr. Olympia Vince Taylor. That and the rest of her routine brought a roar of enthusiasm from the audience more like that you’d expect from the Mr. Olympia rather than a women’s bodybuilding contest.
Even though I was sitting almost as far away as the judges I was looking at the stage through a telephoto lens. And it seemed to me that Lenda had filled out a little since prejudging, making me think she had diet maybe one too many days. But seeing Lenda on stage, albeit from a distance, under good lighting it was obvious she was the “star” of the show, the kind of bodybuilder the audience and the IFBB alike would want to have the title of Ms. Olympia.
However, it is somewhat surprising that Lenda got all first place votes in every round. It looked closer to me than that. Iris actually got some 3rd place votes which I found shocking. Iris should have been no worse than a close second on anyone’s scoresheet. Vicky Gates, who placed 3rd, probably should not have scored so well. Vicky lost her mother just a week earlier (and we are all sorry for her loss) and admittedly was not in the best shape possible – although she didn’t look bad. But this is fast company and if you aren’t right there you are in trouble.
On a technical basis, body part for body part, Iris is the best in the sport at this point. But her presentation is not on the same level as that of Lenda. She also lacks the super-aesthetic genetic symmetry we see in Lenda. Lenda, in that sense, is like a Flex Wheeler. Iris also suffers from lack of or actually bad publicity. She refuses to shoot for photographers without being paid a large fee. So the photographers don’t shoot her, she doesn’t get in magazines and doesn’t’ have a lot of photos to sell. Between contest she largely disappears and doesn’t seem very social or communicative at contests. These things shouldn’t play a huge role in judging bodybuilding but they have some effect. After all, Iris won the heavyweights last year, so the judges don’t hate her. But I doubt many of them look forward to having an overall Ms. Olympia who is so uncommunicative and practically invisible between contests.
In any event, Lenda won the heavyweights and there were few in the audience who vocally disagreed with this. But in answer to the question that many bodybuilding fans have Emailed me – yes, Iris had better legs than Lenda and much superior calves and no, you are not an idiot if you think Iris should have won. Personally, I have no problem with Lenda winning – she’s a great bodybuilder and a credit to the sport – but I am uncomfortable that the scoring didn’t show the contest as closer. It was much closer than it might have seemed.
Vicky Gates, as I said, had distractions in her life that prevented her from being at her best. She has been working hard to bring up her legs and is getting there. They used to be a weak point, she did improve them a lot to win her first Arnold, but then let them slide again in response to the IFBB “guidelines” of a few years ago that introduced non-appropriate elements into the sport and corrupted the judging process. Vicky might not have gotten 3rd if Yaxeni Oriquen had been 100%. Yaxeni is real Ms. Olympia caliber in the quality and development of her physique, but she seemed to have missed it slightly at the 2002 Ms. Olympia. She was a big boxier than she should have been. This is probably just a matter of diet and preparation and can be easily corrected.
Dayana Cadeau, as described above, missed the lightweight limit and had to compete as a heavyweight. This was too bad, since Dayana in many ways has the best, solid, dense and developed muscle in the entire sport. Combine this with her beauty and natural sexual attractiveness and you have a very formidable competitor, indeed. Her weakness has always been a relatively thick waist, although this did not seem so much a problem this year as simply being too heavy overall. Anytime Dayana gets in shape to the point where her waist is small, she is capable of standing next to any bodybuilder on stage and still look good.
Nancy Lewis make a dramatic comeback earlier this year at the Jan Tana. She looked much better in Virginia than Las Vegas. It is extremely difficult to diet and get ready for one show and then do it again a couple of months later. Nancy has beautiful, sleek lines and when she poses her waist almost disappears. She has a good future in the pros in contests where she has the time necessary to focus on preparing for one show without distraction.
Betty Viana needed to be much more crisp and she needs to learn to hold her poses longer. But this doesn’t mean she didn’t look good or pose well. It’s just that the standards at this level are incredibly high and you can look great and still not measure up to the Lenda Murrays and Iris Kyles of the sport.
Beth Roberts, who placed 8th and last, was in the same boat as Nancy Lewis – she was trying to turn around from a contest just a few months ago. In addition, Beth has what looks like an excellent amateur physique and she will need to spend a couple of years of effort to build this into a competitive pro body. However, the proof that this can be done is Iris Kyle, who was not nearly what she is now when she qualified to be a pro. With few exceptions, these things take time – more so nowadays with much higher standards than 10 or 15 years ago when it was not nearly as difficult.
THE CLASS POSEDOWN
In another of those “only at the Ms. Olympia” procedural decisions, both the lightweight and heavyweight classes posed down together. The top three from each of the classes were called out on stage together – at first widely separated until head judge Jim Manion asked them to be brought closer together for comparisons so the judges wouldn’t have to look at two groups so widely separated. There were only three finalists in each class because there were only 7 and 8 competitors in the two classes. Have six finalists would have meant involving almost all the women in the event – which might not be a bad idea with only 15 women in the entire show.
While all this was unusual, it make for some interesting photos when the women began the posedown. The lightweights and heavyweights were all mixed together, giving Juliette Bergmann – who already had a lock on the lightweight title – a chance to compare herself to Lenda Murray. But there are a lot of bodybuilders who don’t get the point of the posedown – the idea is to CHALLENGE the person you are trying to beat, to hit your best poses while avoiding direct comparisons of your weaknesses.
Going off to the side to pose by yourself for the benefit of the audience only works if you are already satisfied with the placing you expect to get. But the posedown is not an exhibition, it is part of the contest, and it should be approached accordingly.
Actually, the class posedown seems to have changed little if anything. At least, that’s how it looks on the scoresheets. Juliette was the lightweight winner, Lenda the victor in the heavyweights. All that remained at that point was the contest for the overall.
THE OVERALL
Jim Lensfeld of Holland, with his close association over the years with Juliette, sat next to me and as the posedown for the overall began asked me what I thought. “All things being equal,” I replied, “the good big bodybuilder tends to beat the good smaller one.” And, of course, that is what happened – although, as usual, the overall scoring was not included on the official IFBB scoresheets, so I don’t have the breakdown of voting.
Lenda was bigger than Juliette and has outstanding symmetry, just as her Dutch competitor does. Again, however, looking at the legs and calves, it was obvious that – body part by body part – Juliette was superior in certain ways. But Lenda was better in others so, while not a blowout victory, Lenda was deemed the winner and again got a thunderous reaction from the audience – the first 7 time Ms. Olympia in history.
CONCLUSIONS
Strictly as a contest, the 2002 Ms. Olympia may have been the best women’s bodybuilding contest in history. The quality and beauty of the women in the lineup, plus the degree to which they were muscular, aesthetic and defined, should have answered anyone’s questions as to whether or not this sport has a future. It does – and perhaps in the future will become more popular with the “mainstream” audience than bodybuilding for men. Maybe not the competitions themselves – there is a limit to how many tickets you can sell to bodybuilding just as there is to opera or ballet – but the bodies themselves are likely to have a significant impact on modern culture.
But it is time to put more thought and professionalism on the details of pro competition for women. Wayne Demilia did an outstanding job of organizing the entire event and is to be praised. But because he tends not to delegate a lot of details get lost or are not thought out. This is particularly true for the women. So, in future…