THE FEMALE PHYSIQUE WEBZINE GALLERY

THE 2004 EMERALD CUP
IFBB PRO FITNESS COMPETITION
Seattle, Washington April 29-30
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By Bill Dobbins

The Emerald Cup has been featuring NPC amateur competition in Seattle since the early 1980s.  This is the first year the event included IFBB pro fitness.  The addition of pro fitness was a good idea as far as the pro fitness competitors are concerned;  more and more promoters are opting for figure instead of fitness, since the ranks of competitors tend to have a high proportion of "figure model" body types, with long proportioned physiques.  Fitness competitors tend to have more compact physiques (suitable for gymnastics).  Figure also takes up less time, since the women only do quarter turns and there is no performance round. 

There is also less problem with the problem of injury and of potential promoter/federation liability.

Actually, injury was a factor at the Emerald Cup Pro Fitness – two competitors in a row had to leave the stage with knee and foot injuries.  While in all other aspects it was universally agreed that Elaine and Brad Craig did a wonderful job promoting the show and treated the competitors extremely well, the fitness women were not  happy with how hard the stage was – or for the fact that some kind of bolts/screws seem to be protruding from the surface.

Fitness routines should be done on gymnastic mats, or at least some kind of cushioning carpet.  Unfortunately, given the tendency of many promoters to opt for the easier to stage figure contests rather than fitness, requiring the use of mats is just one more reason to encourage them in this direction.

The fitness line up was a good one, with many of the top IFBB competitors on hand.   However, I've written many time, fitness is the most difficult of the three female physique categories in which to predict the winner.  In bodybuilding, there are standards that allow you to say who ought to win (within limits) and pro figure has evolved a style of judging favoring the Davana Medina/Jenny Lynn long-proportioned model physique so that competitors with the same look tend to have the advantage.

But figure competitors have compact physiques more like that of bodybuilders but much less muscle.  In some cases, way less muscle.  Plus the audience has no way of knowing for sure how the judges are scoring the performance round.  As a result, the only indication of how the judges are seeing the contest is the call-outs, and even those can be somewhat peculiar and misleading.
Tanji Johnson

At the Emerald Cup, it was obvious from the first call out in prejudging that local-favorite Tanji Johnson was being singled out by the officials.  Whether this was mostly "home town advantage" is hard to say.  There is no reason why Tanji shouldn't get high placings.  She was a nice physique, was in good shape and did an excellent routine.  But she has competed against most of the same opponents in other shows, looking just as good and executing just as good a routine, and not done as well.

Again, Tanji was the winner was a perfectly acceptable choice – as several other women in the show also would have been.  That's the problem fitness has always had.  There just isn't any way to determine who ought to win, either by objective standards or even based on history and past performance.  In any event, the audience was happy with the choice and, of course, so was Tanji.

Second was Julie Childs, who is a very attractive woman with an excellent physique.  Julie has taken some time adapting to pro competition after winning the USA and earning her pro card, but she now seems to be coming into her own.  I know I get a lot of requests from magazines for her pictures.

Tracey Greenwood was third and looked good – but I still prefer her with more muscle.  There are some women who have terrific shape and symmetry and others for whom their best shape and symmetry comes about as the result of having slightly more muscle mass.  I think Tracey is one of these.  With just a little more muscle her overall shape and proportion – legs especially – become that much more impressive.  However, I understand judges have been telling her to "get smaller" for years, and with the "20 % rule" published this year by the IFBB (and, thankfully, largely ignored) the pressures on Tracey to lose muscle must be considerable.
Rosi Mena

One noteworthy competitor who did not do that well was Spanish fitness-star Rosi Mena.  This is an IFBB world champion,and yet she was called out near the last in both the physique rounds.  There was simply no reason for this.  It's a shame but seems to be true that IFBB pro judges tend to ignore foreign competitors until they've had a chance to get used to them.  Unfortunately, Rosi was one of the competitors injured during the performance round so we don't know where she would have placed otherwise.  But it would have been much too low in any case.  Judges: you are in the INTERNATIONAL Federation of Bodybuilders.  Get used to it.

One placing that was deserved was Kim Lyons in 6th.  For one reason or another Kim has not always placed well in IFBB competition.  Lack of world-class gymnastics training might be one explanation. But she is beautiful, with a lean and defined physique and has always been creative in her routines.  Good going, Kim.

Another of my personal favorites finished 7th – the diminutive and adorable Nicole Rollolazo, who is also a Seattle hometown girl.  She is sweet, attractive and a bundle of happy energy doing her routine.  If somebody could figure out how to get those qualities into a "Nicole Doll" then who would need Barbi?

Actually, the entire line up IFBB pros was pretty impressive, no matter where they finished.  There are some extremely gorgeous women in pro fitness, everyone was in admirable shape (the photos are in the subscriber area) and the routines were expert and entertaining.  Fitness seems to be waning on the amateur level, with fewer women entering the shows and coming up through the pipeline.  At some point this will affect the level of quality in IFBB pro competition, but this hasn't happened yet.
Nicole Rollolazo

 

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