The story of Iris Kyle is evolving into an epic as shocking and amazing as the physique that's writing it. The woman that amassed five Ms. Olympia titles came back tonight to redeem her dismal seventh place finish at last year's Ms International to round off her competitive career thus far with her fourth Ms. I win. That means that tonight Iris tied Yaxeni Oriquen's unprecedented four Ms. International victories and is closing in on Lenda Murray's long string of eight Ms. Olympia titles. At the rate Iris is going, three short years from now Iris Kyle could be revered as the most decorated bodybuilder - male or female - in the world. This is a distinction that will probably be uniquely hers for many, many, years into the future.
Watching Iris win tonight - again - was far from ho-hum. She brought yet another new look, complete with new hair, that seemed to defy reality. At 160 pounds she seems a bit slighter that years past, but her conditioning and muscle maturity gave her the appearance of stone. Iris is the closest thing we will ever see to a human statue. She has no weak points, no flaws, not detractions. She just keeps showing up better and better. And tonight she showed up so good that there was little question that the battles would start from second on down.
Heading that pack was second place finisher Debbie Laszewski. Debbie has an amazing structure with incredible symmetry. Her broad shoulders and sweeping lines make her one of those bodybuilders that strike a defining image. She is what embodies all that is right about women' bodybuilding. She's put on a tremendous amount of muscle since her last outing and she nailed her conditioning to a degree even better that it was when she won the NPC Nationals. Most notably, her waist appeared much tighter and her glute/hamstring tie-ins were off the chart. Debbie really impressed us this year. If she can continue to make the kind of improvements that she showed tonight, we could easily see a Ms. Olympia medal hanging from her neck one day.
Yaxeni Oriquen showed up to defend last year's title. She brought a physique that was highlighted by incredible front quad separation and stunning presentation. From the back though, she was a little soft; especially her glutes and hams. If Yaxeni can dry up her problem areas, and come in just a tiny bit tighter overall, she could conceivably reclaim her title in the future. Third place for Yaxeni could easily have been fourth because of Heather Armburst. Heather showed up this year to erase the lack of perfection that she brought to the 2008 Olympia. She delivered with oodles of hard, ripped, muscle in Columbus. I haven't seen a score sheet yet, but when I do I'll bet the difference between third and fourth was minimal at best.
Fifth place belonged to Dayana Cadeau. Cadeau doesn't look to bring the same look each year, but rather seems on a quest to satisfy some kind of unwritten ideal the judges have set with differing examples of her competitive form. Sometimes she's bigger and harder, sometimes smaller and softer, and other times she plots various points in between. This year Dayana showed up looking a little bigger than usual; but not as hard - especially in the dreaded glute/hamstring area. Cadeau is one of the few women competing today who can give Iris a run for her money when she's 100%. This year, she missed her mark.
Betty Viana rounded out the top six with an excellent display of muscle. She's not the biggest girl on stage, the most complete, nor the leanest, but taking sixth at the Ms. International is still something about which Betty can be very proud. From her incredible delts to her tiny waist Betty is every inch an Olympia contender and sure to rise up in the rankings if she can get her conditioning nailed.
