2011 Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championship
The Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida, hosted the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships on June 25th, and with a field of two dozen pro bodybuilders on hand, judges found themselves hard-pressed to sort out the contingent. Tim Gardner once again worked his promoting magic in providing the opportunity for an ever-growing group of pro bodybuilders who flock to this event. Within the 24 contestants competing for $10,000 in prize money and three Ms. Olympia qualifying spots, the field was the most widely diverse in recent memory. Nine countries were represented, and the variety of physiques covered the broadest imaginable spectrum.
2011 NPC Junior National Championships
Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the NPC Junior Nationals, and without much fanfare that first Junior National contest took place in San Diego on a warm August day in 1986. In the women’s bodybuilding portion of that inaugural show just 11 contestants entered the three weight classes offered, but it marked the beginning of what has now become one of the flagship competitions on the annual NPC contest schedule. And over the years this event has consistently drawn large numbers of competitors in bodybuilding,
fitness, figure and more recently the new bikini division. This year, the newly formed ‘Physique’ division made its debut at the Junior Nationals following on the heels of the first-ever NPC Physique division competition staged at the Junior USA in May. Staged once again in the ballroom of the O’Hare Hyatt Hotel in Rosemont, Illinois, on the weekend of June 17-18, promoter Pam Betz did another sterling job in producing a first rate event, and one that will be remembered for very long time to come.
No other city in Canada has a richer tradition when it comes to pro women’s bodybuilding than Toronto, Ontario. And on the weekend of June 17-18, Toronto welcomed back pro women’s bodybuilding for the first time in 17 years when it hosted the Toronto Super Show. Promoted by Ron Hache, Jim Morris and Carla Hains, and staged at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre’s John Bassett Theatre, a field of 10 contestants from six countries competed for three available qualifying spots at the Ms. Olympia and $6,000 in prize money.
In the 31-year history of the Ms. Olympia, the participants at this annual and most prestigious rite of muscle display have shown a strong majority of the entries coming from the United States. This American majority grew to a more pronounced level when the fitness and figure divisions were inaugurated. And with the coming of the new Bikini division, the USA continues to dominate the entry lists.
But Canada has also contributed a memorable group of outstanding competitors to the Ms. Olympia over the years, and several of our northern neighbors have been prominent as amateurs as well as during their pro careers along with their participation in the Ms. O.
There's an old saying that goes, "You can only be the first to do anything once". And in women's bodybuilding, first time events and the winners of those events were frequent as women's contests sprang up across the country and throughout the world in the years from late 1977 to 1981.
Everyone who has followed women's bodybuilding closely over the years knows that Rachel McLish won both the first United States Women's Championship and Ms. Olympia in 1980, and that Laura Combes won the first American Women's Championships the same year. And while Lisa Lyon gained worldwide attention in winning the 1st Women's World Bodybuilding Championships, there were, nonetheless, many contests springing up in every corner of the country that didn't always gain the same level of recognition.
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