genextras - news from the world of female muscle

Dear Ms. Olympia Fan,

Thank you for taking the time to express your concerns about women’s bodybuilding and the Ms. Olympia competition. We share your concern for this sport, and we believe the flagging attendance and participation in women’s bodybuilding is something that can no longer be overlooked.

While female athletes at the professional level train and prepare every bit as hard as their male counterparts, as promoters we cannot ignore the thousands of fans who travel to the host site for the Olympia Weekend, but avoid the Friday night program and it’s centerpiece event, the Ms. Olympia contest. In 2004, for every five fans that attended the sell-out Mr. Olympia contest on Saturday evening, one fan attended the Friday evening program. Without changes to the events scheduled for Friday’s night, it would be unreasonable to expect attendance to grow.

As promoters we are obligated to produce an event that draws and entertains the largest possible audience of physique fans, while investing in a presentation that rewards and brings credit to the athletes and sponsors. The more successful we are at achieving these goals, the more we can continue to invest in the athletes and fans.

Our decision to move the Ms. Olympia competition to the main Expo stage is intended to provide an opportunity to schedule several new events on Friday evening. In addition, the Olympia expo on Saturday has a much more packed and exciting program than has been the case in previous years. One new initiative at Saturday’s expo is an Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) spectacular featuring an octagon with star fighters performing. Saturday’s compelling program of events will drive more traffic and enable the Ms. Olympia finals to grow its audience by virtue of tapping into the 15,000 plus fans we expect to attend the expo. We will also be showing highlights of the Ms. Olympia finals on Saturday night’s PPV broadcast.

We hope the additional expo audience and TV exposure (in tandem with the new IFBB judging criteria) can help the women revitalize their sport and return it to the popularity enjoyed in the mid to late ‘80s. In addition to these changes, we are increasing the prize money for the Ms. Olympia from $61,000 to $71,000 as part of our plan to continue investing in professional physique athletes.

We thank you for your concern and truly feel that the future growth of the sport of bodybuilding, for women as well as men, lies within the hands of its participants. We hope that 2005 will mark a turning point for the Ms. Olympia competition, and that the sport seizes this opportunity to fashion a new and successful future for itself.

Sincerely,
The Olympia 2005 Promotion Team

You've probably seen the ads around town with the non-traditional models on them in all white. I saw them and liked the fact they are embracing women with curves and that's what their campaign and website is all about. Check it out and send in your own photo and opinion here.

Her photos are being shown in a gallery in Salt Lake City, UT. Check it out online as well.

Hello everyone!

I trust this e-mail finds you all in good health. As you all have now heard, the once prestigious Ms. Olympia finals has been relegated to a side show at the Olympia Expo. We are asking you to send e-mails informing your fans, family, friends, pro men bodybuilders, etc., asking them to write to each of the individuals listed below, voicing your outrage over the way the professional women bodybuilders are being treated. We have suffered many indignities over the years, yet we still remain professional, and continue to compete under less than ideal circumstances, and for very little prize money. They say we don't sell tickets, that no one wants to see us, yet we sold out the City Center Theater in NY!!! Wayne DeMilia made a statement to that effect in Flex Magazine, which is why he removed the other two divisions from the lineup the following year. So, those of us who attend the shows hear the difference in the reaction of the crowd when the female bodybuilders come onstage. I am in no way trying to take anything away from the other divisions (I have quite a few friends in both divisions). I am just stating a fact. So, I will encourage all the divisions, the amateur athletes, fans, family, friends, etc. to send an e-mail to each of the individuals below regarding this latest outrage. I do appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to to this. Thank you all in advance.

If you all haven't seen the latest on Amanda, check out her blog for some insane pix!

Former British pro bodybuilder Kimberley-Anne Jones has rounded up just about all of England’s top female muscle for a “Female Extravaganza”, which will take place in Gravesend, Kent, England, in conjunction with the Gravesend Classic show, on August 28.

The show will feature a unique all-female judging panel of Britain’s top female bodybuilders and fitness athletes, many of whom will themselves be just weeks away from the British championships or pro shows. Guest posing, as well as judging, will be Wendy McCready, who will be making her pro debut at Betty Pariso’s pro show in Dallas in September. Wendy got her pro card after winning the heavyweight and overall at the British championships (with Kimberly-Anne’s help) last fall.

The judging panel will also include IFBB pro figure competitor Ronnie Blewitt; heavyweight pro bodybuilders Karen Marillier and Sarah Bridges; 2004 British middleweight champion Simona Evans; former British middleweight champion Dionne Dixon; two-time British lightweight champion Marina Cornwall; heavyweight former competitor Emma James; and up-and-coming British female bodybuilders Aggi Koumas Dulson and Angie Roche and fitness girls Liz Kinsella, Gemma Miller and Shelley Hinds. All of the star judges will be available after judging to meet fans and pose for photos.

Kimberley-Anne, who competed in the Ms Olympia back in 1993 and is virtually synonymous with female bodybuilding in the UK, hopes the event will get British women some exposure in the bodybuilding media in the US. “Brit girls hardly register in the bodybuilding mags,” she says. She is also on a mission to help change mainstream attitudes to female bodybuilders in the UK. “I want the general public - because most of the audience will be just that - to go away and say, “Y'know wot, them bodybuildin’ women ain’t ‘arf as bad as you think they're gonna be.’”

Gravesend Classic, Woodville Hall, Gravesend , Kent, August 28, 2005.

Contact Kimberley-Anne on 07950 732 093 or co-promoter Steve Avery on 07812 710 820 for more information.

Follow Joanna's prep for the Olympia on TLC. This is probably the same thing the BBC was supposed to show in Europe.

Check out shots from our shoots and from the show in this thread on our new message boards.

Check out Bill Dobbins' insightful commentary on this travesty!

Yes it's true, Tara told us at the Cal's that she's going to be doing a taping of the hit show soon with her brother. She's made the news public now too so we're able to release it as well. Find out more about it on her site.

Oh yeah! Check out these shots that Michelle Berger aka Buff Mother sent us. She looks fantastic and is the perfect example of how weight training is beneficial, especially for moms. Now if my friends had moms like Michelle, I think I'd always want to hang out at their place. See more of her at: www.buffmother.com