Ms. International

Ms. International is a contest of professional female bodybuilding, organized by the International Federation of BodyBuilders (I.F.B.B.). "The Ms. International" is generally considered to be the second-most prestigious competition for female bodybuilders (behind only the Ms. Olympia competition). It was first held in 1986 by the I.F.B.B. In 1987 the I.F.B.B. allowed the A.A.U. to sanction the Ms. International as an amateur event. In 1988 the contest was again sanctioned by the I.F.B.B. Since 1989, the contest was part of the Arnold Sports Festival. The top all-time winners are Iris Kyle with seven titles and followed by Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia with five titles.

In 2013, it was announced that IFBB would drop the Ms. International from 2014 IFBB Pro Schedule.^[1]

History

1986–1988

The first Ms. International was held in 1986, and was sanctioned by the International Federation of BodyBuilders (I.F.B.B.). The contest was held in conjunction with the men’s event, which was called the IFBB Pro World Championship. Ben Weider proclaimed that the top six finishers would qualify for IFBB pro status, and be invited to compete at the 1986 IFBB Pro World in Toronto. The 1986 and 1988 Ms. Internationals were designated as pro-am contests, and top amateurs were also invited to compete. In 1987, the Ms. International was an amateur event sanctioned by the A.A.U. In 1988, Jim Lorimer and Arnold Schwarzenegger felt the women’s competition should become a regular event along with the men’s.^[2]

1989–1999

Since 1989, the men’s Pro World Championship was renamed the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic and the Ms. International become part of The Arnold Classic Weekend. That same year Tonya Knight had to forfeit both her placing and prize money from the 1988 and 1989 Ms. International when it was found out that she used someone else to take her drug test at the 1989 Ms. Olympia. The first most narrowest victory came in 1991 when Tonya Knight topped Anja Schreiner by a score of 30 to 32.^[2] There has been some controversy at the 1992 Ms. International. Anja Schreiner and Paula Bircumshaw both had the same body height, however Paula had much more muscle and weight (162 lbs). The judges regulated her to eighth place and the judges did not, as custom, called out out the top ten competitors on stage before announcing the winners. However this time, they only announced the top six competitors on stage in order to prevent Paula back on stage. The audience rioted over this decision and changed Paula's name. Paula did come back on stage only to give the judges the middle finger. Because of this she was given a year's suspension. In 1996, Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls became the first to win both Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same year.

2000–2005

The 2000 contest saw the introduction of weight classes, with a posedown between the two class winners to decide the overall championship. In 2004, Iris Kyle won her first heavyweight and overall Ms. Intentional. In 2005, Iris skipped the Ms. International, and focused defending her Olympia title, allowing Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia to win.

2006–2013

The contest reverted to the single, open-class format in 2006. In 2006 and 2007, Iris won both Ms. Internationals. In 2007, the NPC Arnold Amateur was created as part of the Arnold Classic Weekend, which contained amateur women's bodybuilding. The Arnold Amateur Ms. International, unlike Arnold Classic Ms. International, contains weight classes. From 2007 to 2010 the Arnold Amateur Ms. International contained three weight classes, lightweight, middleweight, and heavyweight. The overall winner of the Amateur Ms. International win an IFBB pro card. In 2011, the middleweight was removed.

There was a bit of a controversy in the 2008 Ms. International. Iris was placed 7th due to "bumps" on her gluts which according to head IFBB judge, Sandy Ranalli, “distortions in her physique.”,^[3] The second most narrowest victory in Ms. International history came at the 2008 Ms. International, when Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia edged runner-up Dayana Cadeau, by the score of 30 to 32.^[2] Iris Kyle rebounded at the 2009 Ms. International, which she won. Iris went on to win both the 2010 and 2011 Ms. International. Due to a leg injury Iris could not compete in the 2012 Ms. International, which was won by Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia. In 2013, Iris Kyle won back her Ms. International title.

On June 7, 2013, event promoter of the Arnold Sports Festival, Jim Lorimer, announced that in 2014, the Arnold Classic 212 professional men’s bodybuilding division would replace the Ms. International women’s bodybuilding competition at the 2014 Arnold Sports Festival. Lorimer, in a statement, said “The Arnold Sports Festival was proud to support women’s bodybuilding through the Ms. International for the past quarter century, but in keeping with demands of our fans, the time has come to introduce the Arnold Classic 212 beginning in 2014. We are excited to create a professional competitive platform for some of the IFBB Pro League’s most popular competitors.”^[4]

Winners

Professional Bodybuilding (IFBB)

Year	Overall	Heavyweight	Lightweight	Venue
1986	Erika Geisen
1988	Cathey Palyo
1989	Jackie Paisley1			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1990	Laura Creavalle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1991	Tonya Knight			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1992	Anja Schreiner			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1993	Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1994	Laura Creavalle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1995	Laura Creavalle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1996	Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1997	Yolanda Hughes-Heying			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1998	Yolanda Hughes-Heying			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
1999	Ondrea Gates			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2000	Ondrea Gates	Ondrea Gates	Brenda Raganot	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2001	Ondrea Gates	Ondrea Gates	Dayana Cadeau	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2002	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Valentina Chepiga	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2003	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Catherine LeFrançois	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2004	Iris Kyle	Iris Kyle	Dayana Cadeau	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2005	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	Brenda Raganot	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2006	Iris Kyle	Heavyweight category not held.	Lightweight category not held.	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2007	Iris Kyle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2008	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2009	Iris Kyle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2010	Iris Kyle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2011	Iris Kyle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2012	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2013	Iris Kyle			Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

Notes:

• ¹ Tonya Knight had to forfeit both her placing and prize money when it was found out that she used someone else to take her drug test at the 1988 Ms. Olympia.

Ranking	Ms. International champion	Year(s)	Number of wins
			Overall	Heavyweight	Lightweight
1st	Iris Kyle	2004 (heavyweight & overall), 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013	7	1	0
2nd	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	2002 (heavyweight & overall), 2003 (heavyweight & overall), 2005 (heavyweight & overall), 2008, and 2012	5	3	0
3rd	Ondrea Gates	1999, 2000 (heavyweight & overall), and 2001 (heavyweight & overall)	3	2	0
4th	Laura Creavalle	1990, 1994, and 1995	3	0	0
5th	Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls	1993 and 1996	2	0	0
5th	Yolanda Hughes-Heying	1997 and 1998	2	0	0
6th	Erika Geisen	1986	1	0	0
6th	Cathey Palyo	1988	1	0	0
6th	Jackie Paisley	1989	1	0	0
6th	Tonya Knight	1991	1	0	0
6th	Anja Schreiner	1992	1	0	0
7th	Brenda Raganot	2000 (lightweight) and 2005 (lightweight)	0	0	2
7th	Dayana Cadeau	2001 (lightweight) and 2004 (lightweight)	0	0	2
8th	Valentina Chepiga	2002 (lightweight)	0	0	1
8th	Catherine LeFrançois	2003 (lightweight)	0	0	1

Ranking	Ms. International champion	Years	Number of consecutive wins
			Overall	Heavyweight	Lightweight
1st	Iris Kyle	2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011	5	0	0
2nd	Ondrea Gates	1999, 2000 (heavyweight & overall), and 2001 (heavyweight & overall)	3	2	0
3rd	Laura Creavalle	1990, 1994, and 1995	3	0	0
4th	Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia	2002 (heavyweight & overall), 2003 (heavyweight & overall)	2	3	0
5th	Yolanda Hughes-Heying	1997 and 1998	2	0	0

Amateur Bodybuilding (AAU)

Year	Overall	Tall	Medium	Short	Masters 35+ MiddleWeight	Masters 45+	Venue
1987	Kathy Segal	Kathy Segal		Melissa Croft			Trump Castle Casino and Hotel Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
1988	Cathy Butler	Jodi Osborne	Cathy Butler	Lisa Morrone	Josette Gish	Carol Verrono

Amateur Bodybuilding (NPC)

Year	Overall	Lightweight	Middleweight	Heavyweight	Venue
2007	Dianne Brown	Dianne Brown	Shar Courtney	Marcia Ferguson	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2008	Maria Segura	Joanne Stewart	Holly Nicholson	Maria Segura	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2009	Elena Shportun-Willemer	Johanna Dejager	Elena Shportun-Willemer	Maria Rita Bello	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2010	Maria Rito Bello	Lisa Aranda	Marina Lemenovskaya	Maria Rito Bello	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2011	Alevtina Goroshinskaya	Marina Lemenovskaya	Middleweight category not held.	Alevtina Goroshinskaya	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2012	Olga Puzanova	Lo Kit Ming		Olga Puzanova	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
2013	Branka Njegovec	Branka Njegovec		Kashma Siana Maharaj	Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio, U.S. Franklin County Veterans Memorial, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

See also

• Arnold Classic
• Arnold Sports Festival

References

External links

• Ms. International at the Arnold Classic
• Professional Competition Results
• Amateur Competition Results