2012 Arnold Classic Europe

[UK_Fan]

Kevin and UD Fan,
Not sure if you guys know but I'm native German, dual citizenship (US) since 2006. That said, I competed in Europe (Germany, Spain, Lithuania (lol not the best place to compete haha) etc etc, from the mid 90's to 2000. NABBA was my federation and shows were well organized, including paid trips for the athletes (amateurs that is). Back then things were in order and female bb was well respected, including letting us go on first.
Fast forward straight to the present, the NPC and your question if it is too late or sth could be changed...I will be the bearer of bad news, yes it is too late and it will not change, just get worse for female bbs. With increased numbers in figure and the unfortunate inauguration of the skankini division (bikini for the slow ones lol) female bb will eventually disappear. And for the same reason and an average of 300-400!! competitors at local shows they will always do the ass and tits show first , then everything else, then the women bodybuilders. That leads to hours and hours of waiting backstage, just like it happened to me last year at the CA State show. We went on for prejudging at 4pm!! The eveing show started at 6pm so they demanded the athletes to be back at the venue at 5pm.  HUNDREDS of skankinis and figure, they just came flocking in. Another fact: There are already alarming low numbers of female bbs at national qualifiers and some show up in shitty condition bc they know they can get qualified without working too hard for it. They get their ass kicked at a national show but that is a different story. Result: The same pros will keep competing until they are literally worn out and followed by a lower quality set of athletes. I know from a trustworthy source that this year at the O they discussed if they should continue having womens bodybuilding at all.

Thanks for the "inside story" on the issues raised - its sad that my suspicions about the man-made decline from a few years ago have been confirmed - what puzzles me is why?  Its almost as if they were/are trying to kill off the sport.  Do the officials think that the women bodybuilders are "too big" or "too masculine"?  The "10 or 20% reduction rule" that was instituted some years ago was so idiotic (it meant that all competitors had to get smaller, never mind their existing size) - competitors should be a size in proportion to their stature (height/general build type), constant (and often last minute) other changes to judging criteria mean that it gets really difficult for competitors to know how to come in at a show; the issue of timing of events and a lack of help by the officials only makes things worse - I wonder sometimes why they even do it - why not leave it to people like fans and former competitors to organise it all - at least then people will be in charge who actually WANT the sport to achieve the best it can.

On a previous occasion (about a year or so ago I think) I tried to see if anyone here would discuss how we (as fans) could help breathe some life back into the sport, and was sad to say there wasn't much of a positive response - like major problems in our own societies, we cannot turn things around by just leaving things to the politicians (equivalent to the BB officials) and must get thinking (and organised) to help ourselves.  I'd like to think there's still a hope of keeping women's bodybuilding alive, but I'm much more pessimistic now than I was a year ago.

[luvbarbie]

And you have all the right in the world to be pessimistic. Yes, nobody has done anything about it nor will in the future. Randomly picked example: Betty Pariso was (not sure if she still is or who is if it's not her) the representative for womens bodybuilding. She started talking "not so nice" about that division, that was the same year when she downsized like crazy and there were rumors she was going to compete in figure . I don't think that ever happened but the downsizing part definitely, just check out recent pics (hard to find). That should give us an idea. Also, you mentioned there was no big response among fans, well there has never been any response amongst competitors either. The ones that still compete fear it will be reflected in their judging, the ones who don't compete couldn't care less. It's a lost cause, really.

Totally different story: Another thing that really bugs me is the attitude of most of the "newcomers". Once they win a local show or place decent at a national show they think they are the sht. Where has the decency gone?

[goldbricker]

Looking at the competition, she looks nowhere near "dialed in" as the others.  Too bad, such a great physique.

[strongirl]