Kathy Illingworth (1959-2013)

[OdoHerr]

Quoted from Steve Wennerstrom:

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A sad note. Kathy Illingworth an outstanding Australian lightweight in the 80's passed away on July 7th [2013]. She was 54. Born on May 29, 1959, she was one of Australia's most successful bodybuilders winning many titles in both the IFBB and NABBA. After she left bodybuilding she became an avid cyclist and entered races.

Her competitive career is an unusual one, but well worth mentioning in detail. She was just barely 5-0 tall and normally weighed around 110 pounds in contest shape throughout her career. From Burleigh Heads, Queensland, Australia, she competed at a furious pace from 1980 to 1987. She then left the competitive stage completely before returning 12 years later (a la Juliette Bergman's return in 2001) in 1999. The catch was Illingworth only competed once in 1999 finishing fifth at the IFBB World Amateur Championships and then, unfortunately, disappeared permanently. During her early years she competed in both NABBA and IFBB events with equal success in both.
Outside bodybuilding, Illingworth had a strong interest in theatre dance and arts, and was an avid cyclist. She was always bouncy and vivacious with seemingly endless stores of energy. Today she would be 51, but has not been heard from in years. If she's in the outback somewhere I'd love to hear from her.
Her sister, Deborah Compton was also a world class amateur bodybuilder who competed in both NABBA and IFBB contests over the years. In fact, Compton, who also represented Australia, finished fourth at the 1999 IFBB World Amateur Championships as a HW (5-3, 135), behind second place silver medalist Lisa Aukland. During her career, Compton won both the 1993 NABBA World and 1993 NABBA Universe titles in the Physique division.
The following is Kathy Illingworth's complete contest history as she prepared it for me in 1999:

1980 - NABBA Ms. New South Wales 1st
1980 - NABBA Ms. Oceana 1st
1980 - NABBA Ms. Pacific International 1st
1980 - NABBA Ms. Australasia 1st
1980 - NABBA Ms. Australia 1st
1981 - NABBA Ms. Australia 1st
1982 - NABBA Ms. Southern Hemisphere 1st
1982 - NABBA Ms. Australia 1st
1983 - NABBA Ms. Australia 1st
1984 - NABBA Ms. Australia 1st
1984 - IFBB Australian Championships 1st
1985 - IFBB Australian Championships(LW) 1st
1985 - IFBB World Amateur Championships(LW) 4th (Belgium)
1986 - IFBB Ms. South Africa International 1st
1986 - IFBB Australian Championships(LW) 1st
1986 - IFBB Asian Championships(LW) 5th
1986 - IFBB World Amateur Championships(LW) 2nd (Singapore)
1987 - IFBB Australian Championships(LW) 1st
1999 - IFBB World Amateur Championships(LW) 5th (Australia)

Needless to say she compiled a successful and colorful competitive career, and easily qualifies as one of the best pure amateur lightweights ever.

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Kathy Illingworth