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FEMALE
BODYBUILDING
A
Ms. Olympia for the ages - 2001 Ms. Olympia Report - Juliette
Bergmann - Brief Article - Interview
The buzz
about Juliette Bergmann's return to the competitive stage had been
circulating for months before the Ms. Olympia contest at Mandalay
Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on October 26. And why not?
Bergmann had retired from competition following a bone-jarring
15th-place finish at the 1989 IFBB Pro World Championship. Still,
she had long been recognized as one of the sport's most divinely
sculpted women -- many called her "Miss Symmetry." And there was
little argument that the 1986 Pro Work champion, who resides in
Middelharnis, Holland, possessed level of balanced, proportionate,
aesthetically developed muscle that could be considered timeless.
It was this physical timelessness that would become the centerpiece
of the 2001 Ms. 0 tussle.
Offered a special invitation to compete at the Ms. Olympia by
promoter Wayne DeMilia (after he watched her performance at a Dutch
circus), Bergmann undertook a challenge that would leave most
sporting pundits seriously questioning her sanity.
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She had quit competing in
1989; her last Ms. Olympia appearance was in 1988; and, although she
had been a European and World Amateur champion (1985) in addition to
her 1986 Pro World title, the Ms. Olympia contest had not been kind
to Bergmann over the course of her career. In fact, in four previous
trips to the Ms. 0, she had never placed higher than sixth (1986).
In the three other visits, she placed ninth (1987), 13th (1988) and
14th, in 1985, at her Ms. Olympia debut.
After retiring in 1989, Bergmann remained closer to bodybuilding
than most people realized. In fact, she became an international pro
judge in 1991 and actually judged all but two Ms. Olympia events
over the next decade.
"I have continued to hold a strong love for bodybuilding since I
last competed," says Bergmann.
"As a judge, I have kept close ties to the sport, and not a day goes
by where I don't to some form of weight training. I have worked out
religiously for the past 10 years, and when I do my circus
performances, they are just like guest posing."
It was the current trend in judging that helped Bergmann make her
final decision to come back.
"With judges taking a fresh look at the guidelines to selecting a
winning bodybuilder, I felt comfortable with the new philosophy."
But did her desire to return to competition make a run at the Ms.
Olympia crown plausible? On October 26, the answer became a
resounding "yes."
Physically, Bergmann was in phenomenal shape - especially
considering she was just a month away from her 43rd birthday. As
Bergmann seemed to be ageless, her physique had, indeed, remained
timeless.
As the evolution of the sport goes, Bergmann still retains high
marks for her marvelous structure and bodylines. Muscularly,
however, several competitors in the lightweight group topped
Bergmann both in size and hardness. But when it came to putting the
stamp of approval on the best overall package, it just kept coming
up Bergmann.
Clearly, Bergmann wasn't just chasing windmills. Her stage presence,
persona and smile brimming with confidence all helped solidify
Bergmann's chance to fill the Olympia void in her championship
resume.
In winning the lightweight class as well as the overall crown,
Bergmann earned an unprecedented victory -- male a female -- in
bodybuilding. No pro had ever taken so extended a leave of absence
as Bergmann and then returned to capture the Olympia crown.
To accomplish her feat, Bergmann had to first outflex defending
lightweight Ms. Olympia Andrulla Blanchette. Although the Brit,
making her sixth straight Ms. O appearance, seemed visibly larger
than Bergmann, she was off the level of condition that propelled her
to the top spot a year earlier.
Along with Blanchette, Canadian Dayana Cadeau, who took third, and
fourth-place finisher Brenda Raganot were the only other lightweight
competitors considered serious threats against the steamrollering
Bergmann. Each was in top condition and both were considerably
harder than the voluminous Bergmann.
For Cadeau, the third-place finish was bittersweet. On one hand, she
qualified for next year's Ms. Olympia and took home prize money
totaling $4,000. On the other hand, she had made considerable
improvement over her previous trip to the Ms. O, in 1998, when she
placed 14th, so the 2001 Ms. International lightweight champ had to
be disappointed considering the exceptional shape she was in. To her
credit, Cadeau was in each of the first two callouts of the
prejudging, and she joined Bergmann and Blanchette in the critical
first callout.
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