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FEMALE
BODYBUILDING
2002
Ms. Olympia report: seventh heaven! - Contest
What could
the 2002 Ms. Olympia contest offer to equal or surpass the 2001
event, which featured Juliette Bergmann's return to the stage and
her scintillating victory after a dozen years of retirement?
The answer: Lenda Murray's return.
Held October 17-18, again at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, the Ms.
Olympia featured six-time Ms. O winner Murray and a strong
supporting cast of 14 women, including three other Ms. Olympia
titleholders. In addition to Bergmann, Valentina Chepiga -- 2000 Ms.
Olympia heavyweight winner -- was entered (as a lightweight) and
2001 Ms. Olympia heavyweight champion Iris Kyle was ready to go
head-to-head with Murray, as well. It was the first time four Ms. O
winners had competed in the same contest.
At this event, though, the story would bend around the reentry of
Lenda Murray.
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Murray's name is familiar to
bodybuilding followers, but not everyone had realized that she won
her last Ms. Olympia crown in 1995. In her two final trips (1996 and
'97), Murray finished second to Kim Chizevsky. With so many years
intervening, Murray's competitive status was a question mark. Upon
her arrival in Las Vegas, that question was answered by way of her
chiseled facial features.
Said Murray's husband, Urel McGill, of her return, "When we first
discussed coming back, I told Lenda to get out her old pictures from
1990 when she won her first Ms. Olympia. We both agreed that she
would need to look that good, if not better, to be a serious threat
to win again."
Ironically, the guidance to her condition at this contest came by
way of Chad Nicholls (Kim Chizevsky's husband), the same individual
who had engineered his own wife's victories over Murray in 1996 and
'97. On Murray's behalf this time, that engineering was solid and it
would put pressure on every other competitor in her class. THE
MURRAY VS. KYLE TRIAL It was no secret months before the contest
that Murray's chief obstacle among the heavyweights was ever-ready
Iris Kyle. And was she ever ready for this contest!
As the defending heavyweight champion, Kyle pushed Murray at every
turn, every quarter-turn, every pose. This Iris Kyle was far from
being lulled into a sense of awe by Murray's past accomplishments.
There was no mistaking that Kyle smelled blood. Her physique drew
raves from the audience, which included a strong following for her.
As it turned out, the two were extremely close in the final tallies.
Murray had sensed the closeness of the competition. When asked
whether there was a point when she thought the contest was hers,
Murray stated matter-of-factly, "Never. Not once. I knew Iris was in
great shape, and I felt I was the best I could be. You never really
get a good look at everyone else. I knew it would be tough coming
in. I did my job. The rest was up to the judges."
Kyle's eventual undoing wasn't anything lacking in her own physique;
rather, it was Murray's intangible qualities. Murray was a six-time
winner of the contest. She was in the best shape of her career --
after a contest layoff of five years. Her stage presence and the
ability to engage the audience with her own stylistic posing pulled
the judges to her side. Kyle was destined for the runner-up spot.
Fans may long remember the repeated classic back double-biceps
comparisons between Murray and Kyle, but those were merely
exclamation points on what was the finest women's bodybuilding
competition ever held. |
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