Monday, March 5, 2012

2012 Ms. International Review: Injury Creates Opportunity for Yaxeni

One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival was regarding who would be crowned the new Ms. International champion after hearing about Iris Kyle unable to compete due to a leg injury. There was no true clear-cut winner from what information I gathered over the weekend, but it seemed like the judges could have set a different tone, depending on the winner. Yaxeni Oriquen's size and conditioning (she nabbed a perfect score) was enough to capture the Ms. International title, making her the first woman not named Iris Kyle to win the title since 2008. Debi Laszewski put up a good fight, unaniously placing behind Yaxeni for 2nd place. Alina Popa was a big favorite amongst the boards, and one many people would have liked to see win. She placed 3rd. Only three points separated Alina and Cathy LeFrancois (who ended up placing 4th, yet actually tied with Alina in the Finals round). Kim Buck (5th) and Brigita Brezovac (6th) rounded out the top 6. With the new Olympia qualification rules in play, only Yaxeni, Debi, and Alina received 2012 Olympia qualificaions.

Full results:

1. Yaxeni Oriquen
2. Debi Laszewski
3. Alina Popa
4. Cathy LeFrancois
5. Kim Buck
6. Brigita Brezovac
7. Alevtina Goroshinskaya
8. Maria Rita Bello
9. Kim Perez
10. Monique Jones
11. Zoa Linsey
12. Maria Segura
13. Tina Chandler
14. Geraldine Morgan

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