I'm not gonna front...I just about forgot about this competitor, and if it wasn't for my man AirHarp (go to Siouxcountry and find his posts. He's awesome), I would have completely forgot about her. Thanks man!
Saryn Muldrow is one of the top fitness competitors of all time. She was born in LA in 1964 and has been living in Denmark since age 11. She competed in the bodybuilding and fitness industry for an unbelievable 19 years. During that time, she would go on to win the the Danish, European, and World championships and the Miss universe titles. However, her claim to fame was when she won the Miss Fitness Olympia title in 1996. She called it a career in 1999 after breaking her arm and never regaining the strength needed to compete to the best of her ability. She is now a highly-skilled painter, which was something she started to take seriously in 2002. Her paintings are truly amazing, much like her career. I bet you she will wind up on the IFBB Hall of Fame in a very short amount of time.
For more on the legendary Saryn, click here to view her official website translated in English. For those that want to see her website in her native language, click here.
Carla Dunlap has been regarded as the woman that broke the gender barrier when it came to women competitng in what was seemingly just a men's sport. She started to compete in the late 1970s and went on to compete in the 1980s and 1990s, winning a Ms. Olympia title in the process, and becoming the only woman to compete in the 1970s, 80s, AND 90s. After her final competiton in 1993, she went on to be a part of ESPN's Bodyshaping, was a part of the movie "Pumping Iron II-The Women", among other things. She now operates her own gym (FLEXFIT in Massachusetts), and is also Carla is a certified Nutrition Counselor as well as a certified Pilates Instructor.
For more on Carla, go to her website at http://www.carladunlap.com/.
Lenda Murray is among the greatest female bodybuilders to ever live. I'm not saying this because she's black. I'm saying this for the simple fact that she has one EIGHT Ms. Olympia titles. No one (male or female) has won that many Ms. Olympia titles. It seemed like she was born to make history. During her high school and college years, she became a record-holding sprinter and varsity cheerleader. While attending Western Michigan, in 1982, Lenda became the second black homecoming queen in the university's history. She then went on to compete in bodybuilding in 1985, and as the old saying goes, the rest is history.
I couldn't find an official website for Lenda, but I did find a Wikipedia page on her, which is actually legit, believe it or not. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenda_Murray for more information on her.
Laura Creavelle is considered to be the best female bodybuilder to NEVER win the Olympia. Her credentials are the stuff of legend. She became a pro in 1988, when she won the 1988 IFBB World Amateur Championships in Puerto Rico. A mere six weeks later (that is not a typo, folks), she placed 11th in her pro debut at the Ms. Olympia competition. She would go on to compete in 12 more Olympias before retiring in 2002. To my knowledge, no other female has competed in that many Olympias in a row, which says a lot about Laura. She was also a three-time Ms. International, winning the prestique title in 1990, and again in back-to-back successions (1994-95). She is now enjoying retirement from competition, but still trains three times a week, looking like she is "two years" from competing, according to the IFBB website. For more on Laura, go to her website at http://www.lauracreavalle.com/.
In a matter of hours, we will be entering the month of February, which means it's time for Black History Month, and with the beginning of the presidential reign of our first black president, Barack Obama, Black History Month will have more meaning to it than ever before.
In honor of this special month, I'll be highlighting a black female physique competitor every day in February on this blog. They could be a pro or amateur, living or deceased, competing now or retired, among other things. If you have any suggestions to who you would like to see highlighted, leave a comment below or email me at admin@fitgemsnation.net.
Well, I’ve told you about my physique division proposal. Now let’s just say I was in the Arnold Classic committee, and I was in charge of picking 25 pro competitors for the inaugural physique competition. Who would I pick? Based on my blog post about my physique division thoughts, here are the 25 pros I would choose for the Arnold Classic Physique competition. Feel free to add others below on the comments.
Each of the pictures uses for this blog belong to their respective sites. Click pics to enlarge.
Valerie Waugaman
Adela Garcia
Kim Klein
Juliana Malacarne
Beni Lopez
Heidi Fletcher
Karen Zaremba
Debbie Leung
Christine Pomponio-Pate
Stacy Simons
Mindi O’Brien
Shannon Meteraud
Macey Boudreau
Monica Brant-Peckham
Tracey Greenwood
Tara Scotti
Vicki Nixon
Dayana Caedeu
Amy Peters
Rosa-Marie Romero
Julie Shipley-Childs
Julie Palmer
Denise Masino
Claire Parmley
Well...there ya go. My "dream list" of competitors for the first pro physique competition. Trust me, this was not easy for me to nail the list down to 25. The amateur list won't be a cakewalk either, but I'll give it my best. Agree or disagree with the list? Leave a comment below, then. For those that were waiting for the pro list (all two of you, LOL), thanks for being patient.
Personal note: If anything was to actually come out of this, I would literally freak out.
