The Ms. International female bodybuilding contest was considered to be the second-most prestigious competition for female bodybuilders (second only to the Ms. Olympia competition), from its inception in 1986 through to its final staging in 2013. It was first held in 1986 by the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB). In 1987, the IFBB allowed the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to sanction the Ms. International as an amateur event. In 1988, the contest was again sanctioned by the IFBB. From 1989 the contest was part of the Arnold Sports Festival.
The top all-time winners are Iris Kyle with seven titles and followed by Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia with five titles. The only amateur to win the overall title was Kathy Segal.
In 2013 the IFBB announced it would drop Ms. International from the 2014 IFBB Pro Schedule.
History
1986 – 1988 The first Ms. International was held in 1986, and was sanctioned by the International Federation of BodyBuilders (I.F.B.B.). The contest was held in conjunction with the men's event, which was called the IFBB Pro World Championship. Ben Weider proclaimed that the top six finishers would qualify for IFBB pro status, and be invited to compete at the 1986 IFBB Pro World in Toronto. The 1986 and 1988 Ms. Internationals were designated as pro-am contests, and top amateurs were also invited to compete. In 1987, Ms. International was an amateur event sanctioned by the AAU. In 1988, Jim Lorimer and Arnold Schwarzenegger felt the women's competition should become a regular event along with the men's.
1989 – 1999 Since 1989, the men's Pro World Championship was renamed the Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic and the Ms. International become part of The Arnold Classic Weekend. That same year Tonya Knight had to forfeit both her placing and prize money from the 1988 and 1989 Ms. International when it was found out that she used someone else to take her drug test at the 1989 Ms. Olympia. The first narrow victory came in 1991 when Tonya Knight topped Anja Schreiner by a score of 30 to 32. There has been some controversy at the 1992 Ms. International. Anja Schreiner and Paula Bircumshaw both had the same body height, however, Paula had much more muscle and weight (162 lbs). The judges relegated her to eighth place and did not, as custom, called out the top ten competitors on stage before announcing the winners. Instead, they only announced the top six competitors on stage in order to prevent Paula back on stage. The audience rioted over this decision, and changed Paula's name. Paula did come back on stage only to give the judges the middle finger. Because of this, she was given a year's suspension. In 1996, Kim Chizevsky-Nicholls became the first to win both Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same year.
At the 1995 Ms. International, Laura Creavalle won her third Ms. International title. This was her second consecutive Ms. International title, which was a first for any female or male bodybuilder winner of the Ms. International or the Arnold Classic. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a commentator at the contest, commented that Laura Creavalle's ribs, deltoids, latissimus, trapezius and lower back are chiseled and well developed, along with her back, thighs, calves and biceps being developed. He noted she was . He also thought her posing was "right on the money", with some of her poses being directed to the audience and some of the poses being directed to the judges, and thought she had a great chance of winning. Commenting about her back, he thought she had great rear and side deltoid development and that her back muscles were the best of any of the contestants.Ms.International-1994
At the 1997 Ms. International, the reigning Ms. International Kim Chizevsky chose not to defend her title, instead opting to focusing on the 1997 Ms. Olympia, allowing Yolanda Hughes to win her first Ms. International title. Both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Anja Schreiner were commentators on the contest. Arnold, commenting about Yolanda, brought up her thigh and back development, the separation between her shoulders and arms and that she was very well proportioned. Anja stated the average bodyfat of a professional female bodybuilder was 5-10% for a contest. She added that Yolanda lost a little bit of size, coming in at , coming into the 1997 Ms. International, but gained a lot of symmetry and muscle quality from losing size. Anja also commented that Yolanda had deep separations in her thighs, a small waist and an all over package.Ms International, Arnold Classic 1997
At the 1998 Ms. International, Lesa Lewis, Gayle Moher and Denise Masino were disqualified after their diuretic tests found that they tested positive.
2000 – 2005 In 2000, the International Federation of BodyBuilding and Fitness (IFBB) introduced two major changes to the professional female bodybuilding division. The first change was the introduction of weight classes (lightweight and heavyweight) and the second change was the new judging guidelines for presentations were introduced. A letter to the competitors from Jim Manion (chairman of the Professional Judges Committee) stated that women would be judged on healthy appearance, face, makeup, and skin tone. The criteria given in Manion's letter included the statement "symmetry, presentation, separations, and muscularity BUT NOT TO THE EXTREME!"
At the 2000 Ms. International, Ondrea "Vickie" Gates won the heavyweight and overall Ms. International title, while Brenda Raganot won the lightweight Ms. International title. This was Vickie's 2nd overall and consecutive Ms. International title. Of the three IFBB professional contests held in 2000, only the Ms. International had an overall title. Due to the growth in attendance at the Arnold Sports Festival, the EXPO opened at the Greater Columbus Convention Center instead of the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.2000 Arnold Classic Report
According to Gene Hwang's 2000 Arnold Classic Report, he commented that there wasn't the usual gasping from the audience as the heavyweight class took stage, as they weren't as large and ripped in the past contests, due to Jim Manion's bodybuilding criteria letter. He noted that overall the competitors looked smaller and smoother. He also stated that the new weight class formant had inconsistency between the winners of the lightweight and heavyweight classes and stated that he couldn't easily identify why they won. He commented that the heavyweights had more mass and individual parts while the lightweights were smaller, but had a arguably more balanced physique. He finished by stating that the loudest boos from the audience came when Andrulla Blanchette was announced as 2nd in the lightweight class.
According to Bill Dobbins, it was later revealed that Iris Kyle and Tazzie Columb were both disqualified from the 2000 Ms. International due to failing their diuretic tests and he speculated that it was due to Jim Manion's bodybuilding criteria letter. He described the contest as more of a beauty contest than a bodybuilding contest. He commented that those smaller and smoother tended to be rewarded, while those showing up harder and more muscular were penalized. He finished by stating that Iris should have won the heavyweight class and Andrualla Blanchette should have won the lightweight class. He also complained about the lightening at the event.THE IFBB MS. INTERNATIONAL 2000THE MS. INTERNATIONAL AND FITNESS INTERNATIONAL THE LIGHTING SUCKED!!!
At the 2001 Ms. International, going into the 2001 Ms. International lightweight posedown, Brenda lead Dayana by a score of 22 to 25, but after the posedown, Dayana beaten Brenda by a score of 30 to 32, the 2nd two point victory in Ms. International history. Ondrea won the heavyweight and overall Ms. International title, while Dayana Cadeau dethroned the reigning Ms. International lightweight Brenda. This was Ondrea' 3rd overall and 2nd heavyweight Ms. International title and Dayana's 1st lightweight Ms. International title. This was Ondrea's 3rd consecutive overall Ms. International title win, along with her 2nd consecutive heavyweight Ms. International title win, beating Laura Creavalle's and Yolanda Hughes-Heying's two consecutive overall Ms. International title wins and Kenneth Wheeler's two consecutive overall Arnold Classic title wins.
In Bill Dobbin's 2001 Ms. International - Contest Report, he commented that Ondrea attempted to conform as much as possible to the IFBB judging "guidelines" and this has severely compromised the quality of her physique since the 1999 Ms. Olympia. He added that compared to Iris, Ondrea had an excellent upper body, especially her arms, but had no legs compared to Iris. He described the decision by the judges to award Ondrea the title over Iris as simply wrong and possibly politically motivated. Talking about the lightweights, he noted that historically Dayana normally competed as a heavyweight. He stated the reason Dayana beat Brenda was due to Dayana being more muscular than her. In Gene Hwang's 2001 Arnold Classic weekend report, he commented that the more muscular and ripped competitors were not rewarded by the judges during the first callouts of the symmetry round. He also stated the Dayana made noticeable improvements over her previous showings and called her back "tremendous". 2001 Ms. International and Fitness International2001 MS. INTERNATIONAL - CONTEST REPORT
In December 2001, Andrulla Blanchette was contacted by Wayne DeMilia about her plans to compete at the 2002 Ms. International. Jim Lorimer, co-promoter of the Ms. International, had invited her. On February 12, 2002, she arrived in New York. On February 20, 2002, she called Wayne that morning, prior to departing for Columbus, Ohio, to remind him to bring her 2000 Ms. Olympia gold medal to the 2002 Ms. International. The original gold medal was being replaced because it engraved the wrong name on it. He was unavailable, so she left a voicemail for him. He returned the call sometime later and told her the promoter had removed her name from the competitor list that morning. He said he had not been informed of her travel plans and was not aware that she would be competing at the contest. On his advice, Andrulla Blanchette called Jim who was quite concerned since they had used her photograph for the 2002 Ms. International's promotion. She told him that she can be reached via email or phone should there have been any need to contact her. He told her call Wayne. She waited for a reply and heard nothing. She flew to Columbus, Ohio.Ms.I.O.Union?
On February 21, 2002, that evening, Andrulla Blanchette meet Wayne DeMilia and Jim Lorimer outside the contestant meeting. She was told she would not be allowed to complete at the 2002 Ms. International because she was required to use the IFBB assigned travel agent as a way to be reimbursed. Due to the misunderstanding, she was willing to cover her own expenses. Wayne then mentioned the contract he had not received and told her she would have to pay a fine of $5,000. Later that evening, officials said they would speak to him on her behalf. She waited for a reply, heard nothing and went to bed. On February 22, 2002, that morning, she meet him in the hotel lobby and informed her that paying the fine was no longer an option because she could not come up with the money in the time to compete. She assured him that she could, but he pointed to the fact that she had not been weighed in the night before. He told her that should could not compete. She watched the contest from the audience with the rest of the fans who came to see her compete.