Articles The Wennerstrom Report 2013 Wings of Strength Jones And Pinder Earn FlightsTo Olympia On The Wings Of Strength
2013 Wings of Strength
Jones And Pinder Earn FlightsTo Olympia On The Wings Of Strength
by Steve Wennerstrom, IFBB Women's Historian
Chicago, Illinois, July 6: Promoter Tim Gardner stag
ed his second annual Wings of Strength, this time at the Tinley Park Convention Center and the women's bodybuilding and women's physique divisions were once again very competitive with 15 bodybuilding contestants competing for a qualifying spot in the Ms. Olympia, while 23 competitors flexed for a qualifying position in the inaugural Ms. Olympia Physique Showdown. There were also Olympia qualifying points up for grabs for additional competitors vying for the remaining positions in the Olympia fields, not to mention the $9,500 in prize money for the Bodybuilding division, $3,500 for Physique, and $1,000 for the 'Best Poser' in each of the divisions.
JONES AND BLAINO MAKE FOR A LIVELY FLEX TO THE FINISH IN BODYBUILDING
Last year at this event, Monique Jones, for all intents and purposes, exacted a unanimous toll on the field as she took the Wings title in comfortable fashion. This year was different. It was very close in the race for the top spot. Oh so close. And hometown favorite Juanita Blaino made it so.
A bodybuilding contest in a given division can be close for a number of reasons. The closeness can develop when individuals who are very similar in overall physical makeup force judges to make a choice in what becomes a no-win situation with their final tally. It can also be a judging panel who is torn between any number of competitors who look to have a winning presence, or it can simply be two very different looks – both of which have winning qualities – where each is deserving of the top spot.
And so it was with the
women's bodybuilding division as 15 competitors flexed for a chance to make that cherished qualifying spot at the Ms. O. The chances of winning were one in 15, and most gamblers wouldn't prefer those odds. But with the first call-out of the prejudging, the odds of winning became notably better for Monique Jones, Juanita Blaino and Tina Chandler distancing themselves from the rest of the field. There was little disagreement when considering the muscular dynamics of this trio, even though the three women were decidedly different in their overall structures.
Of the three, Tina Chandler had the edge on past contest experience – if not in sheer presence – with nearly a decade of past competitions that included an NPC National weight class win in 2007 to turn pro and two previous entries in the Ms. O in 2009 and '10. She was also in the lineup at the 2011 Ms. International where she placed eighth. But Chandler was seriously challenged here by the likes of Monique Jones and Juanita Blaino. Each exhibited solid muscular qualities, and there were also the intangibles.......Jones was the defending champion, while Blaino – who was making her pro debut in front of her hometown crowd – got the lion's share of the audience support.
For the judges, the crux of the race, which became more and more a battle between Jones and Blaino, was to decide on the impressive structure and muscle shapes that Jones displayed on her 5-9 and nearly 180-pound frame, compared to Blaino, who at 5-7, and in the 170-pound range looked noticeably smaller, but was at a clearly higher level of conditioning with more muscle separation and definition to be seen in each compulsory pose. It was the classic judging dilemma. And the two were playing heavily on judges who no doubt had their own personal ideas as to what made up the idyllic physique. Who would score the victory? And ultimately, who would be the most representative bodybuilder to appear on the Ms. O stage in September? It was a tough call indeed. In the fairest of worlds, both women should have been given a hall pass.
With Blaino as the rookie of the event and fresh from winning the NPC Nationals last November, Jones had the edge on past experience with an overall win at the 2010 IFBB North American, fo
llowed by two entries at the Ms. O in 2011 and '12 where she placed 9th and 7th respectively. Jones also carried a wild card. She still has the look of a real live prodigy, a sleeping giant with her breathtakingly broad shoulders, enviable quad sweeps, and a waspy waistline that looks even smaller when crunched between those shoulders and quads. It's just one of those physiques that keeps a fan (or judge) going back for a second, third or fourth look.
For the 43-year-old Blaino, her highly detailed musculature was also grabbing attention. She had brought to this event a better overall look than when she nabbed the National title seven months earlier. But Blaino also possessed a highly cultivated look that wasn't altogether surprising when realizing she had competed at the national-level in 1994 when she placed 10th in the HW class at the NPC USA. Sixteen years later she re-emerged with muscle aplenty. Talk about 'muscle memory'!
And so, how close was it? The final tally showed Jones with 15 points, and Blaino with 16. Breaking it down, Jones took the first round by two points, while Blaino took the measure of Jones in the second round by one point......leaving Jones as the one-point winner, qualifying for her third Ms. Olympia, and collecting $4,000 in prize money.
With Blaino claimin
g the runner-up spot and a check for $2,500, she also enjoyed some additional icing on her competitive cake as she won the 'Best Poser' award and an accompanying $1,000 to go with it. Tina Chandler collected $1,500 for third.
Also making her pro debut was England's latest bodybuilding star – Rene Campbell. Relatively new by bodybuilding standards Campbell is a former British champion from 2011, and after adding a HW bronze medal at the 2012 IFBB European Championships, she became England's first-ever HW and overall IFBB World Amateur champion. Pretty heady stuff considering she only began competing in 2008. As one of the first five brought out in the first call-out of the prejudging, she was locked in for a top-five placing – indeed an eventual fourth place spot and $1,000 in prize money. In all, a very good starting point for her future pro efforts.
Canada's Nancy Clark also made her pro debut a memorable one here finishing just two points behind Campbell. A British Columbia Provincial winner in 2011, Clark earned her pro status by winning the HW and overall Grand Masters title at the Canadian National Championships last year. For her efforts she accepted fifth-place prize money totaling $500.
The re
sults:
1- Monique Jones, USA 15
2- Juanita Blaino, USA 16
3- Tina Chandler, USA 30
4- Rene Campbell, England 45
5- Nancy Clark, Canada 47
6- Sherry Smith, USA 62
7- Christine Envall, Australia 68
8- Natalia Batova, Russia 81
9- Sherry Gray, USA 92
10- Michelle Brent, USA 98
11- Emery Miller, USA 57 Round 1 scores only
12- Beth Wachter, USA 64
13- Beth Gannon, USA 65
14- Aurelia Grozajova, Slovakia 72
15- Sharon Mould, Canada 75
PINDER POUNDS OUT WOMEN'S P
HYSIQUE DIVISION WIN IN CHI-TOWN
A day after the Wings contest had ended, a close follower of the women's physique division scene made an interesting – even thought provoking – comment about the final results after viewing the official score sheet. “No doubt about it,” he said matter-of-factly. “This was a contest anomaly.” And it was, in more than one way. With 23 contestants it was the third largest Pro Physique division contest of the year, and from the first call-out, the judging panel's philosophy at this event was that a tight, defined, and muscular build would be recognized as the ideal. Another anomaly – and a most unusual one at that – was the fact that the first seven finishers were unanimous decisions for their placing.
But the talk of the event was the conditioning level of the top placers, especially the top six, and the leader of the pack was Jamie Pinder. You can be excused if the name doesn't ring an immediate bell, but by the end of this contest, the name had been repeated frequently – to say the least. She was, in a two-word phrase, “dialed in”. More so than any other Pro Physique division winner this year. At 5-5, 130 pounds, Pinder was striking. She was muscularly complete with very little in the way of structural flaws or muscle shapes. Perfect shaped biceps, broad shoulders, a tapered waistline, calves, the works. And it was all visible in every pose she struck. Most intriguing was how rapidly she made her way to this contest. Beginning as a Bikini contestant, Pinder placed 7th at Bev Francis' NPC Atlantic States in 2011. Then in 2012 she re-appeared as a Physique competitor at the NPC New England winning the event with little trouble. Pinder followed up her New England victory with a runner-up finish in her class at the NPC Nationals qualifying her for pro status.
So, to put it mildly,
the 29-year-old made a strong first impression in her pro debut and earned herself a trip to the Ms. Olympia Physique Showdown in just her fourth contest! Pinder also becomes a member of an elite group of competitors who entered the pro ranks and won in their first contest. A rare feat. For her efforts she pocketed $2,000 in prize money. How she will do at the upcoming Ms. O is anyone's guess, but yet another intriguing fact is that when she finished second at the Nationals, the competitor who beat her and won the class (and overall) was none other than Toni West. They will meet again in September.
As the antithesis to the speed with which Pinder rocketed to the pro level, runner-up Valerie Gangi was the veteran of the field with a contest resume that dates back to 1991 when she won the novice class of the NPC San Jose. Her amateur career lasted until 1995 and after winning the NPC California in 1994 she came back in fine style winning the MW and overall titles at the 1995 NPC USA to earn her pro status at a time when only the overall winner of the USA was granted a pro card. As a bodybuilding pro Gangi's debut was a good one finishing fifth at the 1996 Ms. International. But after a runner-up placing at the 1997 Jan Tana Classic to qualify for the Ms. Olympia, she endured her first dose of pro reality by finishing 15th in her first and only entry at the Ms. O. Twelve years passed, and everyone assumed they had seen the last of Valerie Gangi when she didn't enter another pro event during that dozen years. But in 2009 Gangi did re-surface at the Sacramento Pro Figure contest and failed to place. On two more occasions that year, the results were again, dismal. Even after those 12 years away from the sport and serious training she still carried the look of a bodybuilder. Entering two more Figure events in 2010 and 2011 the results weren't much better with a pair of California Pro Figure events that produced a 12th and 16th. But when the 2012 season offered a new Pro Physique d
ivision, the 5-6 Gangi jumped in with renewed enthusiasm. At the 2012 California Governor's Cup she landed sixth and her curiosity kept her motivated. This year she entered the Mile High event in Denver to begin the season and her seventh-place finish, again, kept her curious enough to make the trip to Chicago for the Wings event. Clearly, she was making headway to put finishing touches on her chassis to bring it closer to what she felt would be a more favorable look for her as the field's continued to become more detailed overall. Her trip to Chicago ended up with a magical finish. She had landed second to Jamie Pinder and the effort put her on the Olympia qualification points system chart along with a cool $1,000 in prize money. Now at 46, and remembering back 22 years to that first novice event, the former NPC USA bodybuilding champion was back in the mix. Will she enter another Physique division event this year? Surely it's entered her mind to chase down more qualifying points (or even a victory)to reach the Ms. Olympia again. After all, it's been 16 years since her last one.
Although Nicole Ball doesn't boast the years of contest experience that Valerie Gangi has, she can easily be viewed as an experienced veteran competitor. Having competed for over a decade and with an overall Canadian Championship title to her credit in 2006, Ball was an eye-catching bodybuilding pro who won the LW class at the 2007 Atlantic City Pro to kick off her pro efforts. Equally impressive was the fact that she has competed in four previous Ms. Olympias placing as high as eighth in two of them. She knows the ropes and her exotic beauty and trademark delts and arms have long since built a sizeable fan following. With her decision to move to the Physique division due to her diminutive 5-4 frame and weighing considerably less than the majority of the pro bodybuilding division competitors, Ball took her f
irst shot as a Physique competitor last year at the Toronto Supershow and finished fifth. The placing kept her motivated, and she has done her homework over the past year in better fitting into the Physique criteria. Her third-place finish at this event bears out that fact. Like Gangi, her points gained here (3) will need to be strengthened by a trip to Dallas or Tampa (along with favorable placings) to assure her a slot at the Ms. O. Ball's prize money for third totaled $500.
Just as female bodybuilders have continued to do their best to re-tool their physiques to better fit the criteria of the new Physique division, Canadian Mindi O'Brien has had to do very little in making a seamless switch from Fitness to Physique. She did after all, need the higher level of muscle mass (compared to a figure contestant) to perform her popular routines, and over time her physique has taken on a streamlined look with well-shaped muscle throughout. Having competed at no less than seven Ms. Olympias and six Ms. Internationals, O'Brien has been a stalwart pro fitness competitor since 2004 when she became Canada's first pro fitness contest winner at the Southwest Pro Cup in Dallas that year. Her fourth-place finish at this event and the accompanying Ms. O qualifying points that go with it currently puts her in the lead for those still aspiring to make the crucial cut before September.
Alabama's Andrea Holliday claimed the fifth-place position as she matched the lean, tight look judges preferred at this event. A former Figure competitor with limited experience, Holliday was a NPC Alabama Figure winner in 2008 and also won the NPC Atlantic USA in her class in 2012 before reaching the pro level. If there was a competitor in this field who was well under the radar, Holliday easily qualifies.
The major surprise at this year's event involved defending Wings Physique winner Nola Trimble. She found herself plummeting to unlucky 13th overall – a result few would have foreseen Last year's runner-up to Trimble – Mikaila Soto – also ran into a streak of bad fortune with health issues that kept her out of this year's event.
The Sweet 16:
1- Jamie Pinder, Connecticut 5
2- Valerie Gangi, California 10
3- Nicole Ball, Canada 15
4- Mindi O'Brien, Canada 20
5- Andrea Holliday, Alabama 25
6- Lisette Acevedo, New York 30
7- Kim Tilden, Canada 35
8- Bailey Shuck-Minihan, Oklahoma 43
9- Loana Muttoni, Brazil 43
10- Danielle Deck, Illinois 56
11- Leonie Rose, Florida 57
12- Leila Thompson, North Carolina 58
13- Nola Trimble, Illinois 59
14- LaDrissa Bonivel, Illinois 69
15- Lohani Noor, England 70
16- Marina Lopez, Colorado 72
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