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Betty Viana

By Hans
hans@powerdivas.com

There aren't exactly a lot of female bodybuilders in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela. So when heavyweight pro Betty Viana walks down the street in her hometown, she is used to the fact that people stare at her pretty much non-stop. "They look at me like I'm an alien!" she laughs, speaking through an interpreter in the Orchid Lounge at the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.

Actually, people would probably stare at Betty wherever she went. At 5-foot-4 and 162 pounds in contest shape (and around 176 in the off-season), the 31 year-old is huge, even by the incredible standards of today's top female pros. But what is so amazing about Betty is not just her sheer size, but her breathtaking, almost cartoon-like proportions – full, voluminous muscle bellies disappearing into tiny joints, with massive delts, traps and arms, an enormous back and huge, flaring quads. "Completely awe-inspiring" was how one national-level amateur heavyweight (who is pretty well-built herself) described Betty's proportions after meeting her for the first time.

It is the evening before the Ms. Olympia, just a few hours before the weigh-in is due to take place. For someone about to make her Ms. Olympia debut, Betty is surprisingly relaxed, sipping a bottle of water and chewing gum. She is wearing typical night-before-the-show attire - a baggy gray No Limits sweat top and green sweat pants – but even covered up she is an imposing figure. A pair of Nike shades sit on top of her head, and her long, blond highlighted hair extensions are pulled back. She has a perfect golden-brown tan and gold jewelry sparkles everywhere.

Betty exploded onto the pro bodybuilding scene at Betty Pariso's Southwest Pro Cup in Dallas in May, where she came out of nowhere to win the heavyweight and overall with a perfect score, and in the process qualified for the Ms. Olympia. Before that show, few people in the sport had ever heard of her. After it, she was suddenly being talked about as a serious contender for the most prestigious title in women's bodybuilding.

In fact, however, Betty was not quite the overnight success she seemed to those who saw her phenomenal physique for the first time in Dallas. She actually qualified as a pro five years ago when she won the Central American Championship in 1997. She had wanted to compete in a pro show earlier but had been unable to get a visa to come to the USA. "I had a lot of obstacles," she says. According to Betty, Venezuela is a hotbed of up-and-coming female bodybuilders, but a lot of them face the same problem as she did. "There are a lot of good female bodybuilders in Venezuela, but most of them don't get a chance to compete in America," she says.

Unsurprisingly, given the five-year struggle she has gone through to compete in the US, Betty says she is thrilled to even be in Las Vegas. "I feel great!" she says, a big smile appearing on her face. "I've been working so hard for this. I feel so fortunate to be here." As well as being on the Olympia stage for the first time, she was also going to be standing alongside Lenda Murray – one her original inspirations. "Twelve years ago, when I started bodybuilding, I really admired Lenda Murray. She won the Ms. Olympia six times. I never thought I would be competing against her. It's amazing!"

When Betty started bodybuilding twelve years ago, she was a student, majoring in business administration, in Caracas. She had been a gymnast as a girl, and after leaving school became a professional contemporary dancer and started going to the gym with friend. As a gymnast, she already had what she calls "the spirit of competing." But it was, of all people, her professor who finally persuaded her to give bodybuilding competition a go. "I won my first show - and every one since," she laughs. Betty had soon won everything there was to win in Venezuela, including four Venezuelan championships. Her former professor couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her again. "He couldn't believe I went from being so skinny" – she holds up her little finger to illustrate the point – "to so big. He's so proud of me."

Frustrating as it must have been, Betty's forced layoff from competition after turning pro did give her a chance to work on her physique – particularly to bring her upper body up to the standard of her incredible legs. So, when her visa came through in the spring of 2002, she knew she was ready. When she weighed in at the Southwest Pro Cup, she was a full ten pounds heavier than at her last show and in awesome shape. "I wasn't certain, but I had a feeling I was going to win," she says. The day of the pre-judging the nerves hit her, but the next morning, with the finals still to come, she knew the show was hers. "I woke up and knew I had won," she says.

At the Ms. Olympia, of course, Betty was up against even tougher competition. Although Betty was the biggest woman onstage ("Look at the size of her!" I heard British pro Joanna Thomas gasp as she watched Betty in the line-up in the pre-judging), she could not match the awesome level of muscle hardness and density displayed by experienced pros like Lenda and Iris Kyle, and placed seventh. "I need more muscularity, more hardness," Betty admits. That is something she is working on with her husband Armando Gonzalez, who is also her training partner. And after the struggle she went through to get to the Olympia, you can expect to see Betty onstage again soon.

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female muscle, shawna walker, larissa reis, michelle jin, wrestling, tracey toth, kira neuman, female bodybuilding, cindy phillips, britt miller, casey daugherty, lyris capelle, jill brooks, olga guryev, olga guryeva, kristy hawkins, cheryl faust, lindsey cope, lindsay cope, veronica miller