2005
was a busy year with another new crop of pros and
amateurs gracing the stages and audiences of contests all
over the world. We now take a look back at the year and give
out our 3rd Annual GENEX MAGAZINE AWARDS. Congrats to everyone
who won as well as all the women who lift the iron!
|
Amateur |
Best Overall
(our way of granting a pro card)
|
Debi
Laszewski - from her blasting the competition at the always
competitive Southern States and then going on to the Nationals where she looked incredible, we are happy to award Debi with our
"Best of" award for 2005! |
| Best Lower Body (FBB)
|
Mimi
Jabalee not only earned her pro card after hitting
the gym and dieting hard for her home town Nationals, but also
showed off a beautiful quad sweep with impressive cross striations and cuts all over her
legs that we just couldn't ignore.
|
Best Lower Body (Fitness/Figure)
|
Canadians
often get a bit overlooked, but Canada's Patricia
Berrier and her impressive lower body definitely earned
our lower body award. |
Best
Upper Body
|
Kim
Perez turned pro in 2005 and could definitely be considered
for this same category as a pro, but since she started the year
in the amateurs we thought we'd award her with the title. Her delts and arms are just phenomenal. |
Best
Figure Competitor
|
Angela
Komis was knocking on the door to her pro card all year
but also flew a bit under the radar for many but she's our pick
for best amateur and we predict she'll be on that pro stage in
no time! |
| Best
Fitness Competitor 
|
Another
incredible (and young) Canadian, Myriam Capes possesses
incredible tumbling skills, and terrific physique and also the
kind of stage presence and persona that should bode well for
her to succeed on the pro level as well following Mindy O'Brien
in the chain of excellent northern fitness stars. |
Best
FBB Newcomer
 
|
Amy
Schmid (left) and Elena
Shportun. This one was tough so we had to go with two.
Schmid made a strong showing at the National level this
year and promises to keep plugging away, while Shportun owns one
of the most striking shapes and elegant posing skills out there
- keep your eyes out on both in 2006 and beyond! |
Most
Improved
 
|
Kristy
Hawkins (left)
and Jody
May - again we had to go with two here. There isn't
much that needs to be said about May who placed second to eventual
overal National champion Mimi Jabalee, and Kristy Hawkins quietly
packed on the muscle to place a very impressive fourth in the
LHW class (also at the 2005
NPC Nationals. If these twenty-sometings
continue to improve at similar clips, we wouldn't be suprised
for both to be in the pros. |
Pro |
| Best
Overall 
|
Yaxeni
Oriquen -
what can you say? She's the new Ms. O - congrats to Yaxeni! |
Best
Upper Body
|
Finnish
star Marja Lehtonen has always been known for
her incredibly peaked biceps and her whole physique is just packed
with thick, dense muscle! |
Best
Lower Body
|
Betty Viana -
At the 2005 Ms. Olympia you couldn't take your eyes off Viana's
incredible lower body. Her quad sweep is breathtaking and she
is going to push for the O title if she dries out a shade more. |
Best
Fitness Pro
|
Angie
Semsch -
Angie's been steadily improving and this year we felt she really
made strong and consistent showings as well as competing in the
Fitness Olympia. |
Best
Figure Pro
|
Valerie
Waugaman - This
woman took the figure stage by storm and we think she can beat
out the current champs and would not be surprised to see her
as the Figure Olympia champ soon. |
Rising Stars (in
alphabetical order) |
|
Angela
Komis (top left), Antonia
Grady (top right), Britt
Miller (bottom left), Myriam Capes (bottom
right) -
all of these women showed incredible promise and they could
all conceivably
turn
pro in
2006.
There
were so many young stars competing, especially in bodybuilding,
that we know that the sport still draws athletes and we look
forward to more new faces making impacts in 2006.
|
Lifetime
Achievement Award
|
Robin
Parker - Not only did this veteran athlete turn pro this
year after competing at the National level for 15 years, she
is also passing on her knowledge to a new generation of female bodybuilders,
helping Amanda Dunbar to win the overall at the USA and Jennifer Chehardy to win the lightweights
at Junior Nationals.
Much
deserved kudos to Robin from the FTV team!
|
GeneX's
Top Picks for 2005 |
Best
Poser
 
|
My
vote here goes to two non-bodybuilders believe it or not. But
check out my shoots with Ceclia Soderstrom (right)and Tina
Jo Orban (left)and
you'll see why - these two women are incredibly body-aware and
I give all credit to them for the wonderful shots we got! |
Most
Photogenic (Amateur)
|
Jennifer
Chehardy - this
girl is striking! I first noticed her at the 2004 Nationals in
the audience and had to grab her and finally got a full shoot
at the 2005 Jr Nationals where she looked incredible in winning
the LW class. |
Most
Photogenic (Pro)
|
Usually
this goes to a bodybuilder, but my 2005 award goes to Inga
Neverskaite. She was a great flexer and really knew
how to present herself in front of the camera. |
James
Cook's Top Picks for 2005 |
Best
Poser
 
|
Debi Laszewski / Melissa Dettwiller. A tough call to give to just one person, 'Best Posers' are individuals who are confident as to what looks good. They give 100 percent and keep giving it. I liked the combination of giving both of these ladies this award. Both have a raw energy and unique abilities and are a joy to work with. |
Best
Outfits
|
A true 'Professional' in the world of female bodybuilding. Monica Martin excels at everything she does. 'Best Outfits' awards are not nessisarily the smallest bikini, but instead it is reserved for athletes who set a tone for their photos. To see Monica in action, is to give true meaning to the word 'Glamor'. |
Most
Photogenic (Amateur)
|
This young lady has come a long way from when I first saw her as an expo visitor to the 2000 Ms Olympia in Las Vegas. During that year, our video together was an early shoot for her... but look at her now. WOW! Five years later, Emmanuela Pintus is at the top of her game with a loyal following of hardcore fans who feel 'Emma' is a solid 10.0 on the heart-throb meter. There is no else like her! |
Most
Photogenic (Pro)
|
Toni Norman is not the type to shoot with just anyone. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle to get her to shoot on the morning after the 2005 Europa. But oh my, does she deliver. An excellent 'range' of looks from playfulness to deadly serious, Toni is strikingly beautiful in delivering them all. And lets not forget about her incredible physique. The right amount of muscle in just the right areas, Toni Norman grabs the top spot in front of my lens this year. |
Hans
Klein's Top
Picks for 2005
|
Best
Comeback -
(Pro)
|
Jitka
Harazimova - It's always great to see athletes you thought you'd never see onstage again come back, especially when they have as much unfulfilled potential as Jitka. In 2005, Jitka returned to competition after a six-year hiatus (during which she had a baby) and won the heavyweight class at the Charlotte Pro. And she's still only 30! |
Best
Comeback - (Amateur)
|
Debi
Laszewski - A no-brainer. The hype about Debi's comeback this year turned out to be more than justified. At Nationals in Atlanta in November, people could not stop talking about how amazing she looked. After controversially placing second place in the light-heavyweights, we all just hope she decided to compete again in 2006. |
Best
Pro Debut
|
Tonia
Williams
It's pretty unusual to win your weight class on your pro debut, but that's exactly what Tonia did this year. After turning pro at the Nationals back in 2003, Tonia took the whole of 2004 off, then stepped onstage at the Europa show in August in razor-sharp condition and walked away with the lightweight title. |
Congratulations to all the winners. Please feel free to place this logo on your website and link to this page.
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