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1999 Olympia Weekend Report
1999 Ms. Olympia and Women's Extravaganza - October 2, 1999 - Secaucus, NJ

1999 Ms. Olympia and Women's Extravaganza
by gene x hwang - October 2, 1999


Kim Chizevsky This year's Ms. Olympia was surrounded by controversy, but the event was eventually rescheduled a week early with Bob Bonham's crew adding the event to the Women's Extravaganza Weekend. With the help of many people, the Ms. Olympia did not get cancelled. Many individuals put up money to make sure the competitors could get to stay at the venue, and the show was on.

Because of the addition of the Olympia, the bodybuilding women's strength event was cancelled to accomodate the remaining five events: NPC amateur fitness, NPC amateur bodybuilding, Extravaganza Pro Bodybuilding, Fitness Strength Contest and the Ms. Olympia.

On Saturday morning the competitors had their usual meeting, and after Kenny Kassel and Steve Stone went over logistical issues, Wayne DeMillia took over to discuss the state of the sport and it's marketability with the athletes. This was the big meeting that could help change the direction of the sport, and it seemed to be called at an unusual time - right before two pro shows and when the athletes were in a dieted-state-of-mind (it was also just the competitors for this day, not allowing for any other women who might have been here, but not competing, to voice their opinions).


NPC Fitness
When the show began Saturday morning, the NPC Fitness Open women took the stage first. A total of five women in the open and six in the novice division were competing. The youngest fitness competitor on stage was Madison, Wisconsin's Shana Martin, a promising athlete to keep an eye out for.

Heather The open competitors were good overall, with several showing excellent potential, and some needing more experience. Terry Mooney, Heather Lackner (pictured at left) and Donna Poggio all had solid routines, while Alti Bautista had the best energy and routine, getting crowd pretty charged up.

When the final results were announced, it was with a bit of surprise that Lackner was announced third and Mooney fourth. Both seemed to have deserved higher placings.

In the novice division, there was a larger variance in the competitors. However, winner, Jessica Bixler was excellent as was 2nd place finisher Maria Vukcevich, who could have easily been the winner. Third and fourth place finishers Juliet Mercazzo and Annie Curatola respectively were also solid.

Annie in particular showed great stage presence along with a very high-energy routine and is deifinitely another to keep a look out for. By just hitting her shots with more authority, she should be able to easily bring up her already enjoyable routine.


NPC Open Bodybuilding
The bodybuilders took the stage after the first round of fitness and the first two women comprised of both the Lightweight class as well as the Masters competitors. 48 year old Newark local Angela Sales took the class over Karen Romer.

In the middleweights, a hard Kerry Quinn edged out Elena Seiple. Seiple had a nervous smile, but a strong back and great triceps and should be competing on the national stage next year. Third place finisher Trina Nuñez, who bears a slight resemblance to Annie Rivieccio, was a little soft, but was also the only Novice in the class, and also the winner of the best novice award.

Of the two heavyweights, a shredded Fran Ferraro, with paper thin skin overtook an aesthetic Karen Gatto. By bringing her calves up for her next show, the aesthetically sleek Gatto should easily get to the national stage.


Fitness Strength Show
Lindsay Mulinazzi This year six competitors, including two last-minute amateur competitors took the stage to stake claim as the strongest fitness competitor, trying to wrench the title away from new pro and defending champ Cynthia Bridges.

Because of the lax judging of reps last year, this year was much more strict, resulting in much more accurate results. In the straddle press round, Bridges took first, but in the curls competition, Lindsay Mulinazzi (pictured at right), with her impressive guns, easily took first with 59 reps with 66 lbs. Before the curl competition, Molinazzi told emcee John Parillo "I'm going to make it my event," and she did so with authority.

The final contest was the one-arm pushups and Min Kim destroyed the competition, with Molinazzi a distant second, and Bridges third. The final tally had a tie for first between Molinazzi and Bridges, and it would have appeared that Molinazzi would take the title away, since she placed higher than Bridges in two of the three competitions (as they would tie-break a bodybuilding or fitness competition), but it was not to be, and Bridges successfully defended her title.


Extravaganza Pro Bodybuilding
When the pro bodybuilding women took the stage, three spots were still open for the Ms. Olympia later that day, as the Extravaganza was a qualifier. It was to be seen if the judging was going to be different as a result of the closed competitors meeting earlier in the day.

Cathy Lefrancous The first callouts included Laura Creavalle, Yaxeni Oriquen and Brenda Raganot, who was competing in her first show since turning pro. As usual, Raganot looked great, with her awesome aesthetics and symmetry. Creavalle was in great shape and Yaxeni was on as well.

Betty Pariso and Donna Logue were both ripped, with Logue having incredible striations and vascularity throughout. Would they mark these women down for their condition? Apparently not as Pariso took 4th and Logue 7th.

Kathy Lefrancois (pictured at left) was one of the smaller competitors on stage, but held her package together well. Not extremely hard or large, she placed 5th, and didn't qualify for the Olympia. However, it seemed that the judging wasn't quite consistent as the 5th - 8th place finishers could have been placed in different order, according to what they appeared to be looking for.

At the end of the contest though, the top three were right. However, many felt Oriquen should have placed 2nd, especially after her routine which was full of energy and much more fun than many of her more toned back ones recently.


Ms. Olympia
Well, the main event was up and only Brenda Raganot was added to the 11 pre-qualified competitors. As the women took the stage, Kim Chizevsky came out first as competitor #1. As usual, she came in very tight, but not as ripped as in the past. That is not to say she wasn't hard as she was, just not shredded.

Andrulla Blanchette Vickie Gates looked tremendous, and others in fine shape were Iris Kyle, Tazzie Colomb, and Laura Creavalle. Creavalle didn't look quite as sharp as in the Extravaganza, but as the night progressed, she seemed to tighten up more and more. Brenda Raganot and Yaxeni Oriquen both seemed to suffer more from doing two shows in one day, and were off their earlier form resulting in their lower placings.

Through the first two rounds of pre-judging, it appeared that the top three might be Chizevsky, Gates and Lewis, with all three making the first callouts of each round. Iris Kyle, Andrulla Blanchette (pictured at right) and Creavalle were also called out early in both rounds, with Tazzie Colomb making following callouts as well.

So it seemed that the routine round would help to decide the top six. This year there were a few good routines, but a lot of them did seem to lack imagination. The most popular routines came from Lesa Lewis and Laura Creavalle. Creavalle's theme seemed to be a farewell, with the crowd getting very enthused and her loud cheering section leading the crowd. Lewis, on the other hand, had a popular routine with great dance moves showing that big women CAN dance. A memorable routine for sure.

Tazzie Colomb who usually has great routines, seemed to be on the floor of the stage too much, and with the flat auditorium seating, it was difficult to see much of what she was doing during her routine.

When the top ten were announced, it wasn't too surprising to see the 11th and 12th place finishers, but when they made the final placement announcements, it was a surprise to see the order of some of the placings as usual. Chizevsky did look the best, but was pushed hard by Gates, although the scoresheet wouldn't indicate it was as close.

As Chizevsky took the mike to thank Joe Weider and Wayne DeMillia, she also gave thanks to Peter McGough, Editor-in-Chief of FLEX who was one of the many to come to the aid of the Olympia when it was initially cancelled. Among the many others who helped out were Bill Jentz of Women's Physique World, Bill Dobbins(.com), Addict Activewear, Jagware Sportswear, Kaiser Nutrition and George Adant.


New and Notable
Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman Well, although there was no bodybuilding strength show, the fitness strength show seemed to be a success. Sitting next to Don "the Dragon" Wilson, it was apparent that even he was impressed by the ladies.

Although this year was judged quite well, here are a few suggestions that might make next year more enjoyable for the audience and more fair for the competitors:

  1. make the curl competition done with a preacher bench
  2. pre-define the rules and make them known to the competitors and audience so evenryone knows what to expect/prepare for
  3. define the tie-breaker
  4. have more women compete
As usual, the Extravaganza weekend brought about many new faces and many veterans as well. In the crowd was reigning Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman in support of Vickie Gates. After Kim Chizevsky made her speach, emcee Lonnie Teper announced information on upcoming contests, which included the 1999 NPC Nationals and 1999 Mr. Olympia and Fitness Olympia. Since Ronnie was there, they goaded him into taking his suit jacket off and flexing, and ultimately got the crowd enthused enough to get Ronnie to take his shirt and tie off and show the crowd his physique, three weeks out. It was quite an impressive site, and Wayne DeMillia was seen in the hall jokingly asking people not to let any of the other competitors see pics of Ronnie, since it might scare the others off.



Results:
Ms. Olympia

1) Kim Chizevsky
2) Vickie Gates
3) Laura Creavalle
4) Iris Kyle
5) Lesa Lewis
6) Tazzie Colomb
7) Andrulla Blanchette
8) Laura Binetti
9) Brenda Raganot
10) Yaxeni Oriquen
11) Gayle Moher
12) Valentina Chepiga

Extravaganza Pro Bodybuilding

1) Laura Creavelle*
2) Brenda Raganot*
3) Yaxeni Oriquen*
4) Betty Pariso
5) Kathy Lefrancois
6) Desiree Ellis
7) Donna Logue
8) Monica Martin
9) Dayana Cadeau
10) Melanie Horton
11) Fanny Barrios
12) Brigitta Hallstrom
13) Denise Gerard
14) Sandy Matthews

* qualified for 1999 Ms. Olympia
Fitness Strength Extravaganza

1) Cynthia Bridges
2) Lindsay Mulinazzi
3) Min Kim
4) Darlina Krazancic
5) Heather Lackner
6) Jessica Bixler

NPC Open Fitness

1) Alti Bautista
2) Donna Pochio
3) Heather Lackner
4) Terri Mooney
5) Shana Martin

NPC Bodybuilding

Lightweight
(and Masters - by coincidence)
1) Angela Sales
2) Karen Romer

Middleweight
1) Kerry Quinn
2) Elena Seiple
3) Trina Nuñez

Heavyweight
1) Fran Ferraro
2) Karen Gatto

NPC Novice Fitness

1) Jessica Bixler
2) Maria Vukcevich
3) Christine Minneta
4) Annie Curatola
5) Juliet Marcazzo



Send comments, critiques, inquiries, etc. to genex@genex9.com

© 1999 gene x hwang - Last updated 10/5/1999 - 8:42 p.m. PT (-08:00 GMT)

       

     

     

       

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

     

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

      

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

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