Nineteen-Ninety may not sound like a long time ago, but it is, nonetheless, two decades past. Twenty calendars have come and gone, and it is an especially long time in bodybuilding years - but more about that later.
The hit movies of the time offered a wide range of silver screen faire. Home Alone; Ghost; Dances with Wolves; Pretty Woman, and Arnold's Kindergarten Cop were all top grossing flicks in 1990. Popular music also ran the spectrum of variety with Ice, Ice, Baby, by Vanilla Ice; U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer; Madonna's Vogue, and Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Can Compare to You. All the previously-mentioned vocal artists produced videos featuring their hits and were played unendingly on MTV with chart-topping success.
On the tube, future comedians and movie stars Chris Rock and Adam Sandler joined the cast of Saturday Night Live. The comedy show In Living Color starring the Wayans brothers, Jamie Fox, Jim Carrey and a ‘Fly Girl' in the cast of back-up dancers named Jennifer Lopez premiered - as did the mega-popular soap drama Beverly Hills 90210.
In sports, Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson in the 10th round of the world heavyweight boxing championship in what many believe is the biggest upset in boxing history. The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, and Joe Montana was voted Male Athlete of the Year after the San Francisco 49ers won the Superbowl in impressive fashion.
And internationally, it should never be forgotten that 1990 was the year Nelson Mandela was freed from prison in South Africa.
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With the coming of a new decade, 1990 brought continued change in women's bodybuilding. Lenda Murray would win the first of six consecutive Ms. Olympia titles to tie Cory Everson's six-time Ms. Olympia run from 1984 to 1989. Murray possessed a new, more muscular look that, like Everson, also retained a considerable level of overall aesthetics. And as the level of muscularity in the bodybuilding ranks continued to increase, fitness competitions - where women who opted to take a less developed approach to building their physiques - became more and more popular.
On the international scene women's bodybuilding also showed notable growth by way of the IFBB World Amateur Championships, and the 1990 edition of this annual event continued to prove that competitors from other than the United States were competitive at the highest amateur levels.
Prior to the birth of the NPC Team Universe contest (the event which became the annual qualifier for the World Amateur Championships) in 1994, the United States simply sent the three weight class winner from the NPC Nationals. The result was that the USA won many gold, silver and bronze medals at this event.
In addition to the three weight class competitions, there was a popular mixed pairs division, and the competition for a best ‘Team Posing' trophy where each team consisting of its three competitors put together a posing routine - was scored by the judges - and was always a very entertaining inclusion in the contest program schedule.
Staged in Mexico City, the 1990 World Amateur Championships was a flawlessly run contest as 26 countries took part with a near perfectly balanced group of divisions featuring 15 lightweights, 15 middleweights, 15 heavyweights and 16 mixed pairs.
In addition to the solid numbers of competitors, the quality within each weight class was also memorable - and not just in the gold medal-winning positions.
Overall, the ‘Best Team' title went to the United States on the strength of Vicki Sims placing second in the lightweights, Sue Gafner adding another silver medal in the middleweights, and Nikki Fuller capturing the bronze medal in the heavyweight class. The American duo of Carrie Deysher and Tony Murphy helped seal the team victory with a bronze medal in the mixed pairs competition.
Everyone Czeched Out Korinkova as the Lightweight Winner
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| Zuzana Korinkova, 1st LW |
Representing Czechoslovakia, Zuzana Korinkova made for an impressively developed gold medal winner to help kick off the evening finals. A unanimous selection by the international judging panel, Korinkova's highly detailed muscle and balanced physique would become a hallmark in her future competitive career efforts. After winning the World Amateur title, the densely muscled Czech moved on to a pro career that included an eighth-place finish at the 1993 Ms. International, and a tie for 19th at the 1993 Ms. Olympia in the largest-ever field of 32 contestants at the Ms. O. But her finest hour came in 1996 when - at the peak of her muscular development - she won the IFBB European Women's Grand Prix in Bratislava, Slovakia. Topping the field of 14 competitors at that event Korinkova defeated two future Ms. Olympia winners - Andrulla Blanchette and Yaxeni Oriquen - and a future three-time Ms. International winner Vickie Gates.
Silver medalist Vicki Sims scored the USA's first points towards the team title. Later, in her brief stint as a pro, Sims competed in the 1991 and '93 Jan Tana Classics placing as high as 15th in the '91 event.
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| Vicki Simms, 2nd LW |
The bronze medal for third went to Germany's Karin Petz. A
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| Marja Lehtonen |
former German lightweight champion in 1988, Petz returned to the World Amateurs in 1994 to win the middleweight crown. Petz made it to the Ms. Olympia in 1995 to finish 15th.
Outside the medal-winning positions two additional competitors eventually flexed their way into the pro ranks. Representing the USSR (and later Estonia), 11th-place finisher Inna Uit - after winning the IFBB European middleweight title in 1995, returned to the 1996 World Amateurs and won the middleweight class. Uit competed in the 1997 and ‘98 Jan Tana Classics before ending her pro aspirations.
As perhaps the most underrated contestant in this class was Finland's Marja Lehtonen. The muscular Finn competed in the World Amateurs three more times adding a pair of fourth-place finishes in 1994 and 1999. Turning pro in 2001 Lehtonen has carved a very respectable contest resume over the years with finishes in the top three at the 2001 Pro Women's Extravaganza , the Jan Tana Classic on three occasions (2001, '02, and '07), the Night of Champions in 2003 and '04, in addition to a 15th place finish at the 2005 Ms. Olympia, and most recently a fourth-place finish at the 2008 Atlantic City Pro. Often referred to as one of the most muscular lightweights in the history of women's bodybuilding, Lehtonen has been competing for 20 years and there has been no word of her desire to retire.
German Ingenuity Brings Gold in the Middleweights
Germany's impressively sculpted Jutta Tippelt claimed gold in the middleweight class, and her victory margin
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| Jutta Tippelt, 1st MW |
was a decisive one over American runner-up Sue Gafner. A winner of the overall German Championships and a World Games silver medalist in 1989, Tippelt made a brief visit to the pro ranks placing 16th at the 1991 Ms. Olympia.
Gafner, on the other hand, enjoyed a more successful run in the pros winning the inaugural Jan Tana Classic in 1991. Gafner also competed in two Ms. Olympia contests placing 10th in 1991, and added a fourth-place finish at the 1993 Ms. International before ending her competitive pro bodybuilding efforts. At the Worlds, however, she contributed valuable second-place points to the American team total.
Third place went to Turkey's Tulay Caner. Although this highly-defined competitor never reached the pro ranks, her contest resume as an international competitor is remarkable. With little argument she has competed in more IFBB European and World Amateur Championship events than any other female - active or otherwise. In 1998 competing as Tulay Ozbek, she won the World Amateur title as a middleweight.
Fifth-placer and hometown favorite Martha Sanchez
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| MW Top 3, Sue Gafner on left |
continued her competitive career with good success winning the middleweight class at the 1993 World Games, and adding the lightweight and overall titles at the 1994 IFBB North American Championships before turning pro in 1995. Sanchez competed three times at the Jan Tana Classic placing as high as 11th in 1996.
Outside the top five was Sweden's Brigitta Carlsson in 11th. After competing again at the 1992 World Amateurs, she made her way to the pro ranks competing in the 1996 and '97 Jan Tana Classics.
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| Brigitta Carlsson, Sweden |
How Swede She Was as a Golden Heavyweight
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| Yvonne Rosell, 1st HW |
When Sweden's Yvonne Rosell won the heavyweight title at this event, it was only the third time a Swedish competitor had captured a World Amateur gold medal. And as it turns out, no Swede has accomplished the feat since. Rosell, who was a heavyweight IFBB European champion in 1989 and who worked as a police officer, reached the pro ranks after winning the World Amateurs and competed twice at the pro level in the 1992 and '93 Jan Tana Classics.
In what was easily the most competitive class of the contest, Rosell's margin of victory was just five points over the dazzling Italian Claudia Montemaggi.
Montemaggi won the 1990 IFBB European heavyweight title before finishing second to Rosell at the World Amateurs. With an impressive body structure and a well-shaped overall musculature,
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| Claudia Montemaggi, 2nd HW |
Montemaggi made her pro debut at the Italian Pro Grand Prix where she finished second to Tonya Knight. In two entries at the Ms. Olympia she finished ninth in 1991 and seventh in 1992. Her final pro contest was the Ms. International in 1993 where she placed 12th.
Oregon's Nikki Fuller added a bronze medal to the American team's point total as the third-place finisher and possessed the highest level of future potential of all the competitors at the 1990
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| Nikki Fuller, 3rd HW |
Worlds. Turning pro in 1991, Fuller made her pro debut at the Jan Tana Classic placing eighth. She returned to that event in 1992 and won the title. She also competed twice in the Ms. Olympia placing 10th in 1997, and three times at the Ms. International placing as high as sixth in 1995.
The fourth and fifth places went to Hungary's Gabriella Sziksazy and Germany's Bettina Schmid respectively. The two were only one point apart in the final tallies and both were in outstanding contest condition.
Szikszay moved on to a productive pro career after returning to the World Amateurs in 1991 and winning the heavyweight class. She finished 16th at the 1992 Ms. Olympia, ninth at the 1993 Jan Tana Classic, third at the 1994 European Women's Grand Prix, 15th at the 1994 Ms. Olympia, and sixth at the 1995 European Women's Grand Prix.
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| Gabriella Szikszay, 4th HW | Bettina Schmid, 5th HW |
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Closing the competition was the mixed pairs competition that saw Hungarians Zoltan Kozma and Gabriella Szikszay winning the World Amateur title, followed by Mexico's Jose Luis Renteria and Martha Sanchez second, and the American team of Carrie Deysher and Tony Murphy (just one point behind the Mexican duo) in third.
The final team standings saw the United States placing first, Germany second and Sweden third.
The ‘Best Posing' team award went to Germany.
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| Team Germany, Best Posing! |
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