Columbus, Ohio, March 2: Just when you thought the Ms. International would be just another predictable contest with Iris Kyle pummeling her challengers into submission with her usual otherworldly level of muscular conditioning, the roof fell in just two weeks before the Arnold Classic when it was announced that the six-time Ms. I winner had suffered a leg injury that would keep her out of the 2012 edition of this storied event.

Just how dominate Kyle and Oriquen have been at the Ms. International is best illustrated by a look at the past ten years where this twosome have collected all ten Ms. I titles – six for Kyle and four for Oriquen.

Suddenly this year's contest found a new level of life breathed into it. Not that the contest isn't always worth the wait each year, but with Iris Kyle out of the mix, it would be fair to say that virtually everyone who accepted an invitation to this contest had just moved up a notch.

To any avid fan of women's bodybuilding, the names Kim Chizevsky, Laura Creavalle and Vickie Gates hold immediate name recognition among the all-time greats of the sport. All three were winners of the Ms. International multiple times. In fact Creavalle and Gates won the contest three times each. Four-time Ms. Olympia Kim Chizevsky won it twice. But with Yaxeni Oriquen sitting in the pole position with four Ms. I titles going into this year's race, it would take a mighty effort on the part of those who hoped to become the newest Ms. International. And as things turned out, she didn't make it any easier on her opponents.

In her contest prep – one which has always been rock steady, Oriquen was preparing to do battle with her annual nemesis Iris Kyle. She had stated emphatically that she would take her weight down to 164 pounds for this event, when in past years she had usually hovered over the 170-pound mark. “I wanted to make sure I had enough muscular definition for the judges to notice me in comparisons with Iris,” she revealed in the weeks prior to the contest. At 5-8, it has always been difficult to overlook Oriquen in a pro lineup, but this year the somewhat smaller overall look paid off. Oriquen's years of training and muscle cultivation are still hallmarks in how she looks in her compulsory poses, but the added sharpness she presented looked good on her...and as it happened, it came in handy with the ultra-detailed Debi Laszweski nipping at her heels.

By the final tallies, Oriquen was chosen unanimously as the winner collecting $25,000 in winner's prize money, with Debi Laszewski locked in as the unanimous choice for the runner-up spot. But an appreciative audience seemed split with strong support groups for each. It could be said that the final score was closer than the point totals revealed. The reason for this came by way of Laszewski's high-octane muscular sharpness and detail throughout her physique. Giving up five inches of height to Oriquen, Laszewski made up for that difference with a muscle density to go with her sharp definition. That rare combination gave her a very impressive overall look.

In Laszewski's case, there are very few competitive bodybuilders who can honestly say they are not just better today than they were 16 years ago, but that they are at their very best 16 years later? Debi Laszewski can make that boast quite easily and few would argue. With iron-fisted determination, Laszewski has stuck to it when it comes to honing her craft, and at this year's Ms. International she outdid herself. Laszewski was buffed and shined to perfection, and anything less than her eventual runner-up finish would have been a true disservice to her effort. She pushed Oriquen every step of the way. It would be enough to say she was in terrific shape with muscular detail from head to toe, but Laszewski took it one step further and presented it with a rare level of professionalism that featured a routine with multiple layers of classic poses that put her physique on display at its finest Then again, Laszewski has always had a flare for the dramatic on stage and her presence can be searing. On this night it was of the hottest variety. Having been a dedicated competitor since the 90's, Laszewski took a while to catch fire. She finally turned pro in 2006, and at her first invite to the Ms. International in 2008, like so many others before her, the result was sobering - she placed 12th in a field of 16. But back to the iron-fisted determination. In 2009 she returned to the Ms. I and finished second – right behind Iris Kyle. That's 12th to 2nd in one year at the second most prestigious pro contest offered to women. Plus, she also beat Yaxeni Oriquen in the process. She's been a major player in the top five of the Ms. I and Ms. Olympia ever since. In fact she has placed no lower than fourth in either event in a total of seven appearances between those two contests. So, in actuality, her runner-up finish here was no real surprise, but it was most assuredly a pleasure to watch. For her effort, she pocketed a check for a cool $13,000.

Right behind Debi Laszewski was Alina Popa who continues to be a beacon of what is in line for the future of women's bodybuilding. Equaling her third-place finish from last year, the Romanian-born Popa showed all the positive qualities of a star in the making, just as she did in 2011. Looking slightly smaller than a year earlier, Popa still displayed stunning leg development (especially in her frontal quads and sartorius) and an overall muscular balance that shows up even more dramatically with her smaller waistline. There is little doubt she will improve as her youth will be a distinct advantage in the long run. At the 2011 Ms. International Popa's third-place finish came at the hands of Iris Kyle and Oriquen. At that event she topped a fast-finishing Debi Laszewski who ended up just two points behind Popa. Clearly these two will clash again at the Olympia and their presence at that contest will make for great bodybuilding. As she did in 2011, Popa graciously accepted a check for $8,000 to go with her coveted Ms. Olympia qualifying spot.

Finishing fourth was a new and improved Cathy Lefrancois. After a rollercoaster ride of finishes in 2011, Lefrancois set her sights on stabilizing her place within the elite group of top pros. At last year's Ms.I Lefrancois placed sixth, and even though she won the Tampa Pro Championships during the summer, she suffered a 13th-place finish at the Ms. Olympia – her lowest-ever placing at that event. Here, she was notably more muscularly dense carrying 135 pounds on her 5-2 frame. In tandem with very good conditioning – the two qualities caught the judges' attention in a very positive way. Her fourth-place finish was just three points behind Alina Popa, and she earned $5,000 in the process. A veteran of this contest entering her 11th Ms. International, Lefrancois has always been a fan favorite, and her fourth-place finish this year is her best Ms. I placing since she won the lightweight class in 2003. In this field she could have rightfully been considered the contest's most improved competitor.

Of the four entrants who were making their first appearance at this year's Ms. International, Kim Buck was a runaway choice as the competitor who made the biggest impact. Managing to fly somewhat under the radar where past notoriety and publicity are concerned, Buck finished 11th at last year's Ms. Olympia after a very impressive victory at the Battle of Champions in Hartford, Connecticut. That said, very few prognosticators would have picked Buck for a top five finish in this impressive group. Yet she was easily up to the challenge. Matching Yaxeni Oriquen in height at 5-8, and weighing at the 170 mark, she held her own very well, showing a streamlined physique that was finely tuned. Her fifth-place finish here should do wonders for her confidence in future events. Put simply, it's always nice to know you can hang with the big dogs! Her prize money totaled $3,000.

If there was a surprising placement within this field it would have been Brigita Bresovac's sixth-place finish. A winner of three previous pro contests in the past two years, together with a very strong third-place finish at last year's Ms. Olympia, her slip to sixth at this event had many scratching their collective heads. Using a strong overall structural balance that carries her musculature so well, it is those elements that have helped her to a meteoric rise in the pro ranks. Here, however, she appeared smaller than in any of her previous competitions and in an interview with RXMuscle after the event she revealed she had come into the contest weighing 144 pounds. That drop from the bodyweights at her previous pro contests seemed to take away some of the 'wow factor' that had propelled her in 2010 and 2011. Still, placing sixth in her first appearance at the Ms. International is commendable and a placing most any pro athlete would find satisfactory. She will no doubt have many more invitations to this event in her future, and that sixth-place finish can change with the passage of a calendar year. Brezovac accepted a check for $2,000 as the final prize money placer.

Outside The Top Six

As only the second Russian bodybuilder to be invited to the Ms. International, Alevtina Goroshinskaya made a very good showing for herself with a seventh-place finish. From St. Petersburg, Goroshinskaya brought a very impressive contest resume from the amateur ranks including a pair of silver medals at the IFBB World Amateur Championships. No stranger to the Arnold Classic, Goroshinskaya finished second at the 2009 Arnold Amateur event, and followed up with a HW and overall victory at the 2010 Arnold Amateur. Here she was invited as a pro and her seventh-place finish very respectable considering she finished just two points behind Brigita Brezovac. Starkly muscular, Goroshinskaya is a prime example of the non-nonsense approach she and her fellow Russian bodybuilders take to training and contest preparation for bodybuilding.

Argentina's Maria Rita Bello was a 10th-place finisher in her first invitation to the 2011 Ms. International and it came after she won the overall title at the 2010 Arnold Amateur Classic. So, now in her third visit to Columbus her eighth-place is seen as an improvement in her progress. But for fans of hardcore bodybuilding, where Bello places is of little consequence. A veteran competitor dating back to her early amateur days in Argentina in 1991, Bello has always been one of the sport's most muscularly developed competitors. A former South American champion in 2008, Bello enjoyed a strong support group within the Columbus audience as they cheered each of her compulsories showing truly remarkable detail and definition in every bodypart. If there is one certainty about the presence of Maria Rita Bello in any contest she enters, no other competitor will match her sheer muscular visibility as a living anatomy chart, and the crowd will love it.

Monique Jones placed 10th at this year's Ms. International, and most anyone would be hard-pressed to explain why her placement falls short of where almost everyone feels she should be. At 5-9 and weighing in the 170 range, she has been described – and favorably so – as a larger version of Lenda Murray. That's pretty good company to be compared with. That said, it becomes an even more interesting story when realizing she came from the ranks of figure competitors. Last year she finished second at the Battle of Champions between Kim Buck and Kim Perez. Following that event she flexed her way into the Ms. Olympia and placed ninth. So, without any other consideration as to what she may accomplish in the future, Monique Jones is now the first former figure competitor to not just compete, but to place in the top ten of both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia as a bodybuilder. Now THAT is impressive.

….And The Rest

11-Zoa Linsey, Canada

12-Maria Segura, Mexico

13-Tina Chandler, USA

14-Geraldine Morgan, Chile