Updated pics and Report
from the INBA Natural Olympia 17 Oct.

 


When I heard there was going to be over 300 athletes competing in the Natural Olympia I was imagining the worse case scenario of being stuck in the venue all day. No breaks, no sunlight and probably won't be out of there till midnight!  but as it turned out there was a little break between prejudging which began about 9.30am and went to 3pm.  About 45min break then back into at 4pm. I didn't see much sunlight but the show did finish by 9pm. 

Considering the numbers of athletes, the show went pretty fast and the compere, I think Jason Woodforth was his name did a great job keeping things moving and eventhough they the classes were huge - averaging 10 in each for the Masters classes and probably 15 for the Open classes he and the judges did well to finish relatively early. 
 
Lisa and Keith

If you've read my tweets you'll know the kiwis' results which included:
- Senior Figure 40+. Farah Deobhakta, Sue Bettridge and Ali Gascoine were in this and did not place.  This was a huge class of 15 amazingly conditioned ladies most of them Aussies.  They were quite muscular and lean and our girls probably looked a little small compared to the Aussies.  Ali didn't look like she filled out and not as muscular as she usually comes in but we know she'll be different again for the ANB next weekend.  Sam Attril, the lady who won this class went on to win the Overall Masters class over Marlene.

- Senior Physique 40+. Karen Bishop was in this class but was outmuscled by the Aussie girls once again.  The winner was lean and had great legs.  The physique girls weren't big like what you'd see at a NABBA or IFBB show but they looked good.

- Senior Figure 50+. Marlene Henderson blew them all away in this class of 12 with her youthful figure. Enuf said!

- Open Figure Medium.  Farah, Sue and Ali once again donned their bikinis and ventured into the open class which was huge!!!  I don't know how they managed to put 28 athletes on stage but somehow they managed to all fit on.  All the girls were in great condition so I think probably judges took potluck and called out the girls names they recognised to do comparisons.  I know its more tricky than that but the class was judged pretty quick so not sure how they decided on the top 3.

- Open Figure Tall.  Lisa Cameron was amongst 19 figures in this one and she did get a call out against much more muscular girls, so well done Lis!

- Senior Physique 60+. I don't know her but Kiwi Joy Crockett was the only one in this class.

- Masters Men 40+. A kiwi, not sure his name, was up against around 10 athletes in this one but was unplaced.

- Masters Men 50+.  Steve Rosenbaum won this class with his super symmetry and muscle mass from a class of 10.

- Open Men Medium.  Stan Tautalanoa really had to pose well in this class of 16 as there were some pretty hod bods on stage.  But once again his symmetry came through and placed a very credible 2nd.


General Observations
As mentioned earlier, the show was great and all the athlets in all classes had amazing condition.  I think the biggest class was the Jnr Men which saw around 30 on stage.  There was also a Pro Men's class but interestingly the 'Pros' also were allowed to compete with the amateurs.  Go Figure!  I think if you're a Pro you shouldn't be allowed to.  Then again these Pros aren't like the IFBB Pros and look more like opened class competitors. 
 
Marlene and the Lisas
I really liked the format of the show as you get pretty much an immediate result in a one show format.  The class comes on do their compulsories and comparisons, then after some deliberation from the judges the top 3 is announced.  All the athletes who didn't place get a medal, then after they get their medals the top 3 come back out. This helped to keep the show moving along pretty quickly.

The other thing which I thought was strange was the some girls could do 2 or more classes.  Fair enough if you did Masters and and Open.  But don't think its right that a girl can do shape and then go on to do Figure.  In one case.  A girl who placed 2nd in her Shape class won the Open Figure class.  Now how does that work??

Thought judges would look for different set of criteria in Shape than Figure.  So really the Shape girl shouldn't be that lean to win Figure eh? But what do I know, I probably should accept by now that judges know best.

Only the top 3 did their routines.  Actually Top 3 didn't even have to do routines if they don't want to.  So that was good way to economise the show.


Overall it was good well run show with very high quality athletes.  Darn those Aussies!!!!
Lisa, Go Figure
19 Oct 09

     
 Me with Aussie crew
Rob, Melita, Phil the Tan Man
 Danny Kaikos (Pres) and
Peter Hardwick
Farah and Ali
     
 Jo Rogers and Ali
swapping stories
 The supporters Chris,
Brett with Lisa
with an ex client Marian Leonard
living in Aus
     
One of the Pros  Ali and Sue ofcourse had to get quick pic
with him



Huge Masters Figure 40+  
 

Farah, middle
 
     
 Sue, far right  Ali second from left  
     
     
     
   Senior Figure 40+ top 3  
     
Physique 40+    
     
     
Open Figure Medium    
      
     
     
     
     
   
     
     
     
Senior Figure 50+    
     
     
Marlene in Overall    
     
 1st, 2nd, 3rd    
     
Lisa C in Open tall    
     
     
     
     
     
 Masters Phys 40+    
     
     
     
     
 Masters Physique 60+    
     
   Steve Rosenbaum 1st  
   

left: Dieter Horn 1st Masters 70+
 
     
 Open Men Medium    
     
 Stan Tautalanoa 2nd    
     
  Pro Men's Line up
Right: 2nd, 1st, 3rd
 
     
     
  Hanging out in the Aussie sunshine and shopping

left: Lisa and Farah
right: Sue and Karen
 
     
     


 

16 October update. Firstly its great to step off the plane and feel the warm air and sunshine on your face!  There was plenty of brown fit bods walking around Cavill mall last night in Surfers so there is a buzz around.  Actually had to have the aircon on in the apartment....jealous?!

Bumped into Farah and Lisa Cameron last night and they told me there's over 300 competitors, yes 300 in the comp on Saturday.  And about 200 of those are Aussies. Will be interesting to see how they'll get all these through in one day.  One thing for sure its going to be a long one.  The athletes will only get brief few minutes to shine so they'll have to flex and pose their butts off and get noticed as soon as they get on stage.

Farah said it took her 1.5 to get registered and Ali told us the same thing.
Hopefully contest day will be better organised! Ali and Farah are in the same classes Physique 45+ (they call figure physique for this show and Shape is figure).  There's about 15 in the Physique 45+ class so they have to get judges attention quickfast.  Ali will also do open along with Lisa C.

Just chatted to Sue Bettridge and Karen Bishop this morning sitting down having on a bench on the sidewalk eating what else but chicken!  they're both looking great and can't wait to eat tomorow.

As part of the Natural Olympia comp, there's a Bikini Diva contest held in Cavill Mall this arvo 4pm, so I'm sure there's going to be big crowds to check the bods out.

Bye for now!
Lisa 

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