Female Body
The 1991 Ms. Olympia contest was the first to be televised live. Lenda Murray faced a serious challenge from the 1990 runner-up, Bev Francis. Francis had started bodybuilding in the mid-80s, converting over from powerlifting. Over the years, she had gradually refined her physique to be more in line with judging standards. However, she came to the 1991 contest noticeably larger than in previous years. Francis was leading going into the night show, with Murray needing all of the first place votes to retain her title. Murray managed to do just that, winning a somewhat controversial decision by one point.
1992 saw more controversy, this time at the Ms. International contest. In response to the increased size displayed by Murray and Francis at the previous Ms. Olympia, the IFBB made an attempt to "feminize" the sport. The IFBB, led by Ben Weider, had created a series of "femininity" rules; one line in the judging rules said that competitors should not be "too big". The judges guide to the competitors stated that they were looking for a feminine, but not emaciated physique. The contest winner was Germany's Anja Schreiner, a blue-eyed blonde with a symmetrical physique, but who weighed only 130 pounds at 5'7". The announcement of her victory met with so much booing that Arnold Schwarzenegger had to step on stage to address the audience, saying "the hell with the judges". Many observers felt that the IFBB had instructed the judges to select the most marketable contestant, not the best physique.
The 1992 Ms. International is also famous for an incident involving British competitor Paula Bircumshaw. Bircumshaw was the same height as Schreiner and possessed a similar level of symmetry and definition, but carried significantly more muscle, weighing in at 162 pounds. She was the clear audience favorite, but was relegated to eighth place. Normally, the top ten contestants are called out at the end of the show when the winners are announced, but the judges only called back the top six, hoping to keep Bircumshaw back stage. This resulted in an uproar from the crowd. With the audience chanting her name, Bircumshaw returned to the stage along with the top six competitors and gave the judges the finger. As a result, she was slapped with a one year suspension.
Advertising in Muscle & Fitness for the 1992 Ms. Olympia featured Schreiner prominently, relegating two-time defending champion Murray to a small "also competing" notice. Nevertheless, Murray apparently met the "femininity" requirements, and managed to retain her title; Schreiner finished sixth, and promptly retired from competition.