Iris rant…
I just PMed this to a fellow BodySpacer and thought I’d include the rant in my BodyBlog:
First they were saying she was disqualified and then the scorecard shows her as 7th place. I read in the one thread a speculation that with the Mitchell Report and all the anti-steroid hub bub that Schwarzenegger was under pressure to show his show is aware of the steroid problem and is doing something about it.
The theory is that they threw Iris under the bus as a show that the powers that be in the IFBB are taking action, however that’s a bullsh!t theory because they can’t do that visually or see if someone is 100% using steroid, right? You would need a drug test as with Floyd Landis, the cyclist, or Marion Jones, the track star.
They didn’t just say, "Oh, we THINK you’re doing drugs, Floyd."
And also they didn’t say to Marion, "Well, we know you’re doing drugs so we’re going to take your gold medal and give you 7th place instead." No! They took her medals and bounced her from the competition entirely. So that "proactive ant-steroid" justification doesn’t wash.
Another idiot said that, "Well, I think when you see the photos you’ll know why she was placed as she was and I’ll let that speak for itself." What the hell does that mean? If it’s site injections they’re pointing out then bounce her and ALL the competitors from the show. What, we have a natural competitor in the lineup? Any of the ladies not juicing? Given the sport and its acceptance of AAS as an integral piece of the puzzle, I don’t see how the IFBB can criticize one athlete.
I do believe that Iris didn’t bring the same conditioning she has in past contests, so let it just be that. Forget about "lumps" on her glutes and delts. Just point out that she was out of shape. If she wasn’t out of shape then place her accordingly.
Was a seventh place position appropriate? Were all of the top six deserving of being placed above Iris? I don’t know.
Really looking forward to the expert commentary on this topic.
Edit: Although they can’t penalize her for steroid use if they’re not testing, I suppose it’s acceptable to keep Iris out of the media limelight by placing her that low. Unfortunately, this might not be about Iris’ condition or about reining in rampant steroid use. It could easily be about preserving the Arnold Sports Festival’s image.
March 1, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Curt, I love how passionate you get about the sport… it’s your commentaries that pique my interest to learn more about it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
March 1, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I am passionate about the sport. That’s cool of you to comment on your observation, Pixi. My uncle had comics of Superman, Batman, The Mighty Thor and so I was introduced to mighty muscles on these fictional characters.
Those same comics introduced me to bodybuilding in the various advertisements for Charles Atlas courses, etc. The first time I saw Arnold was in a postage stamp-sized ad of him hawking some Weider product.
The female bodybuilders in the 70’s were entirely different than today’s version. They honestly looked more like the figure competitors back then - Lisa Lyon, Carla Dunlap, Stacey Bentley, et al. were all lean and sleek while today’s competitors have arms I aspire to. lol
As feminine as their predecessors, but also much more muscular, today’s athletes are simply amazing. I’m happy to encourage anyone to take up bodybuilding for health as well as bodybuilding as an entertaining and exciting sport.
Screw the Mitchell Report and the current steroid witch hunt. Bodybuilding is about so much more than drugs. It’s about improvement and building strength and self esteem.
As always, thanks for the visit!