Baptists From The United States

"The women's bodybuilding was dominated once again by Iris Kyle taking her 4th Ms. Olympia title. At the heels of Iris was Dayana Cadeau in 2nd and Yaxeni Oriquen in 3rd."

"Female Bodybuilding was for Iris Kyle who again beat Dayana Cadeau for just an inch."

"Unbelievable V-taper. Really clean and polished look. Hamstrings keep getting better and bigger. Awesome quad separation. Her back is thick and shapely. She's also very full and dense. She probably owns this contest right now."

"Of course they will have to jump over the mountain known as Iris Kyle and Yaxeni Oriquen."

"The biggest shock came when Iris Kyle was not called out in the top 6. Iris was the defending champ and looking to repeat. Anyone who was at the prejudging could see suspicious marks in her buttocks and shoulders."

"Now the champion Iris Kyle took 7th and it seems that two protrusions on her glutes marked her down as the judges don't feel this is something the sport should exhibit."

"Because that's what Iris had against me, and this time she won't have that. Because I have the whole package and I'm going to be as hard. I know Iris is coming back for revenge and I know what happened hurt her, and I know she is not going to do the same thing at the Olympia because she is not going to want to lose her title."

"Iris Kyle dominated this competition like Ronnie Coleman used to on the men's side. She has incredible structure combined with unbelievable conditioning. Her skin is paper-thin and her muscles seem to explode when she poses. Little feathery lines pop out everywhere. Iris looked the same at the judging and at the finals. Tight at both shows. Iris was ripped from head to toe and back to front. She deserved the Ms. Olympia title and should be able to hold onto the title as long as she would like to."

"Regarding the whole Iris Kyle controversy: first of all, I feel really bad for her and understand how she must feel right now, so no comment about all this."

"Iris is in a league of her own and is damn near unbeatable. That's not to say she is though. Last year she was out of the top six due to a few suspicious lumps and bumps on her physique. She took care of the problem before the 2008 Olympia and showed why she'll go down in history as one of the best female bodybuilders ever. It's doubtful anyone will match her conditioning and look for her to leave Columbus with top honors once again."

"The fullness to Iris Kyles muscle bellies and her sheer size carried the Texan to another win without the need of her trademark crazy condition. Dont get me wrong, she was hard, just not her grainy self. A great athlete and true warrior was the victor yet again."

"For bodybuilding Iris Kyle changed her hair and made her look a bit different perhaps more feminine but still her body speaks for itself and took the show."

"The women took the stage at the Arnold Expo today for their pre-judging and by the looks of it Iris is here to keep her title. Her conditioning was spot on. She has such an incredible symmetry and full muscle bellies. She is one of those competitors' who has no glaring weaknesses. Her glutes were striated and her hamstrings were very detailed."

"Bodybuilding was game over once Iris Kyle stepped on stage, her conditioning and balance is unreal probably even better than 202 men."

"But tonight was Iris Kyle's night. She brought what we have come to expect from the champion. She was muscular, lean and had unparalleled symmetry. She took the title and now the record holder with 5 Ms International titles."

"On any given day I believe that anyone can be my competition. But, based on my current placings, if I had to pick someone it would be Iris Kyle."

"Placed 1st last year. Iris Kyle was looking good! Her glutes were insane, and she is on! Incredible conditioning. She came geared up to win another title."

"By that, we mean a lot of the incumbents treated us to a repeat performance of awesomeness; like Iris Kyle and Adela Garcia continuing their reigns as Ms. Olympia and Ms. Fitness Olympia, respectively."

"But at the end of the day, Queen Kyle brought home the hardware, yet again."

"Hard. Dry. Glutes. Conditioned. Symmetrical. Balanced. Thick. Dense. Glutes. Proportionate. Perfection. There's a reason this girl is the reigning champ."

"Kyle looked unbeatable from the rear, as usual. And her new hairstyle looks great. (Don’t want to sound like a sissy, but it does count for something with the women.) She did come in what was described as “a little under the weather” by MD’s Shawn Ray and it showed when she was on the side during the second call-outs. Kyle was being attended to by the show personnel and appeared to be dehydrating. Just goes to show you what a great champion she is."

"Can anyone beat the champ? Sure, but it'll take Iris being off. She's left a legacy on female bodybuilding and is virtually impossible to beat when in condition. If she takes top honors it will be her sixth Ms. International title, a record unmatched by anyone including the men. I'd wager on history being made at this year's Ms. International."

"There are two women who I could see giving her a run for money at the title, Iris Kyle and Dayana Cadeau. Iris Kyle is a past Ms. Olympia Champion and defeated Lenda Murray in 2004. She came up a bit short to Yaxeni as the runner-up last year. We saw he defeat Yaxeni and Dayana Cadeau at the 2006 Ms. International for that title. Dayana Cadeau and Iris Kyle were the only two women last year to give a preview at the press conference."

"Not to take anything away from Iris, but I believe I should have placed first in last year¹s show."

"This morning at the prejudging, it was apparent that these ladies took notes from Iris Kyle and came to the competition ready to unseat the champ. There was a noticeable difference in almost every competitor's conditioning. It seems that striated glutes and defined hamstrings have become the must-have accessory this season."

"They are hungry for that Olympia title and ready to step out from behind Iris Kyle's imposing shadow."

"Of course Iris Kyle is amazing, but I was never truly threatened by Iris. There was nothing she had that I thought was so overwhelming that it blew me away. When Iris finally beat me it was because I had a leg injury that obviously effected my leg development. She did not beat me on conditioning….which she is an expert at. Her calves were better than mine, but calves were the last thing that made up a great bodybuilder. My upper body was always better than hers genetically."

"Standing in her way, however, is the seemingly unstoppable seven-time champion Iris Kyle."

"The scores later revealed that Iris had won three out of the four rounds, and only been behind by a single point in the round in which Lenda came out on top. Iris Kyle has been a superior bodybuilder for a long time and was bound to win this title eventually, as long as the judging was accurate and honest. The question remains as to what she is going to do now. Iris has avoided publicity in the past, demanding photographers pay her for editorial shoots where nobody else (including Lenda) was getting a fee for doing pictures and not been very outgoing to other competitors, bodybuilding officials or the press. Let's hope this victory convinces Iris to come out of her shell to some degree and to work at promoting herself and women's bodybuilding."

"Iris, on the other hand, used her time on stage to do mostly variations of the compulsory poses, which everyone had already seen. After a short while posing center stage, she walked all the way over to stage left and began posing for the audience on that side of the theater. Then she walked all the way back across the stage to pose for the audience stage right. Unfortunately, there are no judges at the sides of theater and the judges are scoring the contest. Ignoring the judges this way, her performance seemed calculated to demonstrate a lack of respect for them, a deliberate snub - and that is certainly no way to try to earn higher scores in a bodybuilding contest. Iris could have been scored worse in round three, but ended up with seconds and a third. This suggests to me that the judges were more forbearing than they might have been and didn’t take the implications of Iris’ performance personally. Maybe they just don’t expect that much of her so are hard to disappoint."

"Given Iris’ overall lack of popularity and poor promotion, she probably could have done nothing to beat an in-shape if somewhat too lean Lenda at the 2003 Ms. Olympia."

"If anyone can beat Iris in the future, it's Debi."

"This year marks the 25th anniversary of Ms. International, and the 6-time champion Iris Kyle is looking to expand her already impressive legacy. She returned to the stage today looking like the Iris Kyle we have all come to expect. Her impressively well-rounded physique, full muscle bellies, and striated glutes all made a comeback to the Arnold Classic stage. She truly has set the bar extremely high for the rest of the competitors."

"The crowns being handed to Iris Kyle are now being made by an assembly line, it seems. For a record-setting seventh time, this iron maiden was anointed Ms. International, designating her as the best female bodybuilder on the planet."

"Iris Kyle is looking to break records this year with a ninth Olympia win—placing her in a league of her own."

"Iris Kyle has tied the all-time record for eight Olympia titles. She's in good company with Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman, and Lenda Murray. But, this year, she hopes to break into a league of her own and take the crown in her ninth win. If she looks anything like she has in the past, we'll witness a historic event in bodybuilding. But, it might not be that easy"

"Oriquen was sharp, but with athletes like Lenda Murray and Iris Kyle in very sharp condition, Oriquen would have to be pleased with her third place finish."

"Interestingly, a fan asked bodybuilder Iris Kyle to comment on how women should go about getting sponsorship in bodybuilding. But she was asking the totally wrong competitor, since one major key to promoting careers and getting sponsors interested is good publicity and exposure in the magazine – and as will be made clearer in the report below Iris is among the worst when it comes to promotion and publicity of all the top female bodybuilders."

"Iris Kyle may be the most successful bodybuilder ever. Will she continue her reign at the 2014 Ms. Olympia?"

"Although Iris earned that Olympia gold medal, she didn't do it easily."

"Oriquen improved on her Olympia shape, but Kyle was also razor sharp, as she was in Vegas, but the results for her were the same. While Oriquen is a worthy champion, Kyle seems to continually get ripped off by the judges. She has probably not received three titles by no fault of her own, and it has to be frustrating. Many purists would agree that Kyle is one of the best bodybuilder's bodybuilder."

"Watching Iris Kyle posing beside her, it was evident that Iris has no significant physique weaknesses, and her legs – particularly the calves – were much better than were Lenda’s. Of course, what Iris doesn’t have is Lenda’s overall appeal and charisma, and since she all but refuses to do photos for magazine publicity (asking some photographers, but not getting, for as much as $1500 for a basic editorial shoot). Iris has a reputation for keeping much to herself and has certainly not become a favorite of the judges, the media or the audience. Of course, what is not her fault is that Iris suffered somewhat from the continued lack of understanding on the part of the judges as to what round one is supposed to be about. She got no first place votes in the first round and several judges placed her 3rd. She did get better scores in round two – compulsory poses – with some first place votes and only one 3rd (no doubt scored by a judge in need of Lasik surgery)."

"Murray had fielded a question during the press conference about how she felt about winning last year, although Iris Kyle may have had better body parts on an individual basis, and her response focused on the total package, which IFBB Chairman Wayne Demillia seconded. That must have been the case again this year, as Kyle pushed Murray in each individual bodypart, but on the whole, Murray's package was once again crowned the best in women's bodybuilding, and that made it eight for her."

"Iris is a true professional and will be in shape. No one should miss this. Iris is a legend in the sport,"

"As usual, the heavyweight beat the lightweight for the overall title. As soon as Iris and Dayana hit the stage the judges began marking and turning in their scoresheets. It wasn't just size: standing next to Iris you could see some of Dayana's proportional problems as well – not major enough to cause her to lose her class but small things made more obvious when standing next to the complete and bigger physique of Iris Kyle - particularly the difference in legs."

"The heavyweight class was all about Yaxeni Enrique vs. Iris Kyle. Yaxeni is bigger but Iris has almost no faults – and her glutes/hamstrings/calves are probably the best in the sport. These two were obviously the ones competing for the class title."

"However, the proof that this can be done is Iris Kyle, who was not nearly what she is now when she qualified to be a pro."

"Yaxeni Oriquen beat Iris Kyle for the heavyweight title. Certainly, she looked like a champion in the finals. But Yaxeni had not looked as good in prejudging. Her color was off, for one thing. Iris, on the other hand, was just about perfect. The question is not whether Yaxeni should have won. Rather, it is how can Iris look so good at the Ms. Olympia and the Show of Strength events and (apparently) not get a single first place vote in any round? How is it all the judges in both shows feel she shouldn’t win even a round, much less the contest?"

"On a technical basis, body part for body part, Iris is the best in the sport at this point. But her presentation is not on the same level as that of Lenda. She also lacks the super-aesthetic genetic symmetry we see in Lenda. Lenda, in that sense, is like a Flex Wheeler. Iris also suffers from lack of or actually bad publicity. She refuses to shoot for photographers without being paid a large fee. So the photographers don’t shoot her, she doesn’t get in magazines and doesn’t’ have a lot of photos to sell. Between contest she largely disappears and doesn’t seem very social or communicative at contests. These things shouldn’t play a huge role in judging bodybuilding but they have some effect. After all, Iris won the heavyweights last year, so the judges don’t hate her. But I doubt many of them look forward to having an overall Ms. Olympia who is so uncommunicative and practically invisible between contests."

"It looked closer to me than that. Iris actually got some 3rd place votes which I found shocking. Iris should have been no worse than a close second on anyone’s scoresheet."