Tres,
I guess there is alight misunderstanding.
Remarks were made towards judging (as usual). I think Barbie is asolutely right when she says that Europeans should "know better".
Also as you said in Europe they do things different, so what you saying is that they spend so much money to come here to compete, but because of their ""European presentation" they will lose. I thought IFBB stands for International, meaning not just USA.
You can argue about the suit, the presentation, etc, but the fact remains that Shannon did not deserve to beat something like 25 girls based on her presentation, which is direct result of her stage experience. Isn't it a physique contest after all and that should count the most. So what you saying is based on presentation, suit and what you call perfect balance (many would disagree here), Shannon deserved to beat Natalie, Mari, Irina and Juliana. Were they even compared? I guess when we see pictures from contest, we should just ignore physiques as obviously suits, presentation are far more important.
We could go on and on about this, but whats the point.
Antonio,
Well thanks for at least responding professionally.
Yes it is a physique contest. But the judges can only judge what is presented to them.
You may know Irina's physique (for example), and may know her condition, but the judges do not. If she presents herself poorly then yes she will not do well. If Jay Cutler who has argueably some of the best legs in BB, never flexed his legs in any front pose then he would never win even if we all know his legs are crazy hard and seperated.
So yes unfortunatley some great physiques don't score well, so YES presentation might just be the most important element of the contest. Now I'm not stupid you have to have a body to present and be in good condition to start with.
I'll give you a better example. Sonia who I thought was a deserving winner is weakest from the front. From the front there are girls who have better shape. Her legs need some sweep and she lacks adequate calf size.
However, from the sides and the back (even w/ weak calfs) she is smokin and hard to beat. Well, check out all of Sonia's individual pics from MD nothing head on. Everything is from the side, twisting or from the back. Presentation, presentation, presentation. Sonia knows her weak points and her strong points and 99% of the time the judges saw what Sonia wanted them to, side and back. Smart girl and a deserving winner.
Now you can argue a good judge should be able to see the weak points in a physique and they do. but if the athlete can showcase her stronpoints the majorityof the time she will do well.
Again, yes the sport is International, but lets face it the judges are Americans and use to a certain way of doing things. So again it will do you NO good to bash the system on an internet board, but it will definitely help Irina if you help her w/ her suit selection and presentation.
Again thanks for the conversation. I understand your points, I hope you hear mine.
