Iris Kyle was born in 1974 in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the fifth of six children. Her early athletic endeavors included running cross country, basketball (point guard), and softball (shortstop). She was an All-American in basketball, and received a number of athletic scholarship offers. Iris attended Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi on a basketball scholarship, majoring in business administration.
Kyle won her first contest, the 1994 Long Beach Muscle Classic. She earned her pro card by winning the heavyweight class and overall title at the 1998 NPC USA Championship in Las Vegas. Kyle has had a series of high placing as a professional, including sixth consecutive top five showings at the Ms. Olympia. She won the heavyweight class at the Ms. Olympia in 2001, then captured the overall titles at both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in 2004. In 2006, Kyle won both her second Ms. International title and her second Ms. Olympia title; she repeated this double victory in 2007. She won her third straight Ms. Olympia title in 2008. At a height of 5’7″, Iris typically competes at a bodyweight of approximately 155–161 pounds.
In recent times Kyle had spent time trying to increase her marketability by auditioning for movies and TV shows. Most recently she appeared on the TV show Wipeout. While competing in the show she constantly has been referred to as a he by one of the hosts of the show and suffered an accident where she had several ribs broken during the first segment on the water slide. Due to the injuries she was not able to train correctly for bodybuilding competition and placed 7th at the 2008 Miss International, but rebounded at the 2008 Miss Olympia by winning the show.
In a recent interview with RX Muscle Girls Inc with the hosts Colette Nelson and Krissy Ching, Kyle talked about her appearance in Wipeout as well as her performance at the Miss International. In the interview she said that she was invited back to the show due to the popularity of her episode, but she declined due to the possibility of injury as well as feeling disrespected by the sexist host who referred to her as a he.
More recently Kyle went to the 2009 Miss International and won show, becoming only the second woman to win the show a record of four times. In a recent interview she said that she is planning to come back to break the record and become the greatest Miss International in history.
Kyle has won five Ms. Olympia titles out of six wins in her weight class: In 2000, she won the heavyweight class, but lost the overall Ms. Olympia title to the lightweight winner Juliette Bergmann. This discrepancy has led to confusion in various sport publications as to the number of Ms. Olympia titles Kyle has won.
Contest history
• 1994 NPC Ironmaiden Championships – 2nd (MW)
• 1996 NPC Orange County Muscle Classic – 1st (HW and Overall)
• 1996 NPC California – 1st (HW and Overall)
• 1996 NPC USA Championships – 2nd (HW)
• 1997 NPC USA Championships – 3rd (HW)
• 1997 NPC Nationals – 4th (HW)
• 1998 NPC USA Championships – 1st (HW and Overall)
• 1999 IFBB Ms. International – 15th
• 1999 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 4th
• 1999 IFBB Pro World Championship – 2nd
• 2000 IFBB Ms. International – 3rd (Later disqualified)
• 2000 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 5th (HW)
• 2001 IFBB Ms. International – 2nd (HW)
• 2001 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st (HW)
• 2002 IFBB Ms. International – 2nd (HW)
• 2002 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 2nd (HW)
• 2002 IFBB GNC Show of Strength – 2nd (HW)
• 2003 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 2nd (HW)
• 2004 IFBB Ms. International – 1st (HW and Overall)
• 2004 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st (HW and Overall)
• 2005 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 2nd
• 2006 IFBB Ms. International – 1st
• 2006 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st
• 2007 IFBB Ms. International – 1st
• 2007 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st
• 2008 IFBB Ms. International – 7th
• 2008 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st
• 2009 IFBB Ms. International – 1st
• 2009 IFBB Ms. Olympia – 1st
