Maria Rita Bello – Colon, Argentina. 5-3, 140 pounds.
As the 2010 Arnold Classic Amateur overall champion, Argentina’s Maria Rita Bello already brings a strong level prestige to this year’s Ms. International. Now, as a professional, Bello will have her chance to compete among the best in the sport.
A veteran competitor who began as a lightweight winner at the 1991 Argentina National Championships, Bello has had a distinguished amateur competitive career that includes overall victories at the 1999 Iberoamerican Championships, and 2008 South American Championships. She has also competed at the IFBB World Amateur Championships on four occasions.
Always presenting a stunning level of muscular detail and definition when she competes, the three-time Argentinean champion will be a striking visual addition to the Ms. International lineup.
Dayana Cadeau – Wilton Manors, Florida. 5-4 ½, 136 pounds.Now entering her 19th year in competitive bodybuilding, Haitian-born and Canadian-raised Dayana Cadeau is considered one of the most notable competitors within the ranks of women’s bodybuilding.
Entering her 12th Ms. International this year, Cadeau has been a lightweight winner at this event on two occasions. In addition, Cadeau has also competed in 11 Ms. Olympia contests which include a lightweight victory in 2004 and a pair of runner-up placings to Iris Kyle in 2006 and 2007. Always within striking distance of the top spot when she is in prime condition, Cadeau finished second to Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia by a narrow two-point margin at the 2008 Ms. International.
Giving away considerable height and weight advantages to many of her closest adversaries, Cadeau, nonetheless, remains competitive with a stunning overall muscular arsenal with great balance throughout her physique.
More recently, Cadeau has also entered into the promotional side of the sport staging the NPC Dayana Cadeau Classic in Florida.
Tina Chandler – Houston, Texas. 5-4, 145 pounds.Sparkling Texan Tina Chandler brings her brand of physical quality to the Ms. International this year accepting her first invitation to this event.
After winning the middleweight class at the NPC Nationals in 2007 and making her pro debut at the New York Pro Championships in 2008, Chandler hit her stride in 2009 with a third-place finish at the Tampa Pro Championships. She followed up the Tampa event with a 10th-place finish in her first appearance at the Ms. Olympia. Chandler competed just once in 2010, but made it count with a very respectable eighth-place finish in her return to the Ms. Olympia.
Making steady improvements in her overall look on an annual basis, Tina Chandler would no doubt like to make a solid impact in her first invite to the Ms. International.
Maria Segura – Azcapotzalco, Mexico.
Little known prior to her heavyweight and overall victory at the 2007 IFBB North American Championships in Cleveland, the win put her solidly on the bodybuilding radar becoming only the second Mexican competitor to win the overall North American crown.
Segura’s visit to Ohio in 2007 helped generate another trip to the Buckeye State when she entered and won the heavyweight and overall titles at the 2008 Arnold Classic Amateur Championships.
Segura competed three times in 2009 making her pro debut at the Ms. International, followed by appearances at the New York Pro and Atlantic City Pro Championships. At all three events she missed making the top ten. In 2010 she placed 12th at the Phoenix Pro Championships in her only competition of the year.
Now appearing in her second invite to the Ms. International, the thickly-developed ‘Mexican Marvel’ will put her striking legs on display with thighs that members of the sport’s cognoscenti call ‘Quadraphonic Quads’.
Sarah Hayes – Plano, Texas. 5-5 ½, 160 pounds.A neophyte by women’s bodybuilding standards, 33-year old Sarah Hayes has reached the pro level in a relatively short period of time. Beginning in 2008 with an overall victory at the NPC Gopher Classic in Minnesota, she made the move to Texas and continued her winning ways with a heavyweight win at the 2009 NPC Ronnie Coleman Classic in April. She then won overall titles at both the NPC Lone Star Classic in June, and the Europa Super Show in August. Hayes added a very respectable fourth-place finish at the NPC Nationals to cap a very successful competitive season.
Last year Hayes stayed on the track of contest success with a victory at the NPC Branch Warren Classic before capturing the heavyweight and overall titles at the NPC USA in Las Vegas to qualify for pro status.
The speed with which she reached the pro level is understandable when considering her well-shaped and sculpted physique. Complete with strong genetics and pleasing muscle shapes, she has the looks of a pro star in the making.
Along with fellow Texan Tina Chandler as the only contestants making their first appearance at the Ms. International this year, Sarah Hayes will have her heart set on making a positive impression with the judges in her pro debut.
Iris Kyle – Cypress, Texas. 5-7, 160 pounds.‘Dominant Force’ may be a decidedly understated description of defending Ms. International champion Iris Kyle. In a recent issue of FLEX magazine, Kyle was dubbed the ‘Queen of Bodybuilding’- and for good reason. Along with her Ms. International win last year to go with the 2010 Ms. Olympia title, Iris Kyle has amassed six Ms. Olympia overall titles and five Ms. International wins. And with the realization that she has also won both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same calendar year on five occasions, the word ‘iconic’ comes to mind.
Leaving absolutely nothing to chance where physical conditioning is concerned, Kyle has consistently brought a complete level of muscular development to the contests she enters, and it is highly detailed in every bodypart – ‘shrink-wrapped’ and ‘female anatomy chart’ have often been used to describe her physique over the years.
Kyle will be looking to flex her way to a sixth Ms. International in 2011, a feat that would make her the most successful bodybuilding competitor in the history of the Arnold Classic – male or female.
Cathy Lefrancois – El Monte, California. 5-2, 135 pounds.Now entering her 16th year as a one of the sport’s most popular pro competitors, Canadian Cathy Lefrancois has become highly respected as a bodybuilder among fans and fellow competitors alike. Now approaching 30 pro competitions since leaving the amateur ranks in 1995, Lefrancois has competed in three Ms. Olympia contests and nine Ms. Internationals where she won the lightweight class at the 2003 event. And throughout her entire competitive career she has carefully honed her stage presence and mesmerizing posing routines to go with a well-balanced physique into what is now a very pleasing and aesthetic bodybuilder.
Over the past three years, Lefrancois has enjoyed her best contest finishes winning three consecutive New York Pro Championship crowns in 2008, ’09, and ’10. With a training injury that kept her out of the 2010 Ms. International, Lefrancois is fully recovered and looks to be ready for her 10th entry at this year’s star-studded event.
With a competitive career that dates back to 1995, Jeannie Paparone will point to 2008 as a high watermark in her competitive efforts. That year she was a runner-up at the New York Pro Championships where she qualified for the Ms. Olympia – and there, in front of a hometown crowd she placed ninth – a fact that points to the reality that she is a very good bodybuilder.
Along the way, Paparone has had good results since turning pro in 2002 after winning the middleweight class at the 2001 NPC Nationals. In 2005 she captured a pair of runner-up lightweight finishes at the New York Pro Championships and Charlotte Pro Classic, and in 2010 she placed fourth at the Phoenix Pro Championships before placing 12th at her first invitation to the Ms. International.
No doubt Paparone will have her sights set on cracking the top ten here in much the same way she did at the 2008 Ms. Olympia. She has all the physical tools to achieve it.
Alina Popa – Zurich, Switzerland. 5-6, 163 pounds.Romanian-born Alina Popa brings to the bodybuilding stage what the European judging community refers to as ‘ideal harmony’. And when Popa made her pro debut at last year’s Ms. International, she left everyone understanding exactly what that meant. Her eighth-place finish at the 2010 Ms. International notwithstanding, Alina Popa possesses an idyllic level of muscular proportion and genetic gifts that make her a certifiable future star – and perhaps sooner, rather than later.
Competing sparingly to make what she feels are the necessary changes to craft the best possible physique, Popa – who is still relatively young in her early 30’s – won the heavyweight and overall 2008 IFBB World Amateur Championship titles.
Before moving to Switzerland, Popa won the Romanian National title in 2003 and was a silver medalist at the 2004 IFBB European Championships. If the post-contest buzz at last year’s Ms. International is any indication as to her potential at an event of this prestige, Alina Popa can quickly become a much more familiar name among the top finishers.
Antoinette Thompson
Antoinette Thompson – Edmond, Oklahoma. 5-3,135 pounds.An active competitor since the mid-90’s, Antoinette Thompson made her way to the pro ranks by winning the overall 2002 NPC Team Universe title. Turning pro in 2003 and making her debut at the Jan Tana Classic, Thompson has always relied on her sleek bodylines and muscle shapes, along with a dynamic stage persona, to remain strongly competitive with her fellow contestants in events where weight divisions were not contested. During the period where weight divisions did exist, she excelled, winning the lightweight class at the 2005 Charlotte Pro Championships and again winning her class at the 2007 Sacramento Pro Championships.
Thompson has competed twice at the Ms. Olympia, and has been invited to four Ms. Internationals placing as high as ninth in 2007. In 2010 Thompson placed 11th at the Ms. International and will seek to crack the top ten again this year.
Isabelle Turell – Terre Haute, Indiana. 5-5, 150 pounds.
If there is an unknown entity at this year’s Ms. International, it would be Isabelle Turell. Actively competing since 2000, Turell has had her share of notable amateur contest successes culminating in 2008 when she won the heavyweight and overall NPC USA titles.
With plenty of shapely muscle on her 5-5 frame, Turell is well-balanced and when in top shape makes for a very eye-catching presence on stage.
In 2008Turell made her pro debut at the Atlantic City Pro Championships placing sixth – a finish that spoke little as to what her true potential would be in the near future. Then in 2009 Turell was invited to compete at the Ms. International amidst high expectations that she would be immediately competitive. And she was. Her seventh-place finish at that contest was misleading in that she missed getting some key callouts that might have moved her up in the final tallies. But, nonetheless, the seventh-place finish was very respectable considering the six women who topped her were all competitors who had either won or placed in the top three of the Ms. Olympia. And that’s pretty good company.
Turell did not compete in 2010, so once again, the anticipation and curiosity will be high as to how she stacks up against five of the six women she competed against at the 2009 Ms. International.
Debi Laszewski – Jupiter, Florida. 5-3, 146 pounds.If the 2009 competitive season left any doubt as to the arrival of Debi Laszewski as a top flight pro bodybuilder with a runner-up finish at the Ms. International followed by a third-place finish at the Ms. Olympia, then her two third-place spots at those same events in 2010 sealed the deal.
Since qualifying for the pro ranks in 2007 with a light-heavyweight victory at the NPC Nationals that year, Laszewski has been a rock-solid pro competitor with the exception of her 12th-place finish in her pro debut at the 2008 Ms. International – a fate more than one future star has experienced in the past at this event. But her move from 12th to second in 2009 at this event is one of the most dramatic turnarounds in women’s bodybuilding at the major contest level. And she’s been hovering around the top spots at pro events ever since.
If searing stage presence and a beautifully cultivated physique is your cup of tea, Debi Laszewski can be considered a very entertaining addition to this stellar field.
Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia – Miami, Florida. 5-8, 175 pounds.Now entering her 21st year of competitive bodybuilding, Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia’s journey from her first contest in 1989 to the present is nothing short of epic. Beginning her pro career in 1994 after winning several prestigious international amateur events, Oriquen-Garcia struggled to establish herself for the better part of six years. She even placed 18th at the 1999 Ms. International. But since 2000, she has turned her career around in dramatic fashion and has easily punched her ticket for induction into the Weider Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in the future.
In all Oriquen-Garcia has competed in 12 Ms. Olympia contests, winning the coveted title in 2005. This year she will enter her 14th consecutive Ms. International and has won the event four times – most recently in 2008. With 44 pro competitions (a record) on her contest resume, she is one of only three women who have won both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia in the same calendar year. There others are Iris Kyle and Kim Chizevsky. And if all that weren’t enough, she is also a two-time winner of the Show of Strength and topped the field at the 2004 Night of Champions.
So what’s she done lately? In 2010 all she did was win the Phoenix Pro Championships and finish second at both the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia – a truly extraordinary career that had shown little sign of slowing down.
Betty Viana-Adkins – Miami, Florida. 5-4, 155 pounds.Over the past decade, Betty Viana-Adkins has become a familiar face and physique at the pro level. Making her pro debut a memorable one, Adkins won the overall crown at the 2002 Southwest USA Pro Cup. A year later she won the heavyweight class at the 2003 Night of Champions. In total, Adkins has competed 15 times at the pro level and her contest resume is an enviable one. She has competed six times in the Ms. Olympia finishing as high as second in 2008. At the Ms. International Adkins has been invited on four previous occasions and was the heavyweight runner-up to Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia at the 2005 event.
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, and a former Venezuelan national champion Betty Viana-Adkins will add plenty of color – as well as a very competitive presence – to this year’s Ms. International.