Iris Kyle goes for a record fifth Ms. International title
February 24, 2010
By Dave Lee
FLEXONLINE.COM
Four. That’s the championship tally for Iris Kyle as she attempts to defend her title at the 2010 Ms. International on March 5 in Columbus, Ohio. That, combined with five Ms. Olympias [in ’01, Kyle won the heavyweight division but lost the overall to lightweight winner Juliette Bergmann], has made Kyle the dominant force in female bodybuilding for a good part of the past decade.
Kyle, who earned her pro card with a heavyweight and overall victory on her third try at the 1998 NPC USA’s, landed in a dismal 15th place in her pro debut at the ’99 Ms. International. She then finished runner-up in ’01-02 before winning the heavyweight and overall titles at the ’04 rendition.
After skipping 2005, she won back-to-back titles in ’06-’07. In ’08, Kyle fell to seventh the only blemish in her Ms. International record since her debut 10 years ago. But last year, she won in lights-out fashion, and money is on a Kyle repeat in ’10. If successful, she’ll be the first five-time Ms. International champion, but that’s only if another competitor doesn’t beat her to it.
Recently crowned 2010 Phoenix Pro champ Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia is the other competitor to hold four Ms. International titles [’02,’03, ’05, ’08]. Combined, the two have won the last eight Ms. Internationals. Oriquen-Garcia should prove to be the stiffest challenge for Kyle’s superb blend of size, shape and conditioning. To date, Kyle has a 7-2 edge in Ms. International head-to-head battles with Oriquen-Garcia, the most recent coming in ’09, where the latter placed third.
Others to keep an eye on are ’09 Ms. International runner-up and ’09 Ms. Olympia third-place finisher Debi Laszewski, ’09 Tampa Pro winner and ’10 Phoenix Pro second-place finisher Betty Pariso, and ’09 Atlantic City Pro champ Lisa Aukland.
What do you think? Will Iris pull it off? Let us know your thoughts in the FLEX Forums.
