Review - 1987 World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships

Antwerp, Belgium
Sept 19th, 1987

The DVD opening started off with some footage of the contest coverage to come. I saw Joe Meeko from USA amongst the lineup.

Women Figure Class

The women figure class was the first one shown, and other than the hairstyles, these women looked timeless and very beautiful.

Yvonne van Veenendaal NL
6.
The first routine shown was right out of the eighties. She had an incredible body and an eighties hairstyle and posing music to go with it. Her routine was even very similar to the dance moves popular at that time. From what I had seen in the lineup, the quality amongst the female competitors seemed fairly consistent.

Marie Pierre F
5.
The next woman was not as conditioned as the first but had on a great posing suit - very skimpy. She was a fair bit more muscular than the first contestant and her posing routine was also easy to trace to the era. I felt she was lacking a little bit of oil which I think would have highlighted her condition more.

Tania Panza I
4.
Tania had a third routine which was also easily dated to the era with her choice in posing music: "Talk Blue" by Madonna. I had no idea just how muscular figure women were until I saw the routines here. I'm fairly certain that the women generally look the same these days in the figure classes which is why I say the physiques are timeless.

Elizabeth Resch A
3.
Elizabeth was medium as far as oil and conditioning went. She was not the most ripped on stage (nor do I think figure women should be), or the most oiled. She was not as heavily muscular as some of the women before her.

Mary Scott GB
2. Mary posed to the "Chariots of Fire" theme. Her oil highlighted her condition and she as well as all of the women in her class were in great shape. They all all moderate and athletic looking builds which is what I think this entire industry should really be about. On the other hand, people do pay to see freaks.

Sonia Walker GB
1.
Sonja had a high energy routine and was both muscular and in good condition.

Posedown:
The posedown took place quickly and the winners were then announced. Sonia Walker won and I believe this was a fair decision, although the entire class looked pretty good in my opinion.

Women's Physique Class 2 - Short (-1.65 m)

Gabi Klug A
3.
Gabi looked like a figure woman until she hit some back poses - her rear lat spread and rear double biceps were extremely muscular. She put on a cute little dance routine which she seemed to have fun doing.

Christa Bauch FRG
2.
Christa posed to "I Just Cant Stop Loving You" by Michael Jackson. She had very muscular legs and a back to go with them. She was in good condition and followed up her routine with "Bad" by Michael Jackson. Christa is afmous for her great abs.

Connie McCloskey USA
1.
The women here was the most muscular one yet. She was big and ripped and from what I assumed, too big for a figure class. I don't really follow female bodybuilding but will start now. Perhaps this level of muscularity is normal.

Posedown:
The women posed down briefly and some footage of the awards was shown.
 

Women's Physique Class 1 - Tall (+1.65 m)

Juul Fransen NL
6.
She put on an energetic routine as she posed to "Typical Male" by Tina Turner.

L. De Wever B
5.
Her routine was slow and more powerful than any of the previous ones. She looked in place in her class.

Leisa Campbell Australia
4. Leisa was pretty muscular in the thighs and when she hit a front lat spread and most muscular she displayed her muscularity - as well as in other poses! Frankly her rear double biceps was like a road map. Like so many of the other routines at the show, her posing was very eighties.

Mary Zegeling NL
3.
The next woman posed to "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson and did so with great speed and fluidity. She also had great gymnastic ability in addition to her dancing skills. Her posing routine was the most impressive that I had seen so far in the contest.

Donna Hartley-Wass UK
2.
The next woman had another in the high energy series of routines. She was happy to be there and while she didn't have a very dark tan, she was clearly in shape for the contest. She is also an outstanding track athlete.

Mary Hovey-Walk USA
1.
One thing I had noticed with the next competitor as well as some I had seen previously was that the figure women competing did not all have breast implants - this is something I think you see more commonly today. However, as I said, I don't really follow figure competition so I'm not sure. She was in great shape with a good tan and oil and posed well.

Posedown:
After a brief posedown, Mary Hovey-Walk won this class. However the DVD editor (not GMV) had the top 2 placings shown the wrong way round. Hovey-Walk of USA was definitely the Class winner. There was no Overall Judging and Posedown between the 2 American class winners - McCloskey and Hovey-Walk. So both have the title of Physique Women's World Champion for 1987.

Some expo footage was then shown and the Pairs performed their routines.

Pairs:

De Wever / Franck B
4.
It was when I saw the female figure competitors next to male competitors whose size I could gauge, I realized what their approximate size and muscularity was. The first routine shown was very well synchronized and both competitors were in good shape. I was impressed as it was in fact organized much like pairs in figure skating in the sense that a planned routine was clearly displayed.

Pierre / Pierre F
3.
This is what I assume was a husband and wife team. Both were in good condition and posed well. It is difficult to speak more in depth about some of the competitors since at this level, most don't have major flaws or major strengths to speak of. I hope the pictures included in this DVD contest review page help to speak some of the words that I don't.

Klug / Pangerl A
2.
This routine was another well orchestrated one.

Hovey-Walk / Scalesse USA
1.
This couple was definitely the best in the class. Both members of the pair were in great shape and displayed excellent muscularity. The routine was well put together and they both displayed their physiques well.

Posedown:
The group posed down to by "Looking for a new love" by Jody Watley and the winners were announced.

Some more footage of the expo was shown and eighties superstar Eduardo Kawak was shown posing! He looked great and it was sad to hear about his passing in the Spring of 2006.

Juniors

Dennis. Schroevers NL
6.
He posed to "In the Name of Love" by U2. His arms were a little too small for his frame but he was for the most part balanced and had a moderate, healthy looking build.

Leonard St. Cyr GB
5.
The next competitor had good biceps and a good back and hit some of the classic poses well as well as the twisting ones.

G. Hofstetter A
4.
The next competitor posed to the same music that Samir did at the 1984 Mr. Olympia Contest and for the life of me, I have no clue what the hell it's called! Shawn Perrine of FLEX magazine asked Samir himself and even he didn't know lol. Great music to go along with a very good physique - awesome most muscular pose.

Frank Debus FRG
3.
I personally didn't consider this competitor to be as impressive as the previous one, but he did have a balanced and shapely physique and posed very well.

Steve. Avery GB
2.
The next competitor was a handsome young fellow who appeared to have a good deal of size on a frame where I could not tell the height. He hit Bob Paris' classic kneeling pose and to be honest, did it fairly well.

Joe De Angelis USA
1.
The next competitor had good size and good overall conditioning. He powered through his posing very well and his muscles really came to life in the most muscular pose.

Posedown:
A brief posedown followed and De Angelis was announced the winner.
 

Men Short Class 3 (-1.72 m)

Max Pangerl A
6.
The first routine was good all around, but with nothing spectacular to comment on - however, his most muscular pose was pretty impressive.

Gunter Osweiler FRG
5.
He posed with a slow style and hit some great poses - his front double biceps and front lat spread were great and he had a very balanced most muscular pose - great chest.

Larry Bernstein USA
4.
He posed to "Bad to the Bone" by George Thorogood & the Destroyers. His physique was good, but he lacked stature from what I could tell. His front double biceps was wicked.

Terry Philips GB
3.
He posed to the same operatic song that Ronnie Coleman did at the 2003 Mr. Olympia as well as several other contests. Lee Haney used that song also. He was very muscular and conditioned, but short in stature from what I could tell.

Peter Bosch NL
2.
The next competitor was very muscular and conditioned - widest most muscular of the class so far and in good condition to boot.

Jerry Scalesse USA
1.
He posed to "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake. He trumped the previous most muscular, although they were close. He looked awesome!

Posedown:
After a brief posedown, Jerry Scalesse of the USA was announced the winner.

Some more footage was shown which featured Eduardo Kawak who posed next to a Porsch and looked incredible.

Men Medium Class 2 (-1.77 m)

The next class featured pre-contest favourite Joe Meeko - the under 5'10 class.

Kevin McNamara South Africa
6.
A good physique was displayed, although the legs were lacking somewhat, and he had strange looking elbows like the ones Chris Dickerson displayed. His rear lat spread was impressive but his most muscular was not.

Claudio Mostacci I
5.
He had good size and conditioning and looked good in some of the traditional poses as well as some of the twisting ones. He had long limbs for his height and could have been as tall as 5'9 and 1/2 but I think he was shorter since it was difficult to tell. Although he didn't have any major strengths, he didn't have any major weaknesses either.

Peter Andreas FRG
4.
He posed to the same music that Ronnie Coleman had used in 2003 as was used earlier in this contest. His back was very big and he looked very impressive in the rear poses. He was no slouch for either muscle mass or conditioning and was a good addition to this class. His hands clasped most muscular pose looked great!

Steven Strunk USA
3.
"We Will Rock You" by Queen was chosen by this competitor and he was another bodybuilder who was big and in good condition.

Joe Meeko USA
2.
At 5'8 and around 215 pounds or so, Joe was one of the best seen yet in this DVD. His rear lat spread was huge and his conditioning was always good. He displayed his infamous moon pose which was later banned from competition. Although Joe hasn't spoken in too much detail about his steroid use, I would say he was built using classic test/dbol like stacks. He said he never abused these substances - the same can't be said for all pros and amateurs competing today.

Olev Annus Estonia
1.
I'm not so sure that Olev deserved to beat Joe and some of the others, but his legs did look bigger than Joe's and his most muscular was more impressive in my opinion. He was announced the winner and looked very excited about that.

Men Tall Class 1 (+1.77 m)

Jan van Roy B
6.
He posed to "America" by Neil Diamond and lip synched it a little bit. His physique was ok, but lacking mostly in size compared to others in his class.

Teikie Joubert South Africa
5.
Big upper body, but lacking the legs to go with it. Great oil and tanning and an interesting choice of music. I often wonder whatever happened to some of the amateurs I see or read about in contests like this.

Pete. Moen USA
4.
It's hard to tell the heights of some of the competitors shown, but they were all at least 5'10. With the muscularity this competitor displayed, he would look pretty big in person - wide rear lat spread and good legs to go with his big back and arms, he was a good addition to this class. His triceps were very defined as he hit the side triceps pose.

Owen Neil GB
3.
This man was very big and looked to be pretty tall too. He looked somewhat smooth but had grat size which made up for any lack of conditioning or shape he may have had.

Gary Lewer Aus
2.
Gary was a big man! A Mr. Australia and GMV star. They have him in several DVDs of his own. He would have been an interesting sight in person during the making of the DVDs because he was very big. His most muscular pose was awesome and highlighted his great condition.

Basil Francis GB
1.
Another quality competitor and routine. Great overall size and conditioning. His hamstrings looked huge which was pretty rare in this contest. He had a great rear lat spread and his quads were very big from the front.

Posedown:
The group posed down to Michael Jackson and the winner was then announced as the brand new Mr. World. It was another title for Basil Francis.

Overall:
Next up, the three class winners posed off to determine the overall NABBA Mr. World winner. More Michael Jackson music was used during the posedown. Olev Annus, the medium class winner, won the whole show.

Overall Review:

This contest was pretty well exactly what I expected in terms of the caliber of competitors at the show. What I found interesting was the figure competitors, since I had never really followed figure before. I also thought the Pairs was interesting since it is also something I never saw much of before, but seem to recall Tony Pearson participating in it during the eighties.

This is a nice little gem for those interested in top amateur bodybuilding of the eighties and features a lot of competitors who really show all around eighties style. When I had ordered the DVD in for review, I expected it to display moderate physiques and little known bodybuilders who I never got to see much of anywhere else, and that is exactly what I got. Joe Meeko was an impressive bodybuilder and it was nice to see him on the competitive stage.

Review by Matt Canning.