Female bodybuilder Lenda Murray was born on February 22nd, 1962 in Detroit, Michigan.
Lenda is the world’s most successful female bodybuilder so far being an eight time winner of the Ms. Olympia title, the highest achievement in professional female bodybuilding.
But if Iris Kyle wins it in 2011, she wil tie Lenda.
Lenda was both a record holding sprinter and varsity cheerleader at Henry Ford High School in Detroit.
She went on to attend Western Michigan University and earned a degree in political science. While she was at Western Michigan, she continued to cheerlead, and became the first African American to be chosen as the university’s homecoming queen in 1982.
After briefly cheerleading for the Michigan Panthers in the (now defunct) United States Football League, Lenda took to the bodybuilding stage in 1985. She rose quickly through the ranks, soon winning contests at the state and regional levels. In 1989, she earned her professional status at the IFBB North American Championships. Lenda soon became a regular presence in bodybuilding magazines and a favorite subject of photographer Bill Dobbins who focused extensively on her in his books The Women and Modern Amazons.
On November 24, 1990, Lenda succeeded six-time champion Cory Everson to become Ms. Olympia, a title she would hold for most of the following decade. Lenda appeared in such mass-market publications as Sports Illustrated, Ebony, Mademoiselle, and Vanity Fair, as well as in Annie Leibovitz’s photo essay Women. Murray’s physique became the standard against which professional female bodybuilders are now judged – an hourglass figure, with broad shoulders tapering into a V-shaped torso mirrored by a proportionally-developed lower body.
Lenda lost the Ms. Olympia title to Kim Chizevsky in 1997, and went into retirement after finishing second to Kim again in 1998. However, after four years of retirement she returned to the Ms. Olympia stage, and won two more Ms. Olympia titles in 2002 and 2003. She finished second in the heavyweight class to Iris Kyle in 2004, and again retired from competition. Lenda is married to Urel McGill and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Lenda's Contest history:
1985 NPC Michigan State - 4th
1985 NPC Eastern Michigan - 1st
1986 NPC Michigan - 3rd
1986 NPC Ironwoman Michigan - 3rd
1987 NPC Michigan - 3rd
1987 NPC North Coast - 2nd
1988 NPC Michigan - 1st
1989 NPC Junior Nationals - 1st
1989 IFBB North American Championships - 1st
1990 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1991 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1992 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1993 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1994 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1995 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
1996 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 2nd
1997 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 2nd
2002 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
2003 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 1st
2004 IFBB Ms. Olympia - 2nd
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