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Bev Francis
Bev Francis was runner-up at the Ms. Olympia in 1990 and 1991 and on the podium four years before that. She came to bodybuilding from powerlifting and shot put, and was Australian national champion in the latter.
Known for
Six Olympia appearances between 1986 and 1991, with third in 1987, 1988 and 1989 and second in 1990 and 1991. She won the World Pro Championships in 1987.
Her physique was more muscular than the judging of the time was willing to reward, and the argument about whether it should have been is one of the defining disputes in the division's history. She finished second twice and never won it.
Early career
She was a powerlifter and a national shot put champion in Australia before she competed in bodybuilding at all, and the strength background is what produced a build the sport had not seen in a woman.
Our database holds eleven contests for her, between 1984 and 1991, and one win.
Championship record
Championship appearances
Counted from the same results table below: an appearance is one contest entered (in the years the Olympia also judged weight classes, one appearance can carry two placings), an Olympia title is the overall win in that division, and Top 3 counts first, second and third together. The last row is every professional contest on record for Bev Francis.
Ms. Olympia
6Appearances
0Titles
5Top 3
All contests on record
10Contests
1Wins
8Top 3
Professional results
Every professional contest result on record for Bev Francis, 10 in all. Won by names the winner of the division Bev Francis competed in, and shows a dash where that winner cannot be pinned to one person in the database.
| Year | Contest | Division | Place | Won by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #2 | Lenda Murray |
| 1990 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #2 | Lenda Murray |
| 1989 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 | Cory Everson |
| 1988 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 | Cory Everson |
| 1987 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 | Cory Everson |
| 1987 | World Pro Championships | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #1 | Winner |
| 1986 | Los Angeles Pro Championships | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 | Diana Dennis |
| 1986 | Ms International | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 | Erica Giesen |
| 1986 | Ms. Olympia | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #10 | Cory Everson |
| 1984 | Grand Prix Las Vegas | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #8 | Carla Dunlap |
Where these results come from. Each contest in the table was recorded from a named source, and for Bev Francis those sources are Wikipedia and MuscleMemory. Open any contest above and that page names its own source and links to it where the source is still reachable. MuscleMemory is the exception: the archive we recorded those older shows from no longer answers at the addresses we hold, so it is credited by name and not offered as a link.
Every professional season
Olympia
1st place
2nd place
3rd place
Other
- Pro Debut
- 1984
- Olympia Debut
- 1986
- First Win
- 1987
- Last Contest
- 1991
Bev Francis at the Olympia, year by year
| Year | Placement | Division |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 10 | Women's Bodybuilding |
| 1987 | 3 | Women's Bodybuilding |
| 1988 | 3 | Women's Bodybuilding |
| 1989 | 3 | Women's Bodybuilding |
| 1990 | 2 | Women's Bodybuilding |
| 1991 | 2 | Women's Bodybuilding |
Data updated
Amateur and other shows not counted above
1 result from amateur shows and other contests this archive does not class as professional. Every total on this page covers the professional career only, so these are listed here but never counted, and they have no contest page.
Show the list
| Year | Contest | Division | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Gran Prix Los Angeles | Women's Bodybuilding (Open) | #3 |
More Women's Bodybuilding athletes Athletes from Australia Bev Francis peak window
Legacy
Francis is the competitor the question was asked about: how muscular a woman is allowed to be before the judges stop rewarding it. The sport has never settled it, and her two runner-up finishes are the record of it being asked.
Most-met rivals
Compare any two athletes →In 7 meetings, Bev Francis finished ahead of Diana Dennis 5 times to 2.
Opponents are ranked by how often they shared a stage and how big the stage was, not by reputation. A meeting is one contest where both competed in the same division and both were placed.
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Sources
Competition placings on this page come from our own contest database and cover 1984 to 1991.
Her powerlifting and shot put background is carried from the biography previously held in our corpus.
Win rate here is first-place finishes as a share of all 10 professional contest results. It is published only where a career holds at least five, because below that a single placing moves the figure by twenty points or more.
Missing from this profile
No height or weight on record.
Submit a sourced bio stat
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