Lenda Murray is an IFBB female bodybuilder from United States. She holds eight Ms. Olympia bodybuilding title’s.
Lenda Murray Biography
Lenda Murray is an IFBB female bodybuilder from United States. She holds eight Ms. Olympia title’s, the highest achievement in professional female bodybuilding.
Early Life
Lenda Murray was born in 1962 in Detroit, Michigan. She attended Henry Ford High School, where she held a record for sprinting and varsity cheerleading. After she graduated she went on to attend and varsity cheerleader. She went on to attend Western Michigan University, where she earned her degree in political science. While at the university she continued to do cheerleading and in 1982 she went on to become the 2nd African American to be choosen as the university’s homecoming queen.
After a brief tenure cheerleading for the Michigan Panthers in the now-defunct United States Football League, Murray took to the bodybuilding stage in 1985. She rose quickly through the ranks, soon winning contests at the state and regional levels.
Bodybuilding Career
In 1989, she earned her professional status at the IFBB North American Championships. Murray 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, Murray succeeded six-time champion Cory Everson to become Ms. Olympia, a title Murray would hold for most of the following decade. She 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.
Murray lost the Ms. Olympia title to Kim Chizevsky in 1996, and went into retirement after finishing second to Chizevsky again in 1997. 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.
Image Gallery
Contest History
1985 NPC Michigan State
1985 NPC Eastern Michigan
1986 NPC Michigan
1986 NPC Ironwoman Michigan
1987 NPC Michigan
1987 NPC North Coast
1988 NPC Michigan
1989 NPC Junior Nationals – (HW & Overall)
1989 IFBB North American Championships – (HW & Overall)
1990 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1991 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1992 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1993 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1994 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1995 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1996 IFBB Ms. Olympia
1997 IFBB Ms. Olympia
2002 IFBB Ms. Olympia – (HW & Overall)
2003 IFBB Ms. Olympia – (HW & Overall)
2004 IFBB Ms. Olympia – (HW)
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