Female Bodybuilder Files Gender Discrimination Complain At The Arnold Sports Festival

Beth Mandyck wants women’s  open bodybuilder back on the Arnold Classic stage.

With just a week before the Arnold Classic in Ohio, one of the biggest bodybuilding events of the year, it has been reported by NBC News that a gender discrimination complaint has been filed with the city of Columbus, Ohio in regards to the Arnold Sports Festival. The official filed complaint was made by female bodybuilder Beth Mandyck on January 5th, 2018.

Mandyck, 56, has performed exclusively in bodybuilding shows since she began her athletic career about three years ago. She was disappointing that she was unable to compete at the Arnold Classic in Ohio – despite the fact that there is a Men’s Open division. The decline of Women’s Open bodybuilding has been a topic within the industry for years. The Women’s Open division was officially dropped by the Arnold Sports Festival after 2013. This was due to a low turn out that declined year after year.

While the Women’s Open has not been represented in the Arnold Classic for the past four years – there is still a wide variety of female divisions represented in the competition including women’s physique, fitness, figure, bikini master’s figure and master’s bikini.

Though Mandyck won’t be able to participate in the this year’s competition, she has created a Change.org petition and hopes that this will lead to a change on how promoters view Women’s Open bodybuilding. Her complaint has been backed by 10-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle – who also appeared in Generation Iron 2 as she attempted to make a comeback despite lack of notable divisions holding the division in competition.

For more bodybuilding news and updates – make sure to stick around the Generation Iron Fitness Network.

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