Top Strong Woman - Juliette Bergmann (champion Dutch female bodybuilder)

Juliette Maria Suzanna Bergmann (born November 30, 1958) is a champion Dutch female bodybuilder, the 2001 Ms. Olympia.

Bergmann was born in Vlaardingen, Netherlands, from a Dutch mother and an Indonesian father. During her childhood she lost two brothers, causing much grief to her mother, who laid a larger responsibility on Juliette, the oldest child. That period in her life, she believes, made her a disciplined and responsible person.

After finishing school she went on to study financial management, journalism and fitness training. She got married (married name - Meijer) in 1975, but divorced in 1985.

She began training to lose weight in 1981, but didn't become a bodybuilder until 1983, after attending a female bodybuilding contest where she got a very good impression of the competitors. By the end of that year she would enter her first competition, where she placed first.

In 1984 she won the Dutch National Championship and repeated as champion in 1985. Later that same year she qualified for the World Amateur Championship, where she achieved first place. By the end of 1985 she competed in her first Ms. Olympia, but did poorly with a 14th placing. However, she achieved significant success in 1986 by winning the Pro World Championship, placing second (by one point) in the Ms. International, and sixth in the Ms. Olympia. After 1989 she planned to take a year off from competition and compete again in 1991, but her plans were derailed when she suffered a badly broken ankle. She was not able to train seriously again for a couple of years.

Top Strong Woman - Shelley Beattie (professional female bodybuilder and actress)

Shelley Beattie (August 24, 1967 – February 16, 2008) was a professional female bodybuilder and actress.

At the peak of her competitive career as a professional bodybuilder Beattie managed to reach the top-three at the Ms. International and Ms. Olympia contests, the two most prestigious shows for female professional bodybuilders. She was also well-known for having been one of the few deaf professional female bodybuilders in the world, making the cover of DeafLife magazine twice in the '90s. After her retirement she joined the Grinder on America3's America's Cup team and managed to reach second place in such competition in 1994 and again in 1995.

Shelley Ann Beattie was born in Orange County, California. At the age of three, Beattie suffered a hearing loss from an aspirin overdose. Her peers' misunderstandings and lack of education about people who are deaf led to trouble socializing. Since she could only understand her classmates if they were facing her, she had difficulty communicating with her classmates, who assumed she was mentally disadvantaged and rejected her. Beattie became a loner and began to use sports to deal with her frustrations and lack of social life. She also learned sign language and had several operations and speech therapy to improve her ability to communicate.

In school, Beattie began to compete in track and field, including Heptathlon, Cross Country, Hurdling, and 400 meter sprints. A gifted athlete, she was a natural in all these events. Her specialty was the low hurdle, where she set school records. As a standout in track and field, Beattie enjoyed the competition. Her hearing loss was not a factor when she was running. Beattie began lifting weights at 14 to improve her time in the hurdles and 400s. She wanted to compete against the boys since she was so much better than the girls on her team. Weight lifting was also a way for Beattie to rebel. She wanted to stand out from the other girls, and knew that weight lifting would allow her to achieve this. She first began weight training in her high school's small weight room, and made quick gains. By the age of 15, she was seeing the results of her time in the gym.

Top Strong Woman - Kay Baxter (pioneer female bodybuilder)

Kay Baxter (October 3, 1945 – May 16, 1988) was a pioneer female bodybuilder.

Baxter competed in women's bodybuilding from 1979 to 1986, competing in four IFBB Ms. Olympia competitions between 1982 and 1985. She was inspirational for many up-and-coming female bodybuilders, especially those who desired a physique that would be large and muscular even by bodybuilding standards. She was also a groundbreaker in making wrestling videos and short action movies that catered to fans of women's bodybuilding.

The early female bodybuilders already had been groundbreakers, as they had been muscular athletes, usually in track or gymnastics, at a time when neither muscularity nor sports were encouraged for young girls. Baxter had been a gymnast and was still quite well muscled when taking up bodybuilding in her mid-30s. She competed in some of the earliest prominent women's bodybuilding contests. The first major mainstream article on the sport, "Here She Is, Miss, Well, What?" in the March 17, 1980 Sports Illustrated opened with full page shots of Cammie Lusko and Baxter doing rear double biceps shots. A full-body shot of Baxter doing a front double biceps pose was on the inside page. At the time, Baxter weighed around 120 pounds for contests at 5-3.

In 1982, Muscle & Fitness ran a three page photo feature on different types of female bodybuilding physiques—Shelly Gruwell with the long, lean physique most like a model; Rachel McLish epitomizing the muscular, average framed woman; Baxter with the more muscular than average (for a bodybuilder) but still graceful build (she was posed with right leg extended, squatting on the left leg); 5-1 Mary Roberts with the short, thick, powerful build. Yet even as that issue hit the stands, Baxter was training with legendary male bodybuilder Dan "The Ripper" Ross with the goal of redefining the outer limits of female bodybuilder muscularity. She later admitted to taking some sterioids during this period. She and Ross expected at the 1982 Ms. Olympia, she would finish either first or last.

Baxter's clothed entrance into the host hotel lobby at that Olympia has become legendary among longtime bodybuilding fans. Reg Bradford, in his contest coverage for BodyPower magazine, called her "massive with a capital M" and declared it was apparent "Lindsay Wagner had been imitating The Bionic Woman on television" for here was a true superwoman in the flesh. In a posthumous interview published by Female Bodybuilding and Weight Training, Baxter claimed a competitor came up to her in tears, saying, "That's not what a female bodybuilder should look like!" Muscle & Fitness' contest coverage estimated Baxter gained 8 pounds of muscle, an amazing amount back then for a 5-3 female bodybuilder. As a matter of fact, Baxter weighed in at 129. By modern standards, she would be a good-sized light heavyweight in a class competition. Back then, only Carla Dunlap rivaled Baxter's combination of size and definition. The Women's Physique Publication reported that the IFBB circulated a memo among the judges, admonishing them not to reward "uncontrolled muscularity." Baxter would finish eighth, but immediately gained a devoted legion of followers among fans and more than a few competitors.

Top Strong Woman - Christa Bauch (professional female bodybuilder from Germany)

Christa Bauch (born on December 19, 1947) is a professional female bodybuilder from Germany.

Born in Bad Schandau, East Germany, Bauch enjoyed music, riding and sprinting at school, before training as a masseuse and swimming pool medic. At 27 she left East Germany to settle in the West; this was done legally, as she married a West German citizen and waited the required five years for an exit permit. Her oldest son, Daniel, was five years old, and she was pregnant with her second child, Patricia. Shortly after she relocated to West Germany, her husband, employed by the German engineering company AEG, was transferred to Baghdad. Further spells followed in Guatemala and Algeria, before Bauch returned to Germany on her own with the children, to ensure they got a proper education. Her third child, Rene, was born a few years later.

Looking for a challenge, Bauch took up rifle shooting for several years before taking up bodybuilding. Bauch won several local and regional shows before her first big competitive year in 1987. After only two years training she took second places in the NABBA German, European and World championships (in the last of these losing out to American Connie McCloskey). In 1988 she switched to the WABBA organization, taking the overall European title as well as the couples title. The following year she move to the IFBB. After a disappointing second place in the German Nationals, Bauch won the World Games heavyweight title in Karlsruhe (only 20 miles from her home), beating out a strong field including countrywoman Jutta Tippelt and American Kim King. With the World Games victory she earned her pro card.

Bauch's first pro show was the 1990 Ms. International, at age 43. After turning in an impressive fourth place finish, she was disqualified as a result of a positive drug test (WPW, 1993; ). More problems followed as Bauch had to have an operation later that year to remove a vein in her leg. A few months later she bounced back with a fourth place finish in the Italian Grand Prix in Rimini, missing a Ms. Olympia qualification by one slot.

Bauch's highest placing as a professional was second at the 1994 Canada Cup. She retired from competition after the 1995 Jan Tana Classic. Although she no longer competes, she continues to train. At a height of 5'3", Bauch's normal contest weight ranged from 132 to 145 pounds.

Top Strong Woman - Nicole Bass (American bodybuilder, actress, professional wrestler and valet)

Nicole Bass-Fuchs (born October 26, 1964) is an American bodybuilder, actress, professional wrestler and valet previously working for companies such as Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Federation, XPW, and the National Wrestling Alliance.

Nicole Bass had an extensive career as a female bodybuilder in the late '80s and throughout the '90s.

Nicole Bass debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling during the first half of 1998. She aligned herself with Justin Credible, Chastity and Jason. She participated in feuds with Tommy Dreamer, Mikey Whipwreck and Beulah McGillicutty.

Bass soon joined the World Wrestling Federation, debuting as Sable's bodyguard at WrestleMania XV on March 28, 1999. She became involved in an extended feud with Debra McMichael, which culminated in a mixed tag match pitting Bass and Val Venis against Jeff Jarrett and Debra at the 1999 WWF Over the Edge. Bass was then aligned with Venis until she accidentally whacked him with Jarrett's guitar after losing a bikini contest to Debra. The following week, she interfered in a match between Debra and Ivory, with Debra losing her Women's Championship due to Nicole's interference. This led to a brief alliance between Bass and Ivory, which ended abruptly when Bass left the WWF and filed a lawsuit against the organization for sexual harassment, claiming she was sexually assaulted backstage by Steve Lombardi. In 2003 the case went to court and was ultimately dismissed.

Bass continues to wrestle on the independent wrestling circuit. Bass also does bookings for public events and for personal training.

Top Strong Woman - Fannie Barrios(professional female bodybuilder from Venezuela.)

Fannie Josefina Barrios was born in Caracas, Venezuela on May 30, 1964. She was the Venezuelan champion in 1997 and 1998. She earned her pro card in 1998 when she won a contest called Absolute Center of the Americas in San Salvador. Her professional debut was at the 1999 Jan Tana Classic. In 2000 she moved to Florida with her husband, Alex Ramirez, and her daughter, Johadynis. There, she worked as a personal trainer and chef in the Miami area. She was a two-time class winner at the Jan Tana Classic, winning the middleweight class in 2001 and the lightweight class in 2002. Her final contest was the 2005 New York Pro Championship on May 21, where she finished in third place.

On August 7, 2005, Fannie died at approximately 2 AM of an apparent stroke. She had spent the previous day helping out backstage at the NPC Southern States contest in Fort Lauderdale, where her husband was competing.