Female bodybuilder says Arnold Sports Festival discriminates

Beth Mandyck

The Columbus Dispatch - Beth Mandyck had mostly hung around smaller bodybuilding competitions until she won the Ms. Buffalo Bodybuilding title nine months ago.

That crown vaulted the Rochester, New York, nurse to two national competitions last year. Her trainer told her to set her sights on the Arnold Sports Festival in 2018.

But Ms. Buffalo likely won’t be coming to Columbus.

The Arnold hasn’t offered women’s bodybuilding as a competitive category since 2013. Organizers said the number of women who wanted to compete in bodybuilding competitions had been dropping for years, and the Arnold offers several alternatives.

Mandyck, though, said the annual event discriminates against women by not offering the same competition it has for men. She has lodged complaints with the city.

“The Arnold is like everybody’s dream. When I went to look at it, I was aghast that there was no women’s bodybuilding,” she said. “If there’s a category for men, why can’t there be a category for women?”   Read More >>