Lynn Conkwright (May 30, 1954 – June 14, 2017) was a professional

female bodybuilder Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.

from the

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Biography

Lynn was born on May 30, 1954, in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. Conkwright trained for eight years in gymnastics, and won the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

State Gymnastics Championships. She began weight training to improve her gymnastics. Despite her small stature (5' tall and just over 100 pounds), she was one of the top professional competitors in the early 1980s. During her competitive career she became known for her incredible flexibility during her performances. Her greatest success was winning the 1981 Pro World Championship. She also won the couples competition with Chris Dickerson in the same contest. Lynn competed in the first six

Ms. Olympia The IFBB Ms. Olympia is both the highest ranking professional female bodybuilding competition and the title of the winner of the competition. It was first organized in 1980, and was held as part of the Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance ...

contests (the only other woman to do so was

Carolyn Cheshire Carolyn is a female given name, a variant of Caroline. Other spellings include Karolyn, Carolyne, Carolynn or Carolynne. Caroline itself is one of the feminine forms of Charles. List of Notable People * Carolyn Bennett (born 1950), Canadian ...

), twice finishing as high as third. Lynn was selected by

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to represent women's bodybuilding in the women's '' Superstars'' competition in 1982, where she finished tenth in a field of twelve competitors. Conkwright placed first in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

, third in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

shooting, third in

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, fifth in the

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

race, fifth in

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

, and seventh in the

obstacle course An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual, team or animal must navigate, usually while being timed. Obstacle courses can include running, climbing, jumping, crawling, swimming, and balancing elements with th ...

. After retiring in 1988, Lynn continued to be active in the fitness industry. In late 1988 and early 1989 at the age of 34 she became the first

United States Sports Academy The United States Sports Academy is a private university focused on sports and located in Daphne, Alabama. It offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs as well as certificate programs. Founded in 1972, the academy has provided its ...

student to be certified as a bodybuilding coach after the United States Sports Academy began offering a Masters of Sport Science in Fitness Management. This suited Lynn very well since at one time she was the weight training coach for tennis superstar

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

. Later, Conkwright worked as the director of Weider Athlete Promotions and managed Weider contracted athletes. She was inducted into the

IFBB Hall of Fame The IFBB Hall of Fame was established in 1999 to honor outstanding athletes and officials in the sport of bodybuilding. There have been no inductees since 2011. Induction years 1999 *Carla Dunlap *Cory Everson *John Grimek *Lee Haney *Rachel McLi ...

in 2003.

Contest history

*1980 NPC Miss Virginia Beach - 1st *1980 NPC USA Championship - 5th *1980 NPC

Frank Zane Frank Zane (born June 28, 1942) is a retired American professional bodybuilder and author. He is a three-time Mr. Olympia, and his physique is considered one of the greatest in the history of bodybuilding due to his meticulous focus on symmetry ...

Invitational - 3rd *1980 IFBB

- 3rd *1981 IFBB Pro World Championships - 1st *1981 IFBB World Couples (with Chris Dickerson) - 1st *1981 IFBB

- 3rd *1982 IFBB

- 4th *1983 IFBB

- 4th *1984 IFBB

- 8th *1985 IFBB

- 16th *1988 IFBB Pro World Championship - 14th

Magazine covers

*1981 August ''Muscle & Fitness'' *1982 September ''Body & Power''

References

*Roark, Joe, "Factoids - Bodybuilder Lynn Conkwright", ''

Flex Flex or FLEX may refer to: Computing * Flex (language), developed by Alan Kay * FLEX (operating system), a single-tasking operating system for the Motorola 6800 * FlexOS, an operating system developed by Digital Research * FLEX (protocol), a comm ...

'', October, 2003 *Reynolds, Bill. Hangin Loose With Muscleaneous: First Official Bodybuilding Coach. California: Flex Magazine(Volume 6). February 1989. . (Woodland Hills, CA: I, Brute Enterprises, Inc., 1988). Section: Departments: page 21 covers Lynn Conkwright's article.

External links

IFBB Hall of Fame profileFactoids
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conkwright, Lynn 1954 births 2017 deaths American female bodybuilders Professional bodybuilders 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Norfolk, Virginia