International Federation of BodyBuilders
The International Federation of BodyBuilders is a
bodybuilding organization founded in 1946 by Ben and
Joe Weider. The IFBB is responsible for the Mr. Olympia, World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships, and Ms. International competitions.
In November 2004, the IFBB congress voted to change the long name of the organisation to the International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness. The logo and "IFBB" acronym remain unchanged.
Encyclopedia
The
International Federation of BodyBuilders is a
bodybuilding organization founded in 1946 by Ben and
Joe Weider. The IFBB is responsible for the Mr. Olympia, World Amateur Bodybuilding Championships, and Ms. International competitions.
In November 2004, the IFBB congress voted to change the long name of the organisation to the
International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness. The logo and "IFBB" acronym remain unchanged.
History
Until the
1940s the bodybuilding scene was controlled by the Amateur Athletic Union . The Weider's decided to form the IFBB after concerns that the AAU was more interested in promoting the
Olympic sport of
weightlifting than bodybuilding. The IFBB was setup to give "physique athletes" center stage. The first IFBB contest was held in 1949 - the IFBB Mr. America.
This angered the AAU and a bitter feud ensued. This resulted in the AAU banning anyone from entering their contests if they had previously competed for the IFBB.
Olympics
Since the
1980s the IFBB president, Ben Weider, has been petitioning the International Olympic Committee for inclusion of bodybuilding in the
Olympic Games. For many years there was no success until January 30, 1998 when the IFBB was made a provisional member. The membership was made permanent on 1 August 2000. The IFBB then petitioned the Greek organising committee to demonstrate the sport at the
2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens,
Greece. They failed in gaining a demonstration and the current state of bodybuilding at the Olympics is unknown.
External links
