LEGENDARY women’s professional bodybuilder Lisa Lyon has died at age 70 after battling cancer.
Lyon, a world champion, helped put female bodybuilding on the map and went on to pose for Playboy and inspire a Marvel character.
Lyon died at her home in California on Friday, a week after news broke that she was in grave condition and going into hospice care.
She was battling stomach cancer at the time of her death, a close friend told TMZ.
Lyon rose to stardom after becoming a champion and helped to make women’s bodybuilding mainstream.
She won the first-ever International Federation of Bodybuilders Woman’s World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in 1979.
The iconic contest was one of only two competitive bodybuilding competitions that she entered.
She went on to pose for Playboy the following year, in 1980.
Her cover shot was historic as she was one of the first bodybuilders photographed for the famous publication.
Lyon used that success to transition into television and she appeared on multiple talk shows.
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Lyon also pursued a short acting career and starred in three films in the 1980s, Three Crowns of the Sailor, Getting Physical, and Vamp.
The famous bodybuilder is also said to have been the inspiration behind Frank Miller’s Marvel Comics character Elektra.
Lyon went on to share her fitness expertise with the world, writing a book titled Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic, which was published in 1981.
Her achievements in the sport were recognized as she was inducted into the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Hall of Fame in 2000.
Movie star and bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger was a fan of Lyon and detailed his admiration for her to TMZ.
“She is the best. I love her,” Schwarzenegger said.
Source: Athletics - thesun.co.uk
