Betty Pariso won the heavyweight class of the 1996 NPC Nationals at the age of 40, and with it her IFBB pro card (Wikipedia). Her pro career was only beginning: eight Ms. Olympias, twelve Arnolds, and a pro title at 53.
Eight Olympias, all after 45
She reached the Ms. Olympia stage in 2001, the year she won the heavyweight class of the Jan Tana Pro Classic, and was back every year from 2003 to 2009. Born on 29 January 1956, she was 45 at the first of those shows and 53 at the last (Wikipedia, FitnessVolt). She was also on the qualified list for 2010 and chose to retire instead (2010 Ms. Olympia).
| Year | Ms. Olympia | Place | Age | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Heavyweight class | 6th | 45 | ↗ |
| 2003 | Heavyweight class | 6th | 47 | ↗ |
| 2004 | Heavyweight class | 4th | 48 | ↗ |
| 2005 | Open | 8th | 49 | ↗ |
| 2006 | Open | 6th | 50 | ↗ |
| 2007 | Open | 6th | 51 | ↗ |
| 2008 | Open | 7th | 52 | ↗ |
| 2009 | Open | 6th | 53 | ↗ |
Age is her age at the show, which was held in the autumn each year. Weight classes at the Ms. Olympia ended after 2004.
A pro title at 53
On 8 August 2009 she won the Tampa Bay Pro, ahead of Gale Frankie and Tina Chandler (Wikipedia). She was 53, and no older woman is on record as the winner of an IFBB pro show (FitnessVolt). It was the second pro win of her career, eight years after the 2001 Jan Tana heavyweight class. Earlier that season she had been second at the New York Pro, and in 2010, her final season, she was second at the Phoenix Pro, behind Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia.
Twelve Arnolds, never a Masters class
The Ms. International, the women’s bodybuilding contest of the Arnold Classic, was the other fixed point of her calendar: twelve appearances between 1998 and 2010, with a best finish of 2nd in the heavyweight class in 2003. The 2010 Ms. International, where she placed 5th, was her last contest (Wikipedia).
Through all of it she stayed in the open classes. Masters divisions exist for athletes her age; she never entered one, and she has said why:
I never competed in Masters because I wanted to stand onstage against the best, regardless of age.
Betty Pariso (Instagram, 24 Sep 2026)
At 53, I won the Tampa Pro against women in their 20s.
Betty Pariso (Instagram, 24 Sep 2026)
The complete record
Every placing from her first national show in 1993 to her last Arnold in 2010 is on her SteelQueens profile, each with its source. Two contests are left out on purpose: the 1992 local shows, which rest on a single source, and a 2001 Pro Extravaganza placing that only one site lists.
Follow
She is on Instagram (@parisobetty), where her bio reads “From IFBB Champion to Ageless Model”.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_Pariso
- https://fitnessvolt.com/bodybuilding/athletes/betty-pariso/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Ms._Olympia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Ms._Olympia
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DdrZzhkNz5_/
- https://www.instagram.com/p/DZI-96WJ_jt/
Compiled by the SteelQueens editorial team from public sources. Betty, if anything here is wrong or you would like something added, tell us and it gets fixed first.