Which pageant had athletic contests?

Back in ‘91 or ‘92, I stumbled onto Pensacola Beach, taken over by a women’s fitness competition that was half physical contests (obstacle courses, endurance gauntlets, volleyball, jumprope, etc) and the other half was a beauty / bikini portion. I can’t remember if this was a Jana-Tana or Ms Galaxy regionals or what. But it was GLORIOUS and so much fun to see.

The Conaco station there was flooded with the girls the entire weekend, and they were the most kind, approachable and a delight. Not one snob or bad attitude in the bunch.

They were all having a great time. Never forgot that weekend! But over time I’ve never seen an event like that again—fitness contests were more like FBB posing stuff and no “physical challenges”. Were there national pageants/contests that had the athletic portion? Or was my experience prolly just a local one-off?

That is how old shows were (Late 1800s through ~1970s). Having bodybuilding and "strongman" type events at the same show was standard. It was more like circus attractions.

Besides a few outliers, women didn't get huge until the mid 90s. The first several Ms Olympia winners were the size of modern bikini competitors.

You probably caught one of the last shows with that old style format. Arnold is an old school guy so there's strength and bodybuilding events at the Arnold Sports Fest in Ohio.