The tallest female bodybuilder named Maria Wattel rose to fame in 2021 after securing a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Despite the global recognition and honor, Wattel fails to receive the same treatment from her sporting community. In her recent post, Maria Wattel opened up about the hardships she faced in bodybuilding competitions.

As recently recorded as of January 15th, 2021, the 5′ 11.92″ (182.7cm) tall Wattel holds the record for the tallest professional bodybuilder in the female category. Things have roughly remained the same and a testament to confirm this is Wattel’s bodybuilding career. In fact, the stereotypes surrounding female bodybuilders in the industry have roots that still run deep.

Maria Wattel calls out the judges of bodybuilding competitions

As 2022 was coming to an end, Maria Wattel took to her Instagram to break her silence on the unnatural expectations in the bodybuilding contests. Wattel shared a photo of herself on stage during one of the bodybuilding contests. Adding a caption to the post, Wattel expressed how she feels about the contests and the judgment criteria.

“About bodybuilding competitions; I never listen to anyone. I take to stage MY PACKAGE, what I think is BEAUTIFUL 🤩 FEMALE with MUSCLE,” the ever-confident Maria Wattel wrote. Talking about the competitions Wattel shared that in the current times, the judges expect a physique that can only be created after pushing one’s limits beyond the extreme.

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“It must be over the physical limit and freak or schredded. (With all complications/side effects…) Would this have been 1985 or somewhere in the ‘90ties MY display of MUSCULARITY and FEMININITY would definitely score!” she added. “When the whole fitness industry is screaming classic and old school…..the judging seems to go in another direction. Drop 🎤,” Wattel concluded. However, this wasn’t the first or the last time Wattel spoke about the obvious disparities in the community.

The bodybuilder was treated as an outcast in the gender-biased community

On 27 December 2022, Wattel shared another post on her Instagram. Herein, she spoke about the difference in the treatment between tall male bodybuilders and female bodybuilders. Wattel said that while men are praised for their tall height, women are usually looked down upon if their height crosses the average limit.

She further detailed that while it is difficult for both men and women to train their physique, the women usually end up with the short end of the stick. Further, Wattel mentioned that she isn’t the only female athlete who has faced such a situation. Concluding the caption, Wattel asked her fans for support in standing up against gender stereotypes in the field of bodybuilding.

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Safe to say, her fans did not disappoint. Soon her comments section was flooded with positive, supportive messages. Maria Wattel is among the few public figures who use her platform to shed light on the issues that are otherwise overlooked in the community.