Vitor and his clinic have financial ties to the sport’s governing body through Tamer El-Guindy, a promoter of bodybuilding events and producer at the Olympia event.
Coelho, who grew up in Brazil, hasn’t denied or confirmed whether she received PMMA injections. Cicherillo asked Coelho about the controversy at a public seminar in September.
“If I get into that, I’m not doing any good for the sport,” Coelho said. Coelho didn’t return several messages seeking additional comment. Vitor and El-Guindy also didn’t’ return messages.
Bodybuilder Sarah Villegas is pictured with an Olympia medal.
Not against rules
The governing body of the sport is the IFBB Pro League, originally known as the International Federation of Body Builders. The organization and its president Jim Manion also did not return several messages seeking comment by phone and email. Nor did Jake Wood, owner of the Olympia event, the top event in the sport.
After Villegas received this information about Coelho last year, Villegas said her coach, Taktak, shared it with league leadership. In response, Villegas said the IFBB Pro League stated it “has no rules prohibiting PMMA plastic muscle implants” and that “no one is asked to submit a resume of what they did to attain their physique before stepping on stage.”
This response echoed top personalities in the sport who criticized Villegas for speaking out. Shawn Ray, a 13-time Mr. Olympia finalist, said on a podcast with Cicherillo that Villegas “sounds like a sore loser” after getting beat by Coelho for the crown. He and others said there are no rules against this, and it’s up to the judges to pick a winner based on what they see, much like a beauty pageant. Because of that, they defend Coelho.
Cicherillo has called Villegas’ allegations “very unprofessional.”
