This trend started to emerge in 1983 when with McLish not competing in the big shows, Carla Dunlap won the 1983 Ms. Olympia.

In 1984 Corinna Everson won the Ms. Olympia title in Montreal Canada, the first competition to be held outside the United States.

Everson would go on to win six consecutive Ms. Olympia titles in a row before retiring in 1989 undefeated as a professional, the only woman ever to accomplish this.

Consequently, the IFBB decided to open the 1990 Ms. Olympia to all women with pro cards, and a field of thirty competitors entered.

Lenda Murray earned a decisive victory by winning the first Ms. Olympia competition she attended in 1990 and emerging as the successor to Corinna Everson.

Lenda Murray barely edged out Bev Francis, a former Australian powerlifter, by a single point that year.

In response to the increased size displayed by Murray and Francis at the previous Ms. Olympia, the IFBB made an attempt to "feminize" the sport.

The IFBB, led by Ben Weider, had created a series of "femininity" rules—one line in the judging rules said that competitors should not be "too big".

Advertising in Muscle & Fitness for the 1992 Ms. Olympia featured Anja Schreiner of Germany prominently, relegating two-time defending champion Murray to a small "also competing" notice.

Nevertheless, Murray apparently met the "femininity" requirements, and managed to retain her title; Schreiner finished 6th, and promptly retired from competition.

Directed by: Keith Hobelman In 1999 Ms. Olympia was originally scheduled to be held on October 9 in Santa Monica, California.

The backlash following the announcement led to a flurry of activity, with the contest being rescheduled as part of the Women's Extravaganza (promoted by Kenny Kassel and Bob Bonham) in Secaucus, New Jersey on 2 October.

It read, “For aesthetics and health reasons, the IFBB Professional Division requests that female athletes in Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure decrease the amount of muscularity by a factor of 20%.

[26] According to Bill Dobbins, reports he heard that the moving the Ms. Olympia from Friday night to Saturday in the Las Vegas Convention Center for free and as part of the Expo was an attempt to improve pay-per-view sales and removing weight divisions was based on the perception that the men and women bodybuilders should operate according to the same rules.

According to John Plummer, editor of the Flex United Kingdom edition, commented that she looked "flat" in the pre-judging, while Alina Popa displayed "great, full muscle bellies".

But he noted the audience gasped when Iris did her first back double biceps pose during the finals, revealing "trademark ripped glutes and unbeatable shape".

According to John, he commented that Alina receiving 2nd place resulted in boos from the audience and that many felt she, who described was "well-conditioned" and had appeared to "out-muscle" Iris, especially from the rear poses, should have got the Ms. Olympia title.

[34] On 14 February 2020 A360 Media, LLC sold Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend to Jake Wood.

[35][36] Later in 2020, Andrea Shaw, a dark horse competitor coming off her previous 2020 wins at the Omaha Pro and Rising Phoenix World Championships, defeated Helle Trevino and Margaret Martin, both of whom were former Ms Rising Phoenix title holders and obtained the Ms. Olympia title.