The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
WHEN she took up bodybuilding at the beginning of 2015, Shantel Greenland (then Batch) had no idea she would achieve so much in the sport.
Two years down the line, the 30-year-old has won Ms Western, Ms Bulawayo, Ms Novice, Ms Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, Ms Zimbabwe and Ms Ironman Zimbabwe. Her latest conquest came last Saturday when she was crowned Ms Ironman Zimbabwe at a show held at the Bulawayo Theatre.
Greenland saw off the challenge of fellow Bulawayo competitors, Loreen Moyo and Mitchell Matsito. No other female bodybuilder has achieved so much in Zimbabwe.
Sunday Life tracked Greenland down to well-resourced Body Works Gym at the heart of Bulawayo, which is owned by her United Kingdom-based husband, Nathan which is where she trains. On how she got involved in bodybuilding, Greenland said renowned fitness trainer, Simon Gama is the one who got her into the sport.
She entered Ms Bulawayo Western which she won and then competed in Ms Novice Zimbabwe where she came out tops again. From there she won Ms Bulawayo which grew her confidence which saw her take part in Ms Zimbabwe Beach Bikini section where she was fifth.
Last year proved to be successful for Greenland who started off by winning Ms ZITF, was runner up in the Ms Ironman Zimbabwe, successfully defended her Ms Bulawayo title and took Ms Zimbabwe Beach Bikini section.
“I took up bodybuilding in 2015, Simon Gama introduced me to the sport. I didn’t even know what it was all about. It feels great holding all the titles, obviously there is a little bit of pressure because I know there is definitely people that want to challenge and in future take over the titles,’’ said Greenland.
Winning Ms Zimbabwe Beach Bikini qualified Greenland to participate in the Arnold Classic held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. There was disappointment for her at the biggest multisport show in the continent as a mix up backstage saw her not being able to go on stage. Greenland is still to get over that heartbreak, even though she is trying her best to move forward.
“I can’t say I got over it, I just have to accept that whatever happened, happened. I just need to move forward. Preparations are similar, just for Arnold Classic I would say it was a lot harder because you know your competition is a lot more complex than it is here but the dieting and preps are still basically the same. What I try to do with the diet is that I try to maintain it from Arnold Classic so I didn’t exactly break away from the diet completely,’’ she said.
Competing against local girls, Greenland reckoned that the competition was not as tough as it would have been for Arnold Classic.
“I think maybe experience, I can’t say, I don’t know what they did on stage or how the judges decided but I would say probably out of experience, the dieting and training is what gave me a huge start,’’ Greenland said.
Her plans are to continue with bodybuilding until she runs out of challengers in Bulawayo as well as the whole of Zimbabwe in her category. She vowed to never go up against the likes of Hellen Costa and Precious Mujuru because in her own opinion, they way are miles ahead of her.
“I want to continue doing bodybuilding until probably I run out of a challenge, the whole of Zimbabwe, in my category. I won’t challenge Hellen Costa or Precious Mujuru, those are way out of my league,’’ said Greenland with a chuckle.
Greenland’s advice to up-and-coming bodybuilders is to be consistent and stick to their diet as well as training schedule because that pays off on the stage.
“My advice is up-and-coming guys is consistency, if you cheat on your diet, cheat on your training, there is no cheating on stage so just keep that in mind,’’ Greenland said.
On the people who have played a huge part in her success, Greenland singled out her husband and Gama as having had an influential part in her bodybuilding career.
“Two important people who have stood by my side a lot of course would be my personal trainer Simon Gama and my husband, Nathan Greenland and of course my family has been very supportive I mean dieting and things like that, it’s not easy balancing with the kids at home,’’ said Greenland.
She has to defend her Ms Bulawayo as well as Ms Zimbabwe titles in a few months to come.
While Greenland take pleasure in yet another success on the stage, her competitors must be busy trying to find ways in which to match or even be better than her. One thing for certain is that it will take a lot of effort to dislodge her. @Mdawini_29
