The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
BODY Works Gym director, Nathan Greenland has praised his athletes for their display at last Saturday’s Zimbabwe National Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships staged in Harare.
The Bulawayo-based gym sent a strong team to the national competition and returned home with a total of 15 medals, these being six gold, seven of them silver and two bronze.
Kylie MacDonald, Zibusiso Khumalo, Lovemore Munyamana, Prechard Hoko, Ndumiso Dlodlo, Marko Mwale, Charity Juma, Diana Machakaire, Lesley Gondo and Justice Chikava were the Body Works Gym competitors who managed to bring home some medals.
Munyamana took silver in the senior men bodybuilding up to 80 kilograms where he lost out to Nigel “Spartan” Maphosa who went on to win the overall men’s title. Khumalo won the junior men’s physique and took second place in junior men bodybuilding.
MacDonald, competing at the national championships for the first time won the women’s body fitness before settling for silver in the body fitness, a category she had high hopes of winning heading into the competition but was beaten to the title by Harare’s Sharraine Rama. Hoko was second in the men’s physique up to and including 176cm which was won by Genius Gwara.
South Africa-based Ndumiso Dlodlo, who competes under Body Works Gym locally took second place in the light heavyweight and never got the chance to defend the overall title he had won in 2017 and 2018.
Machakaire won the women’s wellness fitness, Juma took gold in the women’s physique while Chikava bagged the top prize in the men’s classic bodybuilding. Mwale managed to successfully defend his men’s wheelchair title and Gondo took bronze in the same category. Greenland is proud with his team’s showing at the national event where they had a high representation. He was pleased with how they backed and supported each other at the well attended show.
“We had 22 strong athletes that staged at the nationals, I am so proud of how my athletes held their own and the team work, support and love they had for each other,’’ Greenland said.
He called upon the Bulawayo community to support the sport, which requires a lot financially from the athletes but comes with little rewards when they do compete. Opened in 2014, Body Works Gym have managed to assemble a team of top bodybuilders in Bulawayo and has been home to a number of former national champions.
Proactive Gym, situated at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair also had three of the athletes they sent to Harare excel. Shantel Bhatch, formerly of Body Works Gym took bronze in the women’s bikini fitness, a category she won last year, Dale Blair was third in the men’s physique up over 176cm and Manon Puzin won silver in the women’s beach bikini.
