The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Ms Novice Zimbabwe bodybuilding title is back at Body Works Gym in Bulawayo after Kyle MacDonald bagged the accolade at the Zimbabwe College of Music in Harare last Saturday.
MacDonald saw off the challenge of three other women to win the women bikini model ahead of Sinini Nxumalo from the same gym. Jonathan Fredericks was fifth in the junior men bodybuilding.
The 25-year-old MacDonald has followed in the footsteps of Shantel Greenland (2015) and Selina Manuel (2016), also from Body Works Gym who have won the title for women taking part in a national competition for the first time. Shantel and her husband Nathan travelled to Harare to back all the Body Works Gym athletes.
MacDonald attributed her conquest to hard work she has put in at the gym which finally paid off. Her next competition is Ms Zimbabwe International Trade Fair to be held in Bulawayo on 28 April.
“I feel really happy that I took first place at Novice this year, I really wasn’t expecting it, although a lot of people told me that I am bringing the title back home. The competition was really exciting, I was nervous at first but I tried my best to calm down and just go with the flow and I must say I really did well for a first timer,’’ MacDonald said.
She expressed her gratefulness to her coach Simon Gama for the way he prepared her for the competition.
“I don’t really think I was better than the other girls but I do know that my hard work in the gym definitely paid off. I just want to thank my trainer Simon Gama for pushing me and helping me achieve my goal,’’ she said.
Nxumalo was delighted to have finished second in her first ever national completion. The 29-year-old said she had to adapt in order to make an impression. Just like MacDonald, Nxumalo is also gearing up for Ms ZITF.
“It wasn’t that challenging but it was a good experience because I got to learn a few things, I had to polish up a few things for the next competition. I felt great, I wasn’t expecting it because I wasn’t that firmed up compared to the other girls. I was a bit nervous at first,’’ said Nxumalo.
Fredericks described the competition as being interesting with the body sizes of his fellow competitors what caught his attention.
“It was quite interesting because when I thought of Under-23s I thought the guys would be a decent size but the guys were quite huge. I actually enjoyed the competition, it was challenging and I think when the competition is challenging that makes it more interesting and worth actually doing it.
I was happy with that positioning, when I saw the guys at first I doubted myself, I didn’t even expect to be in the top six,’’ he said.
Gama is delighted to bring back Ms Novice having failed to win the title last year.
“I was so happy, we always want to win especially Ms Novice and Mr Novice, last year we missed by one point to get Ms Novice. My philosophy is something that I respect, we’ve got our own way of doing our training programmes, dieting, these guys have discipline, they listen and work hard. These guys have been working for one year,’’ Gama.
The revered trainer has a hectic schedule ahead of him as he has to prepare athletes to take part in Zambezi Classic, Mr and Ms ZITF as well as Arnold Classic.-@Mdawini_29
