THE?Darcy Beckles Invitational Classic held over the weekend provided further proof that bodybuilding is crying out for young blood.
The top three – Hoskins Worrell, Patrick Harris and Anderson Bispham, have all made sterling contributions to the sport over the last decade but the truth is, none of them represent the future of the sport.
Worrell and Bispham are in the 45-and-over age category, and Harris is almost 40. The next highest placed Barbadian, Ricardo “Cou Cou”?Bascombe, who was fifth, is 39.
Bodybuilding, like most sports here, is at the crossroads and cries out for an infusion of ideas and plans to take it forward.
Thank goodness that Roger Boyce and his team, had the heart, resolve and organisational skills to introduce this event back in 2008 as it is one of only three contests on the bodybuilding calendar with Mr Bridgetown and the nationals, the only other options form those seeking to step on stage.
The lack of depth in the sport is emphasised by the fact that Worrell said the contest missed the presence of four-time Mr Barbados William Prescott, who is 47 and is still to make his mark on the Caribbean stage.
“I would have loved to see ‘Pressie’ here, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to compete. When I saw the big Guyanese guy back stage that people were talking about I wasn’t worried. If he [Eustace Abraham] was hard, he would have been a threat,”?Worrell said.
The best of the young crop, Ramon Broomes, the best junior in the Caribbean, was back stage rather than on stage while another young talent, Laron Gibson, was way off and finished a disappointing seventh out of eight. Another young gun, Kamal Sealy, one of the top schoolboys just a couple seasons back, returned after a two-year break, but failed to fire.
Sealy was smooth and could not even crack the top six of a weak open field. Let us hope that he gets his preparation right and bounces back with a vengeance next year.
On the figure stage, Vickie Borman had the poise, confidence and shape to triumph.
“One must realise that whenever you are doing figure, you should be well toned and muscular, but not striated. There is a difference and one must also be sexy at the same time so I figured that I had the overall package and I am pleased with what I presented.
“It is not a bodybuilding competition. It is a figure contest, you still have to be sexy,” she said.
Borman is settting her sights on the international arena.
“When I am training, I don’t study competition in Barbados. My focus is international and when I look at those international girls, I know I can stand next to them and that is my aim .. to get from this small market onto the bigger market and that is where my focus is,” he said.
Borman was not worried that her legs were a bit smooth, Saturday night.
“If it was a bodybuilding show I would be worried, but because it is figure, that is okay for me. The only thing I have to worry about is how can I improve on my last performance. I know what I have to do. There are always guns out there gunning so you can’t sit back,” she aded.
World class pro Darrem Charles, was delighted to step on stage in Barbados for the first time in 21 years.
“The Barbados crowd has always been receptive to me. I love doing my thing here and it was good to come back and guest pose. The battles with Patrick Nicholls, Albert Scantlebury and Jefferson Phillips in my amateur days were some of the best times I have had,” he said.
Charles, 42, missed out on qualifying for this year’s Mr Olympia, but he is not losing any sleep over it.
“Even if I did qualify I wouldn’t have done it anyway. The Caribbean Championships were this year in Aruba and it was held on the same day as Olympia and it was a big event for my son (Renel). I have accomplished a lot of things in my life and I wanted to get him going, so I won’t have done the Olympia any way.
“I saw the disappointment of not qualifying coming. I just couldn’t get it together, I had a lot of different things going on in my life. You are usually judged on yourself . . . if they know you come in a certain way every time and you are a little bit off, they judge you on that and I knew I was off.
“I knew I would be judged harshly. It was okay. You have got to call a spade a spade, I am not going to blame the judges .. I don’t think I should have placed as far back as I did but I know that I wasn’t in any shape to be winning any shows this year,” he said.
