This?year’s ALLMAX?National Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships were defining.
In the same way a new breed of fans has been attracted to king cricket with the swift rise of T20, a similar thing seems to be unfolding in the bodybuilding and fitness arena.
The men’s physique and, to a lesser extent, the bikini and fitness, segments now seem to be the main drawing cards of the Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding &?Fitness programme.
Over the weekend at the 2013 Nationals, the scores of fans, and arguably two-thirds of those at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, only had eyes for the razzmatazz of the fast-growing men’s physique competition.
Bodybuilding has been on the wane in Barbados for sometime, and quite simply does not have the star power or the depth in talent, and can no longer stand on its own. It needs the men’s physique and the other attractions now more than ever.
And unless bodybuilding unearths some new exciting talent very soon, it will be on the back burner and play second fiddle in future National Championships.
What has happened to the likes of Dario Bryan, Devon Franklyn and Matthew Watson, all of whom had shown promise as teens?
Jonathan Nana is taking a break and Kamal Sealy seems to have lost the heart and drive to step on stage again.
Former Barbados champion Martinus Durrant spent Saturday night in the audience rather than on stage, while Ricardo “Cou Cou”?Bascombe is now more of a photographer than a bodybuilder.
Both Durrant and Bascombe told MIDWEEK?SPORT that they were not competing this year, while last year’s Mr Barbados Ramon Broomes skipped these Nationals and might not be flexing muscle until next season.
It was pleasing to see the return of a rejuvenated Sammy Eastmond, of Fudge Gym, and Mike Worrell, of Strike Force Gym, in the best form of his life in the men’s lightweight class that also included the persistent Curtis Kirby.
Worrell was dry and hard and it was clear he had adhered to his diet, while Eastmond was sliced to ribbons and looked like a man on a mission. However, Eastmond is 41, and Worrell, 55.
Middleweight champ Hoskyn Worrell, who might have been unlucky not to win Mr Barbados, is 48. In other words, bodybuilding is on life support and badly needs an injection to stay alive.
Maurice Arthur, Marlon Dottin, Omar Benn, Lynston Grffith, Kevin Edwards and Evy Bentham headline a cast of charismatic personalities who now have the task of leading the charge in an eye-popping men’s physique contest that has now become the new rave of the sport.
The fans are now demanding style, flair and six-pack abs. Hard core bodybuilding, if the standard is not up to scratch – and it clearly is not – is a thing of the past.
In the same way, the men’s physique has that wow factor for female fans, the bikini contest has a legion of male admirers. Saskia Griffith, Natalie Webb, and Melissa Burrowes, are the ones to watch in a competition that is going places.
In short, the Nationals may never be the same again.
