The sport of bodybuilding in Guyana once again had a flex off with its formidable and perennial rival sponsorship but was still able to hold its own in 2014.
Kudos to the Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) for staging all of its scheduled competitions for the year while collaborating with the Hugh Ross Classic Committee and Flex Night Inc. to pull off highly successful shows.
For 2014, the GABBFF kicked off the year with the customary outreach programme to various gyms across the country of which was followed up by its annual Novices Championship on the first day of March.
The show was won by the fastest rising star on the local bodybuilding Sylvester Andrews.
After Novices, the federation sanctioned and supported the HRC bodybuilding competition which was held at the National Cultural Centre on March 29. Two-time CAC bronze medalist, Kerwin Clarke, used his sharp physique to slice through the competition and retain the title.
The GABBFF continued its other programmes and also went into preparation for the 2014 Seniors Championship. Because of the lack of seating capacity the Theatre Guild venue was quickly sold out.
When the dust settled and the muscle fibres in each gladiator were pumped to the max, Clarke was left standing, after being pushed to the hilt by Andrews.
With the victory, Clarke immediately won his trip to the CAC bodybuilding Championship 2014.
For the championship, the GABBFF selected several athletes but were only able to take three local based athletes to CAC in St. Martin.
Preparations were stiff and visa application proved too stressful for some athletes and even judges.
Nevertheless team Guyana arrived in Saint Martin on October 1 and went straight into competition mode. This year’s CAC was of high quality and the athletes were of a super pedigree but Guyana was able, through the heroics of Devon Davis, to capture the gold medal in the Flyweight category for the third consecutive year.
Upon arrival to Guyana the GABBFF selected a team of athletes to represent the Golden Arrowhead at the Darcy Beckles Championships in Barbados. The athletes were competitive but unable to capture any medals.
On December 7, the GABBFF sanctioned and supported the hosting of the Flex Night Competition that capped off competition for 2014. At Flex Night 2014, the Men’s Physique segment was hosted on the local stage. The night ended with perennial runner, Godfrey Stoby breaking the chains to emerge victor of the bodybuilding segment.
According to president of the GABBFF, Keavon Bess, in the year ahead, the federation will be looking forward to staging all of its events while collaborating with more corporate entities
