Adonis triumphant again

He defends O R Tambo title despite injury, flu setbacks

last year with Tapi succeeding him as national champion following the South African Bodybuilding Championships which was held earlier this year.

The third instalment of the annual O R Tambo Southern Africa competition held at the Walter Sisulu University’s Nelson Mandela Drive campus, attracted athletes from as far afield as Uganda, Mozambique and Zambia. It coincided with the O R Tambo centenary celebrations aimed at celebrating the life and times of revered ANC stalwart and its longest-serving president, Oliver Reginald Tambo.

Adonis described this year’s win as overwhelming.

“It was the shortest preparation that I have ever done,” he said.

“I just came back from an injury in January and a few weeks before the show, I was diagnosed with flu and couldn’t get out of bed.”

He said as a result he had been forced to prepare differently for this weekend’s event. This included two hours of intense cardio every day.

“I just kept on being hard on myself but at the same time being realistic by trying not to harm myself.”

He only had a total of eight weeks to prepare for the competition at which time he had to shed about 20% body fat.

Adonis said this was by far one of the strongest fields that he had been forced to compete against but argued that at the end of the day, “the strongest muscle in the is definitely the mind”.

“If the mind is strong you can accomplish anything,” he said.

Eastern Cape sports, recreation, arts and culture MEC Pemmy Majodina meanwhile lauded the tournament, saying it was growing in leaps and bounds.

She said they were expecting about 100 athletes on stage next year when they would be holding centenary celebrations for late iconic statesman Nelson Mandela.

“They [Mandela and Tambo] met at a sports field at the University of Fort Hare in 1944, so you cannot divorce them from sport.”

The MEC was also visibly impressed with the level of talent on display even going as far as saying the majority of the athletes were now ready to represent the country and the African continent on the world stage.

As for Mthatha playing host to the event for the past three years, she said it has had a positive effect on the local economy as it boosted the tourism industry.

On the other hand, Eastern Cape provincial sports council president Mkhululi Magada, while also lauding its growth, said the sport needed to be introduced in high schools.

“You have to start bodybuilding development at an early age. Schools have facilities whereas most of the time you have to pay to train in this sport, unlike in other sports like soccer,” he added. —