Off to worlds
Lesley Sauls will be competing in his second world bodybuilding championships this month, but his expectations for this event are high. Sauls, a constable at the South African Police Service, Grahamstown, was selected as part of the South African team after the South African Natural Body Building Association Championships, which was held in Grahamstown in October.
This year’s UIBBN World Championships takes place in Belgium from 25 to 26 November, and Sauls hope to finish on the podium. This will be his second World’s, after finishing 7th at last year’s event in Spain.
While he learnt a lot last year, he intends using that experience to better his position, which he hopes will win him his category.
Sauls has always had an interest in body building. In 1998 he and a few friends got together and trained in one of their houses. This continued until 2003 when Sauls stopped training. In 2011 he started gym training again, mainly for fitness and to get his body back into shape. It was in 2013 when the Makana Body Building Club was formed that he took his body building more seriously and began competing in the under 65kg Bantam Weight category.
In his first competition in 2013 he finished 7th, before taking 2nd in the Grahamstown championships later that year. One of the reasons he enjoys bodybuilding compared to other sports is: “Simply because it is one of the most disciplined sports,” adding that it is up to you, and your daily eating habits which determine how your body will look, come competition time. “Condition depends on you as an individual,” he says.
Speaking from his work experience as a policeman, Sauls says one of the biggest challenges in Grahamstown is “drug and alcohol abuse”. “As a policeman I try to lead by example and make the next person positive through sport.”
A former Grahamstonian, now living and working in Port Alfred, Ntsikelelo Xalabile is also part of the South African team to take part in next week’s world championships. Xalabile will compete in the under 80kg category. While he finished 2nd in this year’s SA champs, Xalabile hopes to finish on the podium “so I can make South Africa proud”.
The biggest challenge for both Sauls and Xalabile to make the trip to World's has been finances. Like many smaller sports in South Africa, the financial burden is left to the athlete if they want to represent their country at a world championship event. While he has covered much of his trip, Sauls says he is still short of a few grand. Xalabile has paid for most of his expenses but he is “still short of accommodation money”. Anyone willing to assist Sauls can contact him on 073 594 3419, or to assist Xalabile, call him on 078 663 7611.