Brawn goes to Brussels
Last Friday and Saturday’s UIBBN World Championships in Brussels saw the planet’s best natural bodybuilders pitted against one another in Brussels. Among them were two Grahamstown bodybuilders, Lesley Sauls and Ntsikelelo Xalabile.
Sauls, who had previously competed in last year’s competition in Barcelona, stunned crowds with an impressive fourth place finish in the men’s U65kg line-up. Meanwhile, first-time competitor Xalabile finished seventh in the men’s U80kg.
Xalabile, an emergency care officer who works in Port Alfred despite the fact that his family is based in Grahamstown, was overwhelmed by the occasion.
He said: “(Competing at the World Championships) was a mind changing experience. It got me more hungry to be great than I have ever been.”
Despite travel costs of roughly R20 000, he is hellbent on emulating Sauls by returning to the World Championships next year.
Meanwhile, Sauls was left delighted by his return to the World Stage.
The Grahamstown-based police constable said: “This is a top moment in my bodybuilding career. I came first and second lots of times (in other shows), but because this is the World Championships, the magnitude of the events and the athletes from all over the world (make it a stand-out performance).”
Sauls, who is the vicechairperson of Makana Natural Bodybuilding, also spared a thought for his home town, stating: “There’s a reason why things happened for me in terms of placing so high at the World Championships. I need to bring the community closer. I need to interact with them and take (bodybuilding) further. Our community is small and for me to make it to the World Championships is a great achievement.”
Sauls’s SAPS colleague and Makana Natural Bodybuilding Chairperson, Lieutenantcolonel Johan Botha, also made South Africa’s squad for Belgium.
However, he was unable to travel due to work commitments.
Despite the absence of the likes of Botha and 2016 national Senior Champion Marvin Marinus, South Africa still finished fifth out of 13 countries in the overall rankings in what was a positive show not only for Grahamstown, but for South African Natural Bodybuilding in general.