Mr Ironman festival rebrands
ONE of Zimbabwe’s top body-building competitions, Mr Ironman, will this year end its five-year hiatus and return to the local sports calendar.
The competition has gone through a transformation of sorts during its prolonged absence due in part to the National Federation of Zimbabwe Body-building and Fitness (NFZBF) turning their attention and resources to grassroots development.
The NFZBF were also hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic, which left most of their events on ice as sport was suspended to contain the spread of the virus.
The event has since been turned into a festival.
“We held our last event in 2017, which was won by Blessing Saunyama, after which we decided to turn our attention to grassroots development and concentrate on giving some of our athletes some exposure,” said NFZBF secretary-general Quiet Shangai.
“The intention was to bring it back in 2020 but the pandemic hit.”
The Mr Ironman festival was launched yesterday at a hotel in Kodama, which will host the event on May 28.
An ecstatic Shangai said the rebrand and return of the event marks a special milestone for body-building in Zimbabwe.
“The 2022 (edition of) Mr Ironman will be bigger and better than any of the editions we have held in the past.
“The main difference between this competition and the rest is that it will be a sports festival and there will be a thrust of catering for everybody who is into body-building and fitness.
“If you look around the world, the sport of body-building and fitness is no longer just about competition.
“It is now also about promoting fitness and health.”
Organisers are planning to have an aerobathon, marathon, and strength and fitness challenge.
Strength and fitness challenges have already been introduced by the IFBB (International Federation of Body-building and
Fitness), with the first competition scheduled for this year’s Asian Games.
“We also intend to introduce a Fitness Expo of sorts, with the goal being the exchange of ideas within our own bodybuilding community,” said Shangai.
The Mr Ironman competition itself remains the headline act, with a US$5 000 purse set aside for winners.
Odyssey Hotels and Colide Zimbabwe have also come in as sponsors, with the latter financing new activities.
The huge purse has already had the body-building community buzzing as many athletes have confirmed their participation.
Among those eying the competition are two-time Mr Zimbabwe Dumiso Dlodlo, 2016 Zimbabwe national champion Paul Goredema, Nigel Maphosa, Blessing Itai Sithole, Tinotenda Ryan Gumbo, Lynette Tom and Lovemore Munyamano.
There have also been enquiries and invitations sent out to countries like Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Mozambique.