.-Fortune retains Miss Guyana Open title
WITH the absence of defending champion Mark ‘Uno’ Perry and the veteran Linden Sharpe, 2009 Novices champion Oswin Jones dominated his other two competitors in the over 176lbs and the Mr. Guyana pose down, to win the Guyana Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (GABBFF) 2009 Mr. Guyana title at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) Sunday night.

Defending Miss. Guyana Open champion Alicia Fortune was a lone competitor in that category, which made it easier for her to retain her title, after disposing of Soca Artiste Melissa ‘Vanilla’ Roberts in the Ms. Body Fitness competition.

Mr. and Miss. Guyana 2009!!! Oswin Jones (left) and Alicia Fortune display their spoils after being Mr. and Ms. Guyana 2009 at the National Cultural Centre Sunday night.(Carl Croker photo)

Universal Fitness gym’s Clint Duke won the Under165lbs category from Total Fitness’ Marlon ‘Bolo’ Bennett and the Guyana Defence Force’s Alfred Jordan who placed second and third respectively, while national 100 meters champion Rawle Greene who like Fortune was a lone competitor in the 165-176lbs category, walked away with that title.

Alfred London another representative from Total Fitness Gym, made light work of Dennis Mohammed to win the Masters division, but it was Jones who set tongues wagging, from the time he graced the stage for the athlete’s parade, to being adjudged Mr. Guyana, even though he shared the thoughts of many with guest poser Eustace ‘Robocop’ Abraham.

The 25 year old plant attendant at the Guyana Oil Company (GUYOIL) who started out in the sport at the age of 19, displayed for the judges and those in attendance, a well defined upper body, with abdominals that can be likened unto a rippled river, as he defeated Mohammed and national heavyweight champion Mitchell Rogers to take the Over 176lbs category.

From the time he took the spotlight for his routine pose, to the judges awarding him the Mr. Guyana 2009 title, Jones wooed the crowd which included Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dr. Frank Anthony, as well as Minister within the Ministry of Education Dr. Desiree Fox, leaving many to wonder what would have been the outcome, if Perry and Sharpe were competing.

Earlier in the night’s proceedings which got underway 30 minutes late for reasons unknown, Duke found himself staving off stiff challenges from Jordan (who needs to perfect the use of the stage,) and Bennett whom many thought had won that division, as he was well defined in more ways than one compared to Duke.

Bennett presented a clean cut Herculean like body to the judges and how he did not take that division from Duke who has been gracing the stages at many a bodybuilding show around the country, was a surprise to many who spoke of it, until Jones’ appearance.

Andel Cameron, Lester Heywood and Travis Peters completed the top six in the Under- 165lbs division and even though they presented well sculpted bodies for judging, their inexperience on using the stage showed, which eliminated their chances of posing much of a threat to the top three.

Some fans expressed their disappointment at the bodybuilders’ body who were on show in the premier event on the calendar of the GABBFF, even calling for their money back, until Abraham graced the stage for his guest posing routine.

Making an entrance from the back in darkness with the flashbulbs of the photographers present going off in full paparazzi style, Abraham who was a member of the Guyana Police Force until he resigned and migrated to Canada in 2001, brought life to a show that need same.

He had recently competed in the National Physique Committee (NPC) where he placed second to the reigning Mr. Tennessee and no doubt, proved to be the next big thing on the bodybuilding circuit for Guyana after world renowned Hugh Ross.

Apart from earning themselves automatic selection on the national team for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) championships which is slated for Grenada from the 1st to 4th October, where they will be joined by Duke, Greene and London as the Guyanese representatives, both Jones and Fortune won for themselves free air tickets compliments of Caribbean Airlines.

Prior to the athletes going through their routine poses, speeches were made by both Dr Anthony and president of the GABBFF Frank Tucker.

In his welcoming remarks, Tucker who is also president of the Guyana Amateur Weightlifting Association and the Central and Southern Caribbean Bodybuilding Federation, stated athletes, irrespective of their sport, use bodybuilding movement to develop their bodies.

“Some people use bodybuilding as a means of staying healthy and fit even if they are not involved in the hardcore aspect of the sport hence bodybuilding has lots of scope to make our country better in terms of health and fitness.

Athletes irrespective of their sport, all use bodybuilding symmetries to develop their body for that particular sport for strength and power, which makes bodybuilding very important in their lives” said Tucker.”

Minister Anthony charged the GABBFF to combine with the other strength sports such as weightlifting and power lifting, to combine the synergies to establish a national centre.

“Bodybuilding has changed drastically, as it has become part science and part art for the athletes” said Dr. Anthony.

He continued, “When the athletes perform on stage, that’s the artistic side of things while the flexing of the muscles is the scientific side of it and we need to combine the three synergies of the strength sports and move to a national level, wherein we establish a center and employ gifted and qualified coaches to attend to the needs of those who will be visiting the centre, as we need more Hugh Ross’ and Sylvan Gardner flying the Golden Arrowhead on the international scene for us.”