TRINIDAD and Tobago bodybuilders walked away with the lion’s share of trophies and medals with a generally excellent display of bulk at the 14th Sportworld Eastern Caribbean Bodybuilding Championship at the Cascadia Hotel.
The locals won six of the 10 titles on Saturday night, but still fell short of expectations with Damian George beaten into an unbelievable fourth place in the middleweight division.
George, a veteran in the sport, made a return specifically for the championship which was being used as a qualifier for the Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) to be held later this year in Grenada in September.
Only Barbadian Laron Gibson and St Lucia’s Orville James appeared to be his most dangerous challengers, but when the announcement came that George fourth, this was met with obvious hostility by the crowd.
Barbadian Gibson won the middleweight crown with Christopher Williams second and James was third.
Apart, the twin-island republic won the overall team title with 110 points, well ahead of runners-up Barbados on 88 points and third placed Grenada 37.
A chiselled-looking Dechon Durity who also returned for the championship, won the light-heavyweight division in a pose-off, during which a confident Durity engaged friendly banter with his opponents on stage.
But his main challenge came in a battle for the top position in the overall category, Grenadian heavyweight Damien Daniels won easily.
Coretta Bruce who earlier won the women’s bodybuilding title, later joined Daniels as the Best Female on the night.
Durity was followed in third place countryman Jamaal Pantin and Williams of St Lucia in the light-heavyweight division.
Daniels had earlier topped the heavyweight division and had been the crowd’s choice.
Daniels turned the heavyweight contest into a mis-match, although Lincoln Bennett’s ridiculous attempts to block Daniels in the pose down, appeared to have very little impact.
Bennett, not surprisingly, was placed just ahead of his team-mate Garfield Edwards who was third, while an equally impressive Colin Lazarus of St Lucia took second position.
In the lightweight category Patrick Harris was a runaway winner and the crowd had been advising him to “take it easy” as the title had already been his.
A dancing Dennis Jagessar of Trinidad and Tobago seemed to have provided more entertainment in his routine than ripples on his body. Still he received a medal and trophy, placing third. Grenada’s Joel Ross filled the runner-up spot.
In the women’s bodybuilding Bruce was followed by runner-up Monica Dudley of St Lucia and Rasheda Belgreave of Barbados in third.
Meanwhile, Neil Diaz was the winner and Marvin Rohim second in the Men’s Fitness Class while Nikita Robinson (Barbados) was the lone entrant in the women’s category.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Tamara Bailey who also returned for the championship claimed the top position in the Women’s Body Fitness (Tall Class), and colleague Michelle Alleyne was adjudged winner in the Short Class.
Francis Martin topped the Men’s Novice Class with Jason Gilbert of Grenada runner-up. Shevon Simpson finished third.
