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Top athletes off to Arnold Classic

Sport
Top bodybuilders Ndumiso Dlodlo Paul Goredema headlines a cast 17 local athletes to represent the country at the African Arnold Classic contest scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa.

Top bodybuilders Ndumiso Dlodlo Paul Goredema headlines a cast 17 local athletes to represent the country at the African Arnold Classic contest scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa.

By Freeman Makopa

The contest is scheduled to run from May 18 to 20. Dlodlo is hoping to lift the title having won the Mr. Zimbabwe and Mr ZITF.

On the other hand, in the women category, Juliet Chimbadzo and Michelle Fortman will seek success at the event.

National Federation of Body Building and Fitness spokesperson Quiet Shangai said the athletes have been selected and are ready to showcase their talents.

“Arnold Classic Africa has many sports codes including powerlifting, strongman, volleyball and karate among other codes with over 30 000 participants expected to compete.

“The team is ready and it is my hope that this time we will bring back more medals than last year where brought back 10 medals, “he said.

The Arnold Sports Festival was originally founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1989 and has over the years grown into the world’s largest multi-sport extravaganza. In 2016 and 2017 Arnold Classic Africa organisers Wayne and Michelle Price in conjunction with the Gauteng Provincial Government and the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee afforded local athletes the opportunity to compete in an international competition against opposition from other continents.

It will be the third time that the Arnold Classic will return to South Africa. While bodybuilding and power sports will again be at the heart of the event given legendary bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger’s lifetime passion for these sports, a number of other codes will also be given a platform. This means that athletes from across a wide range of different sporting codes from arm wrestling and archery to gymnastics, fencing and rowing will have the opportunity to compete in an internationally recognised setting.

This year the largest showpiece of its kind in Africa will be jam-packed with contests, demonstrations, record attempts and amazing feats with 16 additional events that will be added to the bill compared to 2017 which brings the total to 60 events over the 3 days of the competition.

Team Zimbabwe

Ndumiso Dlodlo, Michelle Fortman, Nigel Maphosa, Garikayi Mujuru, Diane Meller, Chamunorwa Marange, Blessing Nyapimbi, Edvaldo de Mateus, Paul Goredema, Pardon Dube, Wendy du Cladier de Curac.