Champs all set
Stevenson Belle and Hoskyn Worrell will lead a strong champion Barbados contingent for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding, Fitness and Fitness Team Championships slated for the Sonesta Beach Resort in St Maarten this weekend.
Barbados has been the most dominant country in the region since team competiton started in 1974 and there is every chance their stranglehold will continue tomorrow night.
Worrell, and Belle, two former Ellerslie students, have been the best bodybuilders in the country for the past few seasons, and much is expected of both. At the recent National Championships, Belle took the heavyweight division, Worrell, the Mr Barbados, reigned supreme in the middleweight class, and it will be a boost for the team if the two spartans win their divisions in St Maarten.
President of the Barabdos Amateur Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation (BABBF), Dr Andrew Forde, told the WEEKEND NATION he was confident the team would successfully defend their team title.
“It’s a strong team full of depth. The bodybuilding, men’s physique, fitness, bikini and body fitness teams are all capable of making their mark. We should come back home in triumph,” he said.
Men’s physique, one of the show stoppers at the Nationals, will have three representatives. Marlon Dottin, Jamil Jones and Ramon Dodson are all expected to make a strong showing in this category.
The charismatic Dodson will want to prove a point in St Maarten. He lost to Dottin for the overall title at the Nationals and will be hoping for revenge if both men should prevail in their respective classes.
Dodson has another incentive. If he captures the overall crown, he would earn a ticket to the professional ranks.
Domini Alleyne, Shakira Doughlin, Lana Richards, Natalie Webb and Melissa Burrowes carry the flag in bikini fitness, with all of them good enough to secure that overall title won last year by compatriot Saskia Griffith.
Richards, who had her first child a year and a half ago, was the sentimental story of the Nationals. The 27-year-old mother is likely to compete in the class for women over 172 centimetres.
Squad
MEN: Curtis Kirby (flyweight), Michael Worrell (bantamweight), Shaquille Lavine (welterweight/juniors), Hoskyn Worrell (light middleweight), Joseph “Runt” Bourne (light middleweight), Laron Gibson (middleweight), Dorrell Coulthrust (light heavyweight), Stevenson Belle (heavyweight), Marlon Dottin (men’s physique), Jamil Jones (men’s physique) and Ramon Dodson (men’s physique).
WOMEN: Deidre Archer (ladies’ physique), Tanisha Cross (ladies’ fitness), Ramona Morgan (ladies’ body fitness), Janelle Butcher (ladies’ body fitness), Kathy-Anne Greenidge (ladies’ body fitness), Domini Alleyne (bikini fitness), Shakira Doughlin (bikini fitness), Lana Richards (bikini fitness), Natalie Webb (bikini fitness), Melissa Burrowes (bikini fitness).
Officials: Richardson Boyce (chief delegate), Dr Andrew Forde (manager), Carl Moore (coach – bodybuilding), Shirley Garnes (assistant manager), Matthew Pilgrim (coach/fitness, bikini, body fitness), Walter Sobers (judge).