JEDDAH, 6 April — Muscular man Tariq Ghamdi clinched most medals for full-body contact in the Saudi Open Bodybuilding Championship held here recently at the bueatiful Saudia Sports Hall under the supervision of the Saudi Arabian Bodybuilding and Weightlifting Federation.
Most of the winners in the contest were reperesented by private-owned local bodybuilding clubs and with their high spirit and techniques they clinched 13 out of 21 medals.
Tariq Ghamdi, owner of Tariq Gymnasium located at south Jeddah, has an honor of being 3rd placer in the 1999 Asian Bodybuilding competition, won six medals.
“Winning 6 medals for Jeddah’s local club itself is an honor, and I’m proud of being the one who got this honor,” said Tariq.
Apart from Jeddah, five golds, five silver and 3 bronze medals in 7 different weight categories were also awarded to other clubs who particiapted in this event from various parts of the Kingdom.
Muhammad Zahrani, member of the Saudi Bodybuilding Federation and international referee, declared new names to be included in the federation to emphasize the urge of the leadership of the sport in the Kingdom and to develop the talents of the Saudi athletes.
“Kingdom is giving priority to the bodybuilding sport and in that context preparations are under way to take part in the next Asian Games to be held in South Korea in August,” said Zahrani.
“We are also gearing up our efforts to participate in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens because we are champions of last Asian tournament and got 2nd place in the last world amateurs championship held in Turkey in 1999,” he said.
A well-known international company has agreed to sponsor the bodydbuilders and to manage advanced competition here soon to discover new talents, he said. Zahrani said the bodybuilders were already chosen last week during competition in Dammam.
Zahrani stressed the importance of bodybuilding and termed it a vital catalyst for sports.
