Cameroon’s Fammoe takes top honours

The first-ever natural bodybuilding competition to be held in Dubai saw Cameroonian national Erve Fammoe emerge as the Overall Bodybuilding champion.

The International Natural Bodybuilding Association (INBA) Middle East Championship held at the Sheraton Hotel in JBR on Saturday saw more than 30 male and female bodybuilders from across the world compete in a range of categories.

Talking exclusively to Gulf News on the sidelines of the event, Rashed M. Abdulla Hassan, events management senior executive, Dubai Sports Council, said bringing the event here is an important move for the emirate considering its alleged widespread use of anabolic steroids for performance and image enhancement — a practice that the Emirates Bodybuilding Federation (EBBF), who co-sponsored the INBA event alongside DSC and Dubai Police, want to see stamped out.

“It’s a big step, not only for Dubai and the UAE, but for the region. We are actively encouraging people to take up bodybuilding for the right reasons, to do it clean and promote good health,” Hassan said.

With the INBA willingly providing the platform for the sport to grow in Dubai and the UAE, Hassan added that he would like to see more done to encourage Emiratis to get involved in bodybuilding competitions.

The winners of the night in addition to Fammoe, were Rob Donker, who won first prize for Sports Male Model and Beach Body, and Feras Eisa, who collected first prize for Bodybuilder in the Tall category. Roberta de Souza won the Female Bikini Model category, and Amy Foz was awarded Female Sports Model first place.

The standard of the athletes competing in the range of categories impressed INBA judge Radomir Medojevic, who, however, said there was room for improvement. “Considering this was the first event like this held in Dubai, it was very good. You could see some fantastic bodybuilders in great shape.

“There were moments when the understanding of when to pose and where was a little out of sync, but that’s normal given the newness of it all. I expect Dubai to host many more events like this, and it would be fantastic to see a greater local representation in the mix as well,” he said.