Eldoret gears up for body building contest

More than 200 body builders will compete in the inaugural Mr and Miss East Africa Natural Body Building contest on October 8 in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

The event has attracted local and international body builders and has been given the green light by Kenya Bodybuilding Federation.

Winners in both categories will go home Sh1 million richer. Linet Ochieng, an administrator at Rupaz Fun and Fitness Centre which will host the contest, said preparations are in top gear for the event which will be used to create awareness on peace, natural body building and mental health.

"We realized that people think that physical body building or going to the gym is the only thing that is focused on weight loss but there is so much to that and we want to create awareness on the mental awareness bit given that the month of October is meant for that and we are going to use this event to sensitize the public in general," said Ochieng.

She added that the event has attracted many youths and they will be attending to see what it takes to become a body builder.

Dennis Litali, one of the competitors, said they expect a good show after a long break due to Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are looking forward to the competition and expecting to learn more from the international athletes from Uganda and Tanzania. We know it will be a good show that will encourage many youths to also venture into body building," said Litali.

According to body building coach Robert Wafula, and one of the event organisers, athletes are expected to arrive on Friday where they will go through weighing process to categorize them.

On Saturday, there will be another process known as aerobic challenge before a seminar in the afternoon for the participants before the show begins at 6pm at Rupa Mall.

The guest judge will be Robert Phill from the United Kingdom.