Bodybuilders muscle up for Doha Games

HA NOI — Bodybuilders now face the tough task of defending Ly Duc’s gold medal from last Asian Games in South Korea as their rivals have become more powerful four years after bodybuilding made its debut in Busan.

The then five-time Asian champion Ly Duc, who retired early this year, won a gold medal in the 80kg of the Busan’s Asian Games (ASIAD), and won another Asian competition in his favourite competition a year later to complete his six-title collection.

"The athletes from the Middle East are the most favoured for heavy weight titles, and hosts Qatar, who have just granted citizenship to several top regional competitors, have three world champions," said head coach Huynh Anh.

Viet Nam will send athletes to compete in five of eight weight categories, mostly in light-weight competition.

"Most of our athletes are in their best form, that enables us to have hopes of bringing home gold medals," Huynh Anh said.

Since the beginning of the year, six bodybuilders (including Asian champions Cao Quoc Phu and Pham Van Mach, and two-time Southeast Asian winner Giap Tri Dung), have been training in HCM City for their competition at the December 1-15 ASIAD in Doha.

The six selected athletes, (also including Nguyen Hai Au, Nguyen Van Lam and Nguyen Huu Hong Son), have been undertaking intensive practise for the last few months to increase muscle mass and burn excess fat.

"Three months before the competition, we have to be on a very strict diet of non-fat food," said Mach, a Doha ASIAD hopeful. "Under this special diet, we are eating less rice and can’t have any alcohol or cigarettes."

The diet, according to assistant coach Duong Van Kien, does not only help boost athletes’ muscle, but also induces weight loss.

"After the National Bodybuilding Championship in May, the athletes stocked up on protein, which made them gain a lot of weight," he said.

Kien also reported that the special diet uses strict proportions of daily protein to help them keep off unnecessary weight.

In place of national doping tests, athletes to compete in the Doha Games will send their samples to the International Olympic Committee-accredited Penang University lab in Malaysia for testing.

The final list for the Doha Games national team will be based on athletes’ performance in training and also on their test results. — VNS