Golden builds

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The winning contestants show the audience what they're made of

EGYPTIAN bodybuilding continues its winning ways. After garnering the world senior men's championships held in the Czech Republic last month, Egypt this week won three medals at the juniors and masters World Amateur Bodybuilding championships which were held in Agrignto, Sicily.

In the juniors, Egypt won two medals in the up to 75kg category. Sherif Abdel-Aziz won a gold medal, while Ibrahim Sami took the silver in the same event. Abdel-Aziz was also named the overall champion of the tournament. Bulgaria's Petar Borisov claimed the bronze medal.

In the masters event, former world champion Esmat Sadek, 61, collected a bronze medal at the over-60 category. Sadek, whose son won a silver at the men's world championships last month, was glad to recapture some of the glory days. "I was determined to win a medal at the World Championships. I trained with my son Ahmed and I'm his trainer as well.

"It's good to win even when you're over 60. It proves you still belong on the podium. It brought back memories of the past years when I used to win -- the same applause, cheers and admiration of the spectators. It's even more now, as the admiration and appreciation grows as you grow older," Sadek said. The veteran came third behind Spain's Rafael Vera Diaz and Manuel Valbuena Andes.

Adel Fahim, president of the Egyptian and African bodybuilding federations, was thrilled with the latest achievements. "It proves how successful we are. Egypt is on top of the world in the seniors and we have remarkable achievements in the juniors and masters. We haven't missed an event, regional, continental or world. Our policy will continue in order to retain all our titles.

"The recent achievements have made us even more eager to rule the world of bodybuilding and why not? It's our golden era."