Gondwe takes Mr Malawi crown
Mangochi-based Brown Gondwe lifted the Mr. Malawi Bodybuilding Championship crown at Mkango Lodge in Blantyre on Saturday after outshining over 20 contestants including his runner-up Yasin ‘Ichocho’ Suwedi.
Emmanuel Muhuwa was third while Thoko Chagwirampeni and Thoko Kakhongwe were fourth and fifth respectively. The top-three athletes received K300 000 ($536), K200 000 ($357) and K100 000 ($179) in that order.
Last year, Gondwe finished second to four-time winner Henry Master, who missed last weekend’s event as he was reportedly in South Africa, while Ichocho was on third place.
“This is a dream come true,” said Gondwe after ending his three-year chase for the ultimate glory.
However, Ichocho, who protested the 2014 results due to “biased judges,” has described this year’s competition as free and fair and said he was not bitter for missing the crown for the third time in a row.
“The competition was good this year; the judges knew what they were doing. As such, I will continue taking part in this event and I am now going straight into the gym to start preparations for next year’s event,” said Ichocho, adding that if he fails to win the title during his prime, he will groom his son Hamza to take the crown one day.
Weightlifting and Bodybuilding Association of Malawi (WBAM) general secretary Harold Mwayang’ana hailed the athletes for their good conduct during the event and he urged companies, especially food producers to support the muscle-display sport. n
