The Tribune

By Brent Stubbs

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Bodybuilding Wellness and Fitness Federation will return from the Central America and Caribbean Bodybuilding Championships in Palm Beach, Aruba, with one professional card and a number of medals of all three colours.

In his second appearance in the championships over the weekend at the Aruba Marriott Resort Stellaris Casino, Terrion Kemp led the way by snatching the gold in the men’s physique where he earned his pro card, while he also captured a gold in the men’s junior physique.

Former 100 metre hurdler Ivanique Kemp, who competed in the CAC Championships in athletics, made her debut on stage with a gold in the women’s wellness. Derica Thompson came out with the bronze and Andrecka Dames was fourth.

Also, Briceston Anderson picked up a pair of silver in the men’s fitness and physique, both Judah Forbes and Ricardo Gibson were fifth in the men’s physique and assistant coach Jason Johnson, as a pro competitor, displayed his strength in the men’s fitness challenge where he placed fifth.

On Sunday as the championship came to a close, the bodybuilding competition took place with veteran Stephen Robinson strutting to fourth in the men’s middleweight category after he got fifth in the men’s masters over 50 category.

As the championships came to a close, Grand Bahamian Orick Nesbitt also finished fourth in the men’s heavyweight to add to his sixth place earlier in the day in the men’s masters under 50 category heavyweight.

Team Bahamas finished with a pro card, four gold, three silver, two bronze and eight additional top six medal finishes in their tally of 17 in total for seventh place overall with 125 points. Costa Rica took the team title with 238, followed by Aruba with 194 and Mexico in third with 155.

For Terrion Kemp, it was a different road to get to the championships as he didn’t compete in the federation’s nationals where the team was selected based on their performances. Instead, he paid for his trip and it certainly worked out well in his favour.

“You might think you are too young or you are not ready. In my head, I was that way too,” said the 22-year-old Kemp.

“Just do it. You can only do it and see the results and then work on it from there. I won the juniors, the men’s physique and I got my pro card. I can’t ask for (anything) more.”

As a relatively newcomer to the sport, Kemp commended those persons who assisted him in getting to the championships in Aruba as a part of Team Bahamas. “It was tough me going to the gym in the morning, going to work and going to the gym in the evenings. It was tough mentally,” said Kemp, who works at Baha Mar.

“But it was worth it for sure.”

It was a surreal moment for Kemp as he heard the national anthem played as he was awarded his hard- ware during the ceremony.

The 32-year-old Ivanique Kemp, a three-time Bahamas national 100m hurdles champion in 2010, 2012 and 2016 who also ran on the Bahamas women’s 4 x 200m relay team at the NACAC Championships in Irapuato, Mexico, got her gold in the women’s wellness category.

“Overall it was a beautiful experience. I had a lot of fun,” said Kemp, who is employed at Ports Inter- national. “This was not my rst CAC event, but my first for bodybuilding. These beautiful ladies were awesome. The judges were pretty straight. They let you know what you need to work on moving forward.”

The team, managed by Leonardo ‘Nardo’ Dean, is scheduled to return home on Tuesday on different flights at 11.45am and 3.20pm. Federation president Joel Stubbs is also in Aruba with the team, heading the delegation that participated in the congress and judges’ seminar.