CC Banks cut from a different cloth

Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor

DARING, flashy, innovative and volatile.

These are words that have been used to describe one of football’s most flamboyant and colourful characters, Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The 40-year-old is regarded as one of the finest strikers on the globe, a player whose skills on the pitch are rivalled only by his sharp tongue.

And, who can blame him, as the Swede has accumulated roughly 11 European league titles spread across four countries.

In addition to having countless top goal scorer and player of the year awards, he also has a Europa title and Fifa Puskas award.

However, through it all, the AC Milan striker has demonstrated the gift of the gab that is rivalled by a very few individuals in his or any other field.

One such individual, albeit from a different sport and continent, is Zimbabwe’s own bodybuilding maestro Blessing Itayi Sithole, or CC Banks as he is known within the health and fitness community.

The name CC Banks has its roots in Sithole’s love for hip-hop.

As a youth, he named himself after his favourite member of the rap group G-Unit.

While it started as just Banks, his contemporaries added the CC prefix, probably one of the C standing for ‘champion’, and it kind of stuck.

He soon adopted it as his moniker, and it is stuff like this that one can’t help but compare to Zlatan.

In fact, the two probably have a lot more in common than one would think.

One such classic example is their inflated ego and self-admiration, which they back up with results on the pitch and stage.

The Swede has over the years called himself many things.

At one time he called himself a lion, a god and even compared himself to a Ferrari and great white shark.

Banks, on the other hand, thinks of himself just as highly.

He has variously called himself a gold collector, champion, dream killer and the annihilator.

But Sithole has the curriculum vitae to back every claim he makes.

The 30-year-old Zvishavane-born athlete is a two-time Manicaland Classic, ZTIF and Marume Classic champion.

He has also bagged titles like the Harare Classic, Summer Super Bodies and Mr Zimbabwe. His claim to fame came during last year’s Arnold Classic South Africa, which he won, and this title remains the high point of his career so far.

“My favourite, among the many accolades I have won, is last year’s Arnold Classic South Africa,” said Sithole.

“I was the first Men’s Physique winner to come from Zimbabwe, and that remains one of my best performances.

“The Arnold Classic is a big international show and winning it was a career highlight for me,” he said.

Unfortunately, that conquest could soon come under threat following the return of Mr Ironman Zimbabwe.

Much as the World Cup has remained elusive for Ibrahimovic, the ironman contest is the one catch missing on Sithole’s mantel.

The competition has gone through a rebrand of sorts during its five-year hiatus and will now be known as the 2022 Odyssey Ironman Sports Festival.

Already, Sithole has marked the date (May 28) and begun his preparation.

“I am happy that the Ironman is back, that is the only title in Zimbabwe that I don’t have.

“I want it,” said CC Banks.

“I am happy that it is back and I am happy that I am going to finally win it.

“We have already started working towards this goal.”

Banks is sure to be one of the men to watch in the Men’s Physique as he is presently on a hot streak after recently claiming the Arnold Classic, Harare Open and Manicaland Classic.

He spends most of his time in the gym these days, as he is on what he terms the bulking phase. “I am on my bulking phase, as instructed by my coach Simbarashe Mhaka, and it is kind of intense,” said the reigning Manicaland Classic champion.

“I train one muscle group a day, doing legs on Monday and working on my chest, back, shoulders, arms and then a full body work-out on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“Sunday is a rest day for now, but I will move on to a seven-day work-out as the competition draws nearer.

“I know rest is important, but, for me, I like to push myself to the limit.

“It’s one of the things that separates me for the rest of the pack,” he said.