When the world is your oyster!

Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor

A debut could be one of the most cherished and memorable experiences in sport.

Regardless of the sporting discipline – be it football, cricket, swimming, rugby or any of the various codes that exist in the world – one usually never forgets one’s first.

It can be exciting, nerve-racking, energising or overwhelming.

For Nomathamsanqa Phiri – the reigning Women’s Beach Bikini winner and Most Outstanding Female Athlete at the Zimbabwe Bodybuilding and Fitness National Championships – 2022 has been a year of many firsts.

She debuted at the Ironman Festival. It was also her first time competing at the Marume and Harare classics, as well as at the nationals, which were staged in the capital a fortnight ago.

All these events have given the 28-year-old a year to remember.

“My bodybuilding career actually started in March, when I decided to enter the Novice competition, with the goal being to get a feel of the sport and then start working from there,” said Phiri.

“My first medal was a bronze at the Novice contest, which was a first at both competing and winning something.

“It was an amazing experience as they don’t really joke around when they call it an amateur competition, and all didn’t know anything about competing.

“I then moved on to my first Ironman competition, one of the top contests in the sport, and I got another bronze.

“This particular competition was actually the most outstanding for me, in terms of growth, as this was when I had my breakthrough and realised that I actually had potential,” she said.

What makes Phiri’s breakout year more remarkable is the fact that each competition holds a special memory for her.

While the standout memory in the Novice contest was both her competition and medal finish, in the Ironman Festival, she got the chance to meet one of her idols in Regina Jonga.  “I have two role models I love and hope to meet and trade war stories, the first being Phoebe Hagan, who recently won the inaugural Arnolds UK competition.

“She is one of my huge inspirations, and I love her. “Locally, there is Regina Jonga, and I am in awe of her.

“Her career has really opened up doors for us as young ladies who are in the sport.

“Seeing her rise to the heights she has scaled inspires and encourages us. Afterall, we are a few ladies in the sport,” she said.

Jonga happened to be at the Ironman Festival, where she was a guest poser at the competition.

The Harare Classic was a breakout competition for Phiri and it gave her first real gold medal.

She then followed it up with the mother of all prizes at the nationals, where she punched her ticket to next year’s Arnold Classic and received an invitation to return to the nationals next year, to defend her title.

That triumph at the national championships capped off a great debut year on the bodybuilding circuit for her.

This is somewhat funny when one considers the journey she embarked on to get to this stage.  Phiri only got into bodybuilding and fitness as a way to burn some fat and stay fit but has always been an outdoors and sporting person.

“Outdoor activities have always been a thing for me, and bodybuilding and fitness is something I only started to like and consider when I went back into the gym.

“There was a time when I kind of gained weight in my early adult life, one of the by-products of earning a living and affording to buy yourself fast foods and other stuff.

“Bodybuilding then became part of this journey when I set out to lose and maintain the weight,” she said.

Earlier on, Phiri dabbled in a little volleyball and turned out to be quite good at the sport.

She represented her school’s first team at the age of 14 and even received Zimbabwe colours due to her exploits.

While bodybuilding and fitness is her primary focus, different sports remain a huge part of her life to this day.

The former Eaglesvale student loves drag racing, mixed martial arts, and occasionally partakes in aerial sports

These include power-plane sports, racing, aerobatics, rotorcraft, soaring, parachuting and hang gliding.

 

■  Twitter: @Nashaar