Being back on top of the mountain is sweet again for Sylvon Gardener. He has gone from being a `three-peat’ champion to losing finalist to being denied a United States visa, to winning the bantamweight title once again. Gardener gave the judges little choice but to crown him bantamweight king last week-end at the Central American and Caribbean Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships held in Bermuda.
Gardener brought home gold in the 143 lb and under category in the process beating out last year’s champion and the runner up. He told Stabroek Sport yesterday that this year the stars were just aligned properly. “Everything was in order this year, not like last year when I arrived the day before the competition. This year I got in two days before and had a chance to relax and get my body right for the competition and this I feel had a big role in my winning the gold medal,’ he said.
The muscleman said initially he was disappointed when he was denied a visa to travel by the US embassy here in Georgetown and immediately broke his strict preparatory diet. “I just came off the diet right away but thankfully they called me back three days later and gave me the visa so I was right back on my diet and training hard for the competition,” Gardener said.
He told Stabroek Sport that every year he believes that in order to win the judges approval he needs to ‘turn up’ with something different. “I always try to do some different development as you cannot go with the same physique every year and this year was not different,” he said But he always believes that this might have run its course and his ‘bag of new tricks’ might be empty.
With this in mind he is contemplating moving up to the lightweight division at next year’s competition. “I will take a rest and if I can put on and maintain the right weight then next year I might be in the lightweight division,” Gardener said. He adds that he is disappointed, a disappointment that he cannot hide, that his achievements of four CAC gold medals have not been heralded locally as he thought they might have been. He said he believed that more might have been forthcoming in the way of recognition and even sponsorship.
Nevertheless, he is grateful for those that have been supportive of him throughout. He counts among them the New Guyana Pharmaceutical Company, Buddies Gym, International Pharmaceutical Agencies and ‘countless’ friends. He remains optimistic that he can continue carrying the torch for local bodybuilding at international meets given the necessary support. With four gold medals under his belt, who can doubt him.
