Africa-Press – Botswana. After years of dominating the arena of Botswana’s high octane, strong man sport now dubbed Botswana’s Strongest Man, reigning Botswana based Egyptian champion Ahmed Abouelela faced an unexpected upset at this year’s showdown held Saturday in Gaborone.
The multi-year title-holder, who has dominated the sport for years was bested by a new wave of challengers in what was a competitive edition. The coveted first place title was claimed by decorated Zambia athlete Paul Mwanza who scooped gold medal and a car prize, followed by Maxwell also from Zambia, pushing the former champion into the bronze spot.
The competition featured a range of challenging strongman disciplines, including tyre flips, deadlifts, barbell presses, and loading races of which Abouelela participated in despite his lingering ankle injury, which affected his overall performance. The champion’s condition visibly worsened after the Farm Walk, Load, and Push events, leaving him fatigued and lay sprawled on the field, as field assistants tended extensively to his injured ankle. In an interview, Abouelela, said that top three was not his goal.
“It was never my goal to finish outside the podium position, I knew I hadn’t fully recovered, but I still believed I’ll will never let the title leave Botswana. Next time I will come back stronger. I thank everyone who believes in me,” he said.
In the female category, Zimbabwean athlete, Chido Maenzanise scooped first place title to set her ahead of local athletes, Ketsile Sam in second and Betsi Kgari in third position.
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