Bodybuilders believe sport could return to competition with proper measures in place

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Rosian Warrington & Bernard Percival Jr
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By Neto Baptiste

Two of the country’s professional bodybuilders believe the sport could make a safe return and even thrive amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic once the relevant health and safety protocols are strictly followed.

Figure athlete and the country’s first professional bodybuilder, Rosian Warrington, said she does not see a valid reason why the sport could not prosper given the limited amount of contact between athletes and officials.

“I don’t see why it shouldn’t because it is one of the sport where there is next to no physical contact and even the person spraying you — because if it is like at our local show — the person just sprays you [with a gun]. Internationally, it is just one or two companies and they are backstage and there is no contact because they spray you with an air gun and there is no contact until you are accepting your awards actually,” she said.

Warrington received support from fellow professional bodybuilder, Bernard Percival Jr, who said his only concern is with the spectators.

“The no-contact backstage is pretty simple to get by and, of course, when you’re on stage competing too, if you don’t go up with more than three or four athletes then you have more than enough space between the athletes, so it is totally safe in terms of protocols in my opinion. The only issue would be the audience and of course, you could do some social distancing while have a fairly decent amount of people in the stands cheering for the athletes and let them have a good experience,” he said.

The Antigua and Barbuda Amateur Bodybuilding & Weightlifting Federation, in April, cancelled its national championships because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sports minister, Daryll Matthew, recently predicted that competitive sports may not return to Antigua in the near future.

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