Pushing his weight around
What started as a holiday turned into an unexpected victory.
Kyle van den Berg’s first place in his debut weightlifting competition cannot be mistaken for beginner’s luck, because not everyone can lift 180kg.
The 18-year-old Randpark High School pupil from North Riding went to Margate on holiday and while he and a friend sat on the beach they heard an announcement for the Proactive Gym Strongman Competition.
“My friend said why don’t I enter and so I did, without planning to do so,” he said. “I have never done it before. I started weight training when I was in Grade 9 because I was very skinny and I play rugby. So it was purely to improve my shape for rugby.”
Van den Berg participated in three events; benching 120kg, squatting 180kg and deadlifts of a 180kg.
“There were 60 participants. Eventually we ended up 40 contestants in the advanced category, then the top 10, and I eventually came first.”
He won a trophy, a certificate and muscle building products. Van den Berg now plans to add weight lifting competitions to his extramural activities.
“I train five days a week with sessions of one hour and 45 minutes. This is not something that I planned to do, but this victory is a great motivation and I would like to pursue it.”
