The Sunday Mail
Don Makanyanga
AFTER losing his left index finger in a freak gym accident in July 2016, former Mr Iron Man Isaac Chimuchenga called time on life as a professional bodybuilder.
As he walked away from the discipline, Chimuchenga was hailed as a great.
However, it seems the story of Sugar – as Chimuchenga is popularly known – is far from over as the 51 year old is planning a sensational return.
“Being away from the sport I love has been the most difficult part of my life. I really felt as if something was missing.
“The finger was amputated, I have recovered and ready to build some muscle again.
“I am coming out of retirement a happy man,” he said.
Chimuchenga recalled the day the freak accident occurred.
“I was going through my routine work-out when one of the weights fell awkwardly on my hand and at that moment I thought it was a minor accident, but later I was told that my finger had to be amputated.
“I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, and I wept not because of the finger but how I would miss body building,” he said.
Apart from his passion for the sport, family persuasion stands out as the main reason behind Chimuchenga’s return.
“It was my wife and children who convinced me to return to active participation,” he said.
“There was no way I could say no to my wife and the four children who have already shown a love for the sport. My coming back into the big time will give my kids an opportunity to learn directly from me and I really feel blessed to be in such a space.
“Apart from my children I am also a role model to scores of upcoming bodybuilders and I will be playing the role of mentor to them as well”
Chimuchenga has not lost the hunger for more titles.
“As I come out of retirement I have one statement to my fellow body builders and that is I need real challengers.
“I intend to show the country what I am made of, I want to win more titles and these guys should be prepared to battle it out,” charged the former Mr Iron Man.
Chimuchenga’s journey began in 1986 when he met one Strike Ngono at a gym in Gweru.
“I used to play soccer but one day I met Strike Ngono at a gym in Gweru and he told me that I would thrive in bodybuilding.
“He gave me some videos of Flex Wheeler, Shawn Ray and several other bodybuilders to watch and as I watched them I fell in love with the sport.
“I have never looked back since that day,” revealed Chimuchenga.
