Hyderabadi bodybuilder wins bronze in world championship

A body builder, hailing from Andhra Pradesh, has won the third place in heavy weight category of Musclemania World Bodybuilding championship held in the United States.

Mir Mohtesham Ali Khan, 33, won the bronze medal in the prestigious 90 kg plus category event at the Grand Hall of Golden Nugget Hotel, Las Vegas, Saturday.

Professional body builders from China and Columbia won the gold and the silver medals, respectively. Over 400 body builders from 26 countries participated in five different categories at Musclemania, the leader in natural body building events in the world.

Prakash, a bodybuilder from Bangalore, won the gold medal in the light weight category. Khan and Prakash were among eight participants from India.

Khan is the first body builder from Andhra Pradesh to compete in the world bodybuilding championship.

The 6.2 ft tall Khan, who works in Indian Railways, informed his family and friends of his achievement over phone. He said he was proud to win the honour for the country. "This win is much more than what I had expected as it is tough to compete at such an international event," he said.

Khan's family, friends and well wishers celebrated his victory. His supporters gathered at his house in Hussaini Alam neighbourhood in the old city to congratulate his family members. They also took out a victory procession.

Mohtesham's father Mir Abdul Mani Khan was proud of his son's achievement. "I thank Allah for this. We kept praying for his victory," he said.

"His achievement is all the more significant as India has not produced many bodybuilders who can compete and win at the international events," he said.

As there is not much encouragement to this sport, Khan had to bear his own expenses of about Rs.300,000 to participate in the event.

Khan, who idolises Arnold Schwarzenegger, exercises for four and a half hour every day. His diet costs him Rs.1,200 per day and the intake is astonishing. It includes a kilogram of chicken, 30 boiled eggs, 12 oranges, a cup of sweet corn, 150 grams of oat meal, 200 grams of green salad and four glasses of sweet lime juice.

The bodybuilder's achievements includes winning the bronze at the Mr. India competition. He also won thrice the Mr. South India title and is also eight time winner of Mr. South Central Railway, nine time winner of Mr AP and eight time winner of Mr. Hyderabad titles.

Last updated on Nov 24^th, 2008 at 13:03 pm IST--IANS