Hyderabad’s Venkatesan wins gold at ‘Natural Mr World’ championship in Los Angeles

Karunnapan Venkatesan from Hyderabad clinched gold in the Classic Bodybuilding category and placed third overall at the ‘Natural Mr World Championship’ in Los Angeles. The 49-year-old vegan athlete credited his sponsor and supporters, highlighting the event’s strict drug-free standards.

HYDERABAD: Karunnapan Venkatesan of Hyderabad crowned himself with glory winning the gold in the Classic Bodybuilding category and finishing third overall in the ‘Natural Mr. World Championship’ in Los Angeles (USA) on Saturday night.

“I am grateful to my sponsor Mr Ravi, owner ofTV 5 Channel and also thankful to all my supporters and family members for their wonderful support over the years,” the 49-year-old Venkatesan said.

---

For the record, Venkatesan won a silver medal in the previous edition of the same championship.

“It is a great honor to represent India and even more immensely satisfying to win the gold. There are rigorous standards upheld by the International Natural Bodybuilding Association (INBA) and the International Olympic Committee,” he said. “The competitions are natural (drug-tested) events,” he added.

“The INBA is dedicated to promoting drug-free bodybuilding and fitness competitions both nationally and internationally,” Venkatesan reasserted.

The City vegan bodybuilder informed ‘Telangana Today’ that the biggest challenge for him was to overcome the jet lag as the time was not really enough before the championship.

“And, whatever food I have taken to the US was set aside by the Immigration Authorities on arrival. In fact, because of the issue with the food, I didn’t eat anything 24 hours before the actual competition,” he said.