Over the last several months, Cayman bodybuilders have been on a winning streak against international competition, and Douglas King extended the victorious run at the Kaged World Championships, held 18-19 Nov. in Seattle, Washington.
Despite having issues acclimatising to the colder weather, King claimed the men’s open bodybuilding middleweight title and then held off all divisional winners to take the overall amateur INBF title to earn himself a WNBF Pro Card.
“It’s very surreal when you’re on stage,” King said. “You could see the quality of the guys standing next to you and… for you to still edge them out and the judge is complimenting you afterwards, it’s very surreal.”
His victory comes on the heels of winning the overall title at the the DFAC 2023 Muscle Mayhem, held in Cayman on 4 Nov.
His bodybuilding journey began in 2019, when he said he was influenced by friend Robert Thompson Jr., who last month won Mr. America. Over that time, King has experienced both ups and downs in the sport, he recalled.
Like many of the Caymanian bodybuilding champions before him, his latest successes came with a cost.
“It is a great sacrifice,” he said. “I did cardio in the mornings and cardio at night after training. So, at a minimum three hours a day was sacrificed with weight training and cardio for 3 to 4 months, everyday.
“Obviously I have two small kids. They want to see daddy as well and it’s hard to balance it, but if it is a desire… you find a way to get it done.”
He added that the sport of bodybuilding, while not for everyone, offers key values that could help one throughout life _ something he hopes to impart to his children.
“The trophies are just accolades,” King said, noting that the real prize is learning discipline, and being accountable.
“The videos will hopefully be the inspiration for them,” he said. “They’ll see that I did this, when I had to do X, Y and Z, and see that it is possible. I hope to say to them to just follow whatever you want to do but you have to be dedicated and you have to have the drive to follow through with it.”
At the world championships in Washington, King was joined by countrymen Thompson Jr, who placed fourth in the pro heavyweight division, and Amadello Mena-Hebbert who finished fourth in the open medium physique division.
For King, he said returning home with the win justified his hard work was paid off and, in the end it was all worth it.
However, he is stepping back from the stage for the next year.
“I’m going to take the year off to build and get better and have some family time, which is well deserved, and then in 2025 I will do a few shows again.”
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