Duvaughn Dick is a national bodybuilder whose story in the sport can serve as a lesson in what can be achieved through focus, determination, and discipline.

Dick competed at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships in Aruba last month and earned a silver medal in the Classic Bodybuilding category, and a bronze in the Classic Physique area.

This was Dick’s fourth time competing at the CAC Championships and while he was determined to take the gold medal, he is still pleased with his silver medal. He stands at 6’1″ and weighs between 230lbs and 240lbs out of competition but works his way down to below 205lbs when competing. He entered the competition in Aruba at 199lbs.

“I was very close to the gold,” Dick told the Jamaica Observer. “There were six of us in that category and they compared all six of us and sent us to the back of the stage. Then they brought back two and that was me and a guy from El Salvador named Yuri Rodriguez, and compared us again side by side to find out who is number one and who is silver. He won and I took the silver. He entered all three categories and won all three categories. It was good for me to push him but I really wanted the gold. I worked hard for it and could’ve gotten it. I was so close to it but not close enough.”

But Dick did not find it easy to get to where he is now. His gym lifestyle started while training for the shot put at Campion College. Like many who try to maintain a regular gym routine, Dick struggled with maintaining a disciplined diet.

“I played sports my entire life but I was always overweight,” he said. “I actually started the gym in high school, doing shot put for Campion, and qualified for Champs in 2005. I was very proud of that. That’s when I started the gym and I just fell in love with it. In the first couple of years, I saw the fitness magazines in the pharmacies and fell in love with bodybuilding.

“I’ve never stopped working out, since I started in 2004. Up to now, I’ve been 20 years straight in the gym. The longest I ever stopped was during COVID-19 when they shut down Spartan Gym for three months. But I was still at home doing home workouts.

“The dieting is hard, especially because I have a horrible sweet tooth. It’s difficult to control and in 2018 I was up to 330lbs. I had a 46-inch waist and I was big and obese -it was horrible. But I was still going to the gym regularly. I was very strong and could bench press over 400lbs. People from UWI [where he studied] saw me and asked, ‘You stopped working out? What happened?’ But I never stopped working out, I just ate too much and they couldn’t see the muscles.”

But the turning point came in 2018. This is when he started training for competitive purposes.

“I made the decision that I need to make a change,” he recalls. “I’ve been watching bodybuilding for over 11 years and when I go watch competitions people kept asking when I’m going to enter, but I was just too shy.”

“At the beginning, it was very nerve-racking for me to go out there, but what I’ve learned is to look at the judges only and not look into the crowd,” he said. “If you do that, you might see someone you know or someone looking back at you and it can throw you off with your poses. I know I’m good at bodybuilding with my size and my physique and that gives me the extra confidence I need to be out there.”

As Dick was not content with his silver medal, he is intent on getting gold and says he is determined to return next year to realise that dream.