The 32nd Annual Night of Champions turned out to be a joyous and momentous occasion for Sheldon Effs at City Hall at the weekend.

The Ultimate Fitness Club bodybuilder savoured the sweet taste of success at the event for the first time and also came away as the night’s biggest winner having captured multiple titles.

Effs claimed Men’s Physique Class B honours before upstaging Men’s Physique Class A winner Marvin Chico Babon in a comparison pose-off for the overall Men’s Physique title.

“This is my first title at Night of Champions and it feels good,” the 36-year-old said.

“I am very proud of myself and my accomplishment over the years. I am grateful.”

Effs was confident about his prospects for success leading up to his fourth appearance competing at Bermuda Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation’s signature competition.

“I felt good about myself and how I was looking going into the show,” he said.

“I put in a lot of work, lot of preparation over the past couple of months and it all paid off in the end.

“It was more challenging than I thought it would be, but overall it was a good show.”

Securing Men’s Classic Physique honours was Jaret Simmons who also trains out the Ultimate Fitness Club.

“It was a great event and, obviously, I got the desired outcome that I was looking for and I am very grateful for that,” the 23-year-old said. “Overall it was a fantastic experience and I am looking forward to doing more competitions in the future.”

Making a triumphant return from a one-year break from the competition was Melissa Smith who captured the Women’s Physique title.

“I put in a lot of hard work,” the 33-year-old, who trains at Beast Gym, said.

“I started my prep in April and just worked my way up to the show and I am a very pleased with what I presented.

“I took a break last year so it was a little nerve-wracking getting on stage again. But once I got on, I felt comfortable again.

“I wanted to do better than I did two years ago and overall I am very pleased.”

The remaining titles up for grabs in the Bikini, Figure and Men’s Bodybuilding categories went to Ultimate Fitness Club trio Shannon Douglas, Joy Eve and Antonio Soares who were all uncontested.

Mark Simons, the BBFF president, said this year’s event was a success which exceeded his expectations despite a decline in the number of athletes who took part.

“I thought it went better than I anticipated,” he added. “The athletes were in better shape than I thought they might be, particularly in the Men’s Physique which was the bulk of the competitors we had.

“I think everyone enjoyed themselves, the competitors and the audience.”

There was an added incentive for the competitors as Simons and his BBFF colleagues ran the rule over potential candidates to represent the association at next month’s Las Vegas Amateur Olympia.

“It’s a very tough competition and now we have to figure out who we want to take to Olympia,” Simons said. “We have developmental athletes that we want to put into shows knowing that they might not fare very well.

“Then we also have athletes who we think can compete.

“We are looking at taking between three and five athletes. Two of them we will be looking to compete and then the other three it will be just to give them that experience.”