The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NATASHA Newbold, considered one of the greatest female powerlifters ever, died yesterday morning at the age of 52 after a long illness.

She left behind three girls, two grand children and a lot of memories of the days when she wracked up the weights in the gym and on the stage.

Bahamas Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation president Joel Stubbs offered his condolences on behalf of both the powerlifting and bodybyuilding faternity of which Newbold played an intergal role.

“I got the news this morning that she had passed away and I was saddened by the news,” said Stubbs, a former powerlifter and bodybuilder. “She went through her struggles and we were praying for the best for her, but she passed away this morning. So we shared our views on her contribution to both powerlifting and bodybuilding, but more powerlifting than bodybuilding.”

Newbold grew up in Homestead Street in Englerston and graduated from CC Sweeting, where she excelled in just about every sport she participated in, including athletics where she competed at the Carifta Games. She went on to become one of the top bodybuilders competing against such household names as Della Thomas and Maxine Darville.

However, powerlifting was where Newbold flexed most of her muscles and she held numerous national records and won a number of national titles as well as representing the Bahamas in both segments of the sport.

She was a member of the Central American and Caribbean bodybuilding team and she participated in a number of international bodybuilding events, including the IPF Women’s World Powerlifting Championships and the IPF Pan-American Powerlifting Championships.

The former Batelco worker reportedly went into a state of depression after the death of her husband in 2003 and could be seen in her latter years hanging out near a particular restaurant/bar on Faith Avenue.

She had indicated that she would have liked to venture into the sport as a coach, but that never materialised.

“She definitely left her footprints on all of us,” Stubbs said. “For those of us who knew her personally, it’s a very sad day, including myself. The sport has lost a giant of an athlete who for years carried the Bahamian flag. We grieve with the family and know that God knows all things and hope that they can let the memories live on and linger with us as we all carry on.”

May her soul rest in peace.