--- title: Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions | TIME description: Bodybuilders celebrated the Mr. Afghanistan competition in Kabul, in spite of security and money woes canonical: https://time.com/video/dwvgQ7dG/ og:title: Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions og:description: Bodybuilders celebrated the Mr. Afghanistan competition in Kabul, in spite of security and money woes og:url: https://time.com/video/dwvgQ7dG/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dwvgQ7dG/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions twitter:description: Bodybuilders celebrated the Mr. Afghanistan competition in Kabul, in spite of security and money woes twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dwvgQ7dG/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions [Watch (HLS stream): Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dwvgQ7dG.m3u8) (4:52)  _Published 2009-06-08. Bodybuilders celebrated the Mr. Afghanistan competition in Kabul, in spite of security and money woes_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:10 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [“We Came Home,” a Documentary by Ariana Delawari About Afghanistan’s Future](/video/mWPRAyba/):39 ### “We Came Home,” a Documentary by Ariana Delawari About Afghanistan’s Future [A Look At Afghanistan's Top Contenders In The Presidential Election](/video/A6dJ2Be0/) ### A Look At Afghanistan's Top Contenders In The Presidential Election [Wheelchair Bodybuilders Muscle Their Way to the Top](/video/byaYm5kd/) ### Wheelchair Bodybuilders Muscle Their Way to the Top --- ## Transcript >> Take a look around Kabul these days and the evidence is on the walls, Afghans are getting pumped. More than 200 gyms are now open in the capital with hundreds more in the provinces. Ground zero of Afghan bodybuilding is Gold's Gym. It was founded soon after the fall of the Taliban, by Bawar Khan Hotak, widely regarded here as the godfather of the sport. Under the Taliban, recreation was limited. So, Bawar Khan and his friends decided to make weights out of cement and old soviet tank parts. When he took part of the Strong Man Competition at the National Stadium, he was so popular that he got into trouble. -[ Foreign Language ] -" I became heavy weight champion of Afghanistan ," he says. " My fans and friends started to throw money and flowers at me to show their support ." -[ Foreign Language ] -" This is an old afghan tradition but the Taliban disagreed and thought it was bad, and so they put me in jail for a while ." >> His next goal was to open Kabul's first western style gym. He named it Gold's after the one in Southern California where his hero Arnold Schwarzenegger used to train. Now, some of his own students train for the annual Mr. Afghanistan contest, arguably the biggest sporting event in the country. But with the war going on, the government has little to offer in the way of support. With just 2 weeks left before the Mr. Afghanistan contest, the war presses business contacts for contributions. -[ Foreign Language ] >> For the first time in years, it appears to be in jeopardy. Across town, Zubair Mohsin owns and manages the Ariana Power Gym. Zubair used to compete himself, winning the Mr. Kabul title in 2004. He opened the basement facility 3 years ago with savings from his day job with the United Nations and now has more than 400 members. >> I know as you know, that is, in bodybuilding it's a completely different sport. In bodybuilding, you have diet, you have to gain weight, you have to lose weight, and you have to spend lots of-- lots of money. But unfortunately, no one can-- no one can encourage the bodybuilding, I mean, the competitors. It's terrible in Afghanistan. But, beside that, people are very interested in bodybuilding. >> Students need to have that kind of, you know, the inspiration besides studying and joining some course at school, you know, and in some other places. It's good to have sport. But-- We study for our minds but we have sport to have a physical-- a good physical appearance. >> In the end, enough money was raised to hold the Mr. Afghanistan contest in a rundown movie house in the City Center. The stands are packed and with the ever present threat of bombing attacks on public avenues, security is tight. Backstage, contestants get the finishing touches. For solid hours the capacity crowd can't get enough. After tense deliberations by the judges, Shuqrullah Shakili is chosen this year's Mr. Afghanistan. It's an overwhelming moment from the 24- year- old mechanic from Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold. He gets no prize money for his hard- won victory, just a trophy and the buzz on the street that comes when you're the country's best. -[ Foreign language ] >> For time. com, this is Jason Motlagh in Kabul. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Afghanistan's Bodybuilding Champions","description":"Bodybuilders celebrated the Mr. Afghanistan competition in Kabul, in spite of security and money woes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dwvgQ7dG/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-06-08T00:33:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dwvgQ7dG.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/dwvgQ7dG/","duration":"PT4M52S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/dwvgQ7dG/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```