{"id":3335,"date":"2026-01-06T02:52:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T02:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3335"},"modified":"2026-01-06T02:52:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T02:52:18","slug":"lincolnshire-bodybuilder-donald-sweeting-wins-world-title-at-first-attempt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3335","title":{"rendered":"Lincolnshire bodybuilder Donald Sweeting wins world title at first attempt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A bodybuilder from Lincolnshire has won a world title at his first attempt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Donald Sweeting, from Grantham, beat 250 competitors to lift the WNBF Amateur World Championships in Los Angeles last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He won the Bantamweight division in the natural bodybuilding tournament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Sweeting, 34, who works as an assistant manager at a gym said his victory was an &#8220;absolute dream come true&#8221;.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-component=\"text-block\">\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I had zero expectations going out, it&#8217;s been massively overwhelming,&#8221; he told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I wasn&#8217;t expecting to go out and win.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Sweeting explained that natural bodybuilding adheres to Olympic rules on drug use, meaning substances such as steroids and weight loss medication are prohibited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;As a natural you have that nicer sort of shape as you don&#8217;t get blown out of proportion compared with the assisted side of the sport,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Sweeting earned his trip to the United States after winning his category in the UK Natural Bodybuilding championship in September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">He said he got into the sport after struggling with his mental health in his early 20s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;For me it&#8217;s a self-discipline thing,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;It&#8217;s really the journey rather than the destination.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\"><i id=\"listen-to-highlights-from\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 iVdNuz\">Listen to highlights from<\/i> <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/p0cjdw6n\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds<\/a><i id=\",-watch-the\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 iVdNuz\">, watch the<\/i> <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/programmes\/b007tp3n\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">latest episode of Look North<\/a> <i id=\"or-tell-us-about-a-story-you-think-we-should-be-covering\" class=\"sc-d16436d-0 iVdNuz\">or tell us about a story you think we should be covering <\/i><a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/mailto:eastyorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Download the BBC News app from the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/gb\/app\/bbc-news-uk-world-stories\/id377382255?is_retargeting=true&amp;source_caller=ui&amp;shortlink=6mc9icpm&amp;c=BBC_app_install_house_ad_uk&amp;pid=Generic%20article%20link_Apple&amp;af_xp=custom&amp;af_reengagement_window=30d\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">App Store<\/a> for iPhone and iPad or <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=bbc.mobile.news.uk&amp;hl=en_GB&amp;is_retargeting=true&amp;source_caller=ui&amp;shortlink=ser4scwo&amp;c=BBC_app_install_house_ad_uk&amp;pid=Generic%20article%20link_Android&amp;af_xp=custom&amp;af_reengagement_window=30d\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\">Google Play<\/a> for Android devices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cwyx17w528lo\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bodybuilder from Lincolnshire has won a world title at his first attempt. Donald Sweeting, from Grantham, beat 250 competitors to lift the WNBF Amateur World Championships in Los Angeles last month. He won the Bantamweight division in the natural bodybuilding tournament. Mr Sweeting, 34, who works as an assistant manager at a gym said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[271],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3335","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-natural-bodybuilding"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Lincolnshire bodybuilder Donald Sweeting wins world title at first attempt - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=3335\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lincolnshire bodybuilder Donald Sweeting wins world title at first attempt - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A bodybuilder from Lincolnshire has won a world title at his first attempt. Donald Sweeting, from Grantham, beat 250 competitors to lift the WNBF Amateur World Championships in Los Angeles last month. He won the Bantamweight division in the natural bodybuilding tournament. 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