K-Town bodybuilders see success at muscle competition

April 29, 2015
Musclemania competitors from left to right: Min Soo, Jung Seok Kim, Tae Hyung Kim, Tae Ho Kim, leader Hong Ki-ho, Joon Ko, David Kim, trainer Lee Simon.

Musclemania competitors from left to right: Min Soo, Jung Seok Kim, Tae Hyung Kim, Tae Ho Kim, leader Hong Ki-ho, Joon Ko, David Kim, trainer Lee Simon.

By The Korea Times Los Angeles staff

A group of Los Angeles Korean Americans have entered Musclemania 2015, one of the world’s largest such competitions, together as a team.

Led by Fitness M’s Hong Ki-ho, competitors come from a handful of well-known fitness centers in Koreatown.

The team, named Musclemania Team LA, picked up a few victories during competition — Tae Hyung Kim placed No. 1 in the Physique Short show, followed by David Kim in second place and Jung Seok Kim in third. Joon Ko placed No. 5 in Physique Tall.

Hong said local competitors have been good enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with world-famous bodybuilders but that they did not have the experience of entering competitions.

“We wanted to make this the opportunity for Korean competitors with potential to enter large-scale events,” Hong said.

Musclemania attracted 120 competitors this year in five categories: Ms. Bikini, model, physique, figure and fitness.