Champion bodybuilder grandma

On Nov. 10, 2010, Manny Pacquiao conquered a depleted Antonio Margarito to win the vacant World Boxing Council world super welterweight title, his record-setting eighth in various weight classes. The magnitude of the event was such that it was held at the massive Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The victory dominated the headlines, rendering Pacquiao’s name untouchable in the annals of professional boxing.

At the same time in Las Vegas, where most of Pacquiao’s unforgettable wins, little Filipina bodybuilder Luzviminda Longabila McClinton won the Pro Fame Figure World Bodybuilding Championship, a first for the country, as well. Two years later, she also claimed the World Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (WBFF) Southwest US Championship in Oklahoma. Her first world domination was greatly overshadowed by Pacquiao’s achievement, though it has comparable value when you look at what she had been through to get there.

Luz came from an impoverished family with eight siblings, selling rice porridge with her father on the streets in Merville, Parañaque, hawking whatever she could get her hands on to help put food on the table.

“I remember those days,” she recalls. “I was eight, nine years old, selling goto, pushing a cart with my father. Selling cigarettes, boiled eggs, pansit. I never stopped working since then.”

When she got pregnant unexpectedly while still a student, her boyfriend left her. It took her a long time to finish her studies. Seeking better income in the Middle East, she left her child with her grandmother to start waitressing. She eventually fell in love, settled down in Texas, got citizenship, and built a new life. Her daughter Jaymie joined the US Armed Forces.

Discovering bodybuilding, McClinton attacked it with the same vigor that she tackles anything. Inevitably, she entered the Fame competition independently. Though she was the smallest competitor, she was the clear favorite. One of her most stunning poses was lifting one foot, holding her heel with one hand, and turning around with one foot. This spawned a series of successful competitions,

Of course, she eventually had to find work, and leaned back into being a waitress in a family bar in Texas. Despite being surrounded by colleagues half her age, she has become the most popular service staff in the establishment, the favorite, popular “Mama Luz,” still rocking the skimpy uniforms and 10-gallon hats.

“This is easy money,” she explains. “Nobody is going to help you here. You have to take care of yourself. If they don’t like you, you won’t survive; you won’t get any tips.”

Jaymie had her first child last year. Now a grandmother, Luz decided to go back into competitive bodybuilding at 47. Despite working nights, she has found time to intensify her training regardless of the upside-down schedule. So far since her return, she has placed in the competitions she has entered.

“I never stopped taking care of my body,” she emphasizes. “My goal is to make the big money show, the Arnold Classic. Not just for the money; I want to meet him in person. If I can do that next year, I’ll retire. Just because you’re getting old doesn’t mean that we’re done. You’re done when you’re dead.”

Soon, Luz will save enough money to return to the Philippines and live a simple life in the province, away from the frenetic life in big cities. But for now, she continues to inspire, to prove that all good things come to those who work, as a bodybuilding grandma.

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