At an age when most men are happy to slow down, Masiye Suwali keeps adding weight to the bar.
The 61-year-old bodybuilder still rises before dawn to train alongside athletes young enough to be his grandchildren. He has lived this way since he was 20.
"Bodybuilding isn't a hobby for me; it's a calling," Suwali said, resting between sets at a Harare gym.
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"The reason I still pump iron today is to inspire the younger generation. By training with young builders, I challenge and inspire them to work hard."
He laughs off the notion that money might be keeping him going.
"Where is the money? There is no money in bodybuilding. I do this out of a need to inspire generations."
The roots of his devotion stretch back to Mufakose, the Harare suburb where he grew up.
In the early eighties, when makeshift gym equipment was fashioned out of car parts and concrete, a teenage Suwali discovered the discipline of weightlifting.
Friends drifted in and out, but he never stopped.
"We built our first bench from scrap metal," he recalled with a grin.
"We didn't care about fancy gear. We just wanted to be strong."
That work ethic still defines him.
When he walks into a gym today, younger lifters pause to greet him with a mix of respect and curiosity.
Some cannot believe a man past 60 still trains with the same intensity.
"Sometimes they test me with heavy weights," he said.
"I like that. It keeps me sharp."
Two weeks ago, he entered the masters' division at the Fitness Physique contest in Harare.
He finished last among three competitors, but that hardly mattered.
"I managed to attain my goal, which was to go on stage, set an example and inspire the youth."
The applause he received from spectators and fellow athletes told him the message had registered.
Not everything has gone smoothly.
He had hoped to compete at the Fitness Physique Zambia event on Saturday last week but failed to travel.
"It is sad. I failed to travel to Zambia because I do not have a passport," he said, his disappointment evident.
"I did a lot for the sport and I believe someone should have chipped in and helped me." Instead of dwelling on that setback, Suwali is already focused on the Harare Classic scheduled for October 25. The contest has no masters' category, so he will face the nation's best seniors, including defending champion Gedion "Gidza" Teguru, Edward "Gearbox" Mutero and Noah "Hulk" Dzvokora.
The challenge does not faze him.
"This is not the first time that I competed as a senior instead of a master. I even came in the top six in the seniors on two occasions." His calendar is packed.
He was supposed to compete at a World Fitness Federation meet in Gweru yesterday. He also plans to be on the stage at both the Manicaland Classic and the Zimbabwe Nationals in Victoria Falls in November. Each event means more early mornings, strict dieting and hours of posing practice, rituals that younger athletes sometimes skip but Suwali treats as sacred.
"I have to stay ready," he said. "My age is not an excuse."
The preparation is costly.
"Bodybuilding is an expensive sport. One needs to fork out money to cover gym fees, supplements and food. I lost some of the competitions simply because I was not well-prepared," he admitted. Yet he dares to dream of stepping onto international stages in the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
"If I get the right support, why not? I still have the hunger." Helping him along the way is Harare businessman Robson Muromba, who sometimes chips in.
"I particularly like his way of thinking," Muromba said.
"He uses bodybuilding to reach out to the youth and warn them about the dangers associated with drug and alcohol abuse." For Suwali, every rep is a message.
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In a country where drug and substance abuse has become a crisis, he sees the gym as a safer gathering place for restless young people.
"When they see me still training, they realise discipline works better than shortcuts," he said. Many of the young lifters he mentors have gone on to win medals of their own, and they still call him "sekuru" or grandfather. From Mufakose's improvised gyms to the country's biggest arenas, Suwali has built a life around iron and resolve. He jokes that barbells have been more faithful companions than most gadgets and trends.
"Weights don't lie," he said. "You put in the work, they give you the result."
Sixty-one years on, he is still the man lifting others by example as much as by weight.
The medals may fade, but the force of his story keeps pulling the next generation forward.
