A bodybuilder named Dwayne Quamina has passed away just one week after stepping off stage at the Atlanta Pro. Dwayne was a former Olympia competitor who had unretired at age 41 to return to competition, competed in the 212 division, a weight-capped class of 212 lbs (96 kg) that serves as a middle ground between amateur qualification and full open bodybuilding.
Before his passing, Dwayne had been posting regularly to keep his audience updated, including a video describing how sick he felt after flying home from the show.
“So, I haven’t been super active on here and it’s because I’ve been sick. So, I got back from the flight and it was chaos. Just felt like d3ath. Shortness of breath, cough, can’t breathe. I’m like, ‘Got to sit that already.’ But, it was rough,” he said.
Dwayne then revealed that he was examined and prescribed treatment to help with his symptoms.
“Shout out to Carrie. She checked me out, looked me up down, made sure I was good to go, prescribed some antibiotics, gave me a st**oid sh0t to open up the lungs and yeah, so we’re on our way to recovery, baby,” he said.
Despite describing the illness as particularly difficult, Dwayne said he was beginning to feel better.
“Yeah, it was like left, right punches. Just coming down on me, but we’re feeling better. Yeah, it’s been a rough 2 days, so we made it through it, and yeah, we’ll start building again,” he added.
Viewers could see that Dwayne had some symptoms like shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, and general exhaustion in the video. These are consistent with congestive heart failure, a condition affecting more than six million people in the United States and the leading cause of hospitalization among people over 65.
Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump blood efficiently, forcing the body to work harder to circulate oxygen while fluid builds up in the lungs, legs, and abdomen. Common warning signs include shortness of breath, waking up struggling to breathe, chest discomfort, swelling in the limbs, a persistent dry cough, and fatigue during activity, symptoms that are common among competitive bodybuilders generally.
Roughly two weeks before the show, Dwayne had also mentioned developing a sore throat and briefly choking after eating raw garlic in an attempt to treat it. About a week before the event, he appeared in better condition during a check-in update, describing his final workout and preparation for weigh-in.
Several factors common in competitive bodybuilding prep can place significant stress on the body, including severe dehydration, calorie and micronutrient restriction, and heavy use of diuretics to manage water retention before a show. Even small amounts of body water loss can significantly impair immune function, while illness or infection close to competition can trigger or worsen underlying heart failure that an athlete may not know they have.
Bodybuilding also currently has no governing body requiring blood work, organ imaging, or medical screening before or after competition. This leaves athletes largely responsible for monitoring their own health during and after periods of major physical stress.
