Olney's Mr. Universe lifts self to new levels
Nixlot Dameus was 11 years old when he decided he had been bullied for the last time. After being chased, caught, and beaten in the streets of his Olney neighborhood, Dameus retreated home and decided that at least one life would end.
Nixlot Dameus was 11 years old when he decided he had been bullied for the last time.
After being chased, caught, and beaten in the streets of his Olney neighborhood, Dameus retreated home and decided that at least one life would end.
"That night, I got home and said, 'That's it. I'm either going to end my life here or find a way to kill them and get my revenge,' " Dameus said.
Instead, he gave birth to a new life.
Dameus, now a 17-year-old senior at Del-Val Charter, won the World Physique Federation USA Teenage Mr. Universe bodybuilding competition earlier this month. He also became the first teenager to win the WPF American Posedown Mr. Universe championship in competition against men of all ages.
The 6-foot, 196-pounder from Haiti will leave for Belgium on Nov. 5 to captain the six-person USA squad that will compete in the Universe Championships against Mr. Universes from around the globe.
"I learned that the best way to get your revenge is with success," Dameus said. "They thought you were weird; show them how weirdness can help you succeed.
"While they're busy getting arrested, I'm busy setting records and getting titles. While they might be somewhere locked up, I'm about to get on a plane and represent their country. And I'm nothing but a Haitian kid who has a green card. I'm proud of that, and I'm proud of the simple fact that I'm representing their country."
Dameus was 9 on July 21, 2007, when he and his mother, Marie Innocent, left Fontamara 27 in Haiti and flew from Port-au-Prince to New York City.
The exact date still resonates, because on that day Dameus also met his father, Rislot, for the first time when they arrived in the United States.
In a strange land with no knowledge of its language or customs, Dameus said, the bullying started almost immediately.
"It was in my culture to have short hair until you get older, so I was still getting bowl cuts," he said. "I had no control over it. And I had two baby teeth that just never came in. Honestly, that runs in my family, so I had no control over that either."
Classmates and neighborhood kids tormented and assaulted him anyway. His inability to speak English also made him a target and made it more difficult to seek help.
"It was very, very bad for me [to see]," said Marie Innocent, who speaks little English. "I wanted to send him back to Haiti [whenever] somebody hurt Nixlot."
Hours of watching PBS Kids eventually helped her son learn English, but combating bullying took something else.
"I had to find an outlet," Dameus said, "so I started training in bodybuilding. I did my first show at 13, went to high school and started power-lifting and broke nine state records, two national records, and also won titles in the teenage bodybuilding category and the men's category."
The Rev. Richard Brown III, the WPF USA president for the last 15 years, met Dameus when the 140-pound 11-year-old talked to a member of Brown's gospel band and inquired about bodybuilding.
Dameus, who played the cello at the time, eventually joined the band and then worked out at Brown's now-closed Rivers Gym on Walnut Street.
Six years later, Dameus' bedroom is home to 34 bodybuilding and weightlifting trophies.
"He's unique," Brown said. "I wouldn't say he's more hardworking than the others, because to get to this level you have to work hard, train hard, and sacrifice. But at his age, to focus in the way he does is unique."
At 5:02 Monday morning, the kitchen of Dameus' home on Seventh Street and Nedro Avenue filled with the pungent smell of boiling protein.
His mother had already left for her factory job in Allentown. His father, who Dameus said is legally blind because of diabetes, lives near Oxford Avenue and Levick Street.
In the still-moonlit hours of the morning, Dameus emptied a few cans of tuna fish into a pot of grits.
"It tastes OK," he said. "But when you start getting into defending your titles and trying to beat people for theirs, it's not about taste. You'll eat whatever you have to just because you know it'll help you win."
A nearly hourlong chest workout followed at the Powerhouse Gym on Knorr Street. Simply a "warm-up" for the real workout after school, he said.
Dameus played football at Del-Val through his junior year, but he is on a hiatus to prepare for Belgium.
Brett Lynch, Del-Val's ninth- and 10th- grade guidance counselor, doubles as Dameus' bodybuilding mentor.
"I try to help him with his diet and give him ideas of things to eat that are within his resources," said Lynch, who is in training to earn a professional bodybuilding card this year.
Last power-lifting season, Dameus maxed out at 455 pounds on the bench press, he deadlifted 610 pounds, and squatted 560.
"How bad do you want it?" Dameus said. "That quote is like the [motivation] I live by. It's like my motto."
After graduation, Dameus wants to become a personal trainer and possibly focus on a business degree. Owning a gym is the ultimate goal, for now. An acting or modeling career would also be welcome, he said. Fame and fortune for vanity's sake, however, doesn't sound like the plan.
"I could give back by letting people train free for a few days until they're stable enough to pay," he said. "I was 12 trying to go to the gym, but my mom didn't have any money. And I know that the way life works, there's going to be another kid someday just like me who'll try to do that, and I want to be there for that kid and give that kid somewhere to train."
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