When De-Von Bean hung up his running spikes he was left with a void in his life that he initially struggled to fill.

A self-confessed “jock”, Bean tried several different sports during an unsuccessful search to replace the adrenalin rush he experienced rocketing down the 100 metres track as Bermuda’s top sprinter.

His decision to purchase a set of golf clubs was an ill-conceived one at best: a leisurely stroll along the fairways of Bermuda’s picturesque courses was never going to cut it for a man more suited to the fast lane.

He then flirted with cycling but the wheels soon came off that equally unfulfilling sporting dalliance, leaving Bean frustrated that he still had not found what he was looking for.

Inevitably, he returned to the weights room, his natural domain; a place where he felt at home from the years spent training his muscles for explosive power.

It was not long before the Olympian was slowly modifying a body built for speed into that of a competitive bodybuilder.

“After I retired from running I bought golf clubs, I bought a bicycle, but neither moved me,” said Bean, who turns 40 next month.

“Lifting was always part of my routine as an athlete, so bodybuilding seemed a natural fit for me.”

Bean first flexed, tensed and grimaced on stage at the 2009 Night of Champions, winning the novice class, before returning two years later to claim the bodybuilding middleweight division.

Still, he was not satisfied.

It was the “Mr Bermuda” title that he craved, a trophy his trainer Dwayne Outerbridge won many moons ago, with the pair fervently pumping iron together over the years to sculpt Bean’s body into that of a contender for the crown.

On Saturday night at the Ruth Seaton James Centre for the Performing Arts at CedarBridge Academy, Bean completed a journey that started eight years ago, winning both the men’s bodybuilding class and the “Mr Bermuda” title — the Holy Grail of gym rats throughout the Island.

Bean failed to fight back the tears when it emerged he had dethroned JaVaughn Dill, the winner of the past two “Mr Bermuda” titles, planting successive kisses on the trophy before drawing raucous cheers from the sell-out audience with a raunchy splits routine.

“This year was a sweet victory, I guess three’s a charm,” said Bean, who represented Bermuda at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“I was able to bring home the top prize of “Mr Bermuda” that I owe largely to my brother Travis Clarke, who got me involved in bodybuilding, and especially my trainer Dwayne Outerbridge, who has never lost sight of my goals even when I didn’t believe in myself.

“That’s why I was crying like a baby; it meant so much to me and there’s a whole supporting cast of people I need to thank.”

Making the sacrifices required to succeed in the unforgiving world of bodybuilding, where any shortcuts will be spotted by the eagle-eyed panel of judges, came naturally to Bean from his previous sporting incarnation.

He is still heavily involved with athletics, coaching youngsters alongside his girlfriend Mia Black at the Dash Track Club, and has been tipped by Troy Douglas, the Bermuda National Athletics Association head coach, as his most suitable successor.

“Track and field instilled a lot of sacrifice and discipline in me so that part wasn’t hard for me,” said Bean, who still holds the national 100 metres record at 10.27sec.

“I’ve competed against the best sprinters in the world and the best long jumpers in the world and I’m a jock at heart. I’m always looking for that next goal.”