Kosta Thanos is a competitive powerlifter born and raised in Kitimat.
He has recently made it to the quarter-finals of the Mr Health and Fitness competition. The prize is $20,000 in cash and a feature in Muscle and Fitness magazine.
The cause for the competition is raising funds for Wounded Warriors, a charity organization that provides financial assistance to injured United States Military veterans.
“I can’t believe it. I’m overwhelmed that I made it this far,” said Thanos.
Thanos lives in Prince George and currently works at LNG Canada with his son Alex. He is a four-time Canadian record holder in powerlifting, benching 458 and a half pounds.
“It was hard work, there is no magic pill to get there,” said Thanos.
“You gotta get to the gym, you gotta push yourself to get there. I know it’s hard some days to get there, you just gotta go, you gotta put the time in to get where you want to be.”
At 46, Thanos began seeing his body decline. He decided that after raising his family, he needed to start taking better care of himself.
“I was an athlete before, I played a lot of sports, basketball, volleyball, wrestling, lacrosse. I played rugby, so I was a very athletic person.”
Along with powerlifting, Thanos walks between 30 and 40 kilometres a day to work. He also took up Aquafit, Zumba, and yoga, and hopes to encourage others to do the same.
“Just go and have fun, that’s the most important thing.”
Thanos would like to thank everyone who has helped him get to this point including Mark Olson, president of 1611 LiUNA union, his brothers and sisters in the union, Corey Anderson Fennell, his coworkers and his family for all their support.
The winner will ultimately be decided by fan voting. As of press time, Thanos was currently in sixth place in the quarter-finals. Voting in the quarter-finals ends June 22 at 7 p.m. Readers can vote for Thanos here to help move him on to the semi-finals.
@HunterWilld
hunter.wild@northernsentinel.com
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