Gage Bush, one of Yorkton’s most decorated young athletes, is heading off to compete at another power lifting competition this weekend.
He’ll be competing at the 2017 CPU Western Powerlifting & Bench Press Championships in Winnipeg on Sept. 10.
The upcoming competition is western regionals: the level up from provincials and the level below nationals.
Bush has only been competing for a little less than a year, but has already competed three times and has racked up two gold medals. He broke and currently holds the Saskatchewan records in deadlift and overall weight lifted, and he came in sixth place at the Canadian Nationals 2017.
Last week Bush held a barbecue fundraiser outside of Superstore, and has an ongoing fundraiser active on GoFundMe. Frequent travelling to competitions makes the costs add up.
Bush explained he faces costs like transportation, hotels, meals and equipment while he travels. Depending on the method of transportation, costs for a trip can sit between 750-2000 dollars.
Since he last competed, Bush has made some impressive improvements to his lifts.
“Last week I deadlifted 705 pounds, which will add an extra five pounds onto my personal record,” said Bush.
“As for my squat – I intend to break the current provincial record by five pounds by squatting 615 pounds, and I’m hoping to add ten pounds onto my bench press which is my weakest lift,” he added.
Bush injured his back in April, so has spent time recovering.
“I’m behind where I wanted to be, but still I’m slightly stronger than I was earlier this year.”
With those improvements made, Bush said he’s quite excited for his upcoming competition.
“Normally I’m quite stoic leading up to the competition. It’s total anxiety in the hours leading up to it, but after the first lift it’s smooth sailing and you wonder why you were worried in the first place, and then you just enjoy yourself,” he said.
After the upcoming regional competition, the next competition on the agenda for Bush is 2018 Canadian nationals in Calgary.
Anyone who is interested in helping out the athlete representing Yorkton on a national level can visit his GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/gages-powerlifting-journey
Any amount will help the athlete in his upcoming endeavors, and will help him pursue his goal of one day competing at worlds.
