A Kelowna man’s journey to become the fittest man on earth can be watched on Netflix.
Brent Fikowski has been competing for the last three years in the Reebok CrossFit Games and training in CrossFit for six years. Each year, thousands of athletes compete in a series of challenges ranging from swimming, obstacle courses, deadlifting and more for the title of the fittest person on earth.
The 27-year-old said while he may be featured on Netflix, he isn’t recognized on the street too often. Fikowski placed fourth in this year’s CrossFit Games in Wisconsin, a few steps down from last year’s second place.
“It’s fun and it’s cool to have that down the road when I’m old and retired from this craziness, it will nice to have those,” he said.
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The documentaries, Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness, and The Redeemed and the Dominant: Fittest on Earth, focus on select athletes in the last two games and their journeys to earn the title. In January, Fikowski was also featured in GQ Magazine.
The benefit of being on camera as an athlete is that it humbles you, Fikowski said. But the shows don’t always tell the whole story, something he’s come to terms with.
“When you first start that journey you want (people) to understand (you) and later, down the road you realize it’s not for them to understand, it’s for you to enjoy those moments and for people to interpret them however they want,” he said.
“Part of this journey has been learning to deal with other people’s expectations and perceptions of my performance and it’s been challenging at times, but it’s super rewarding to continue to put myself in a place where I can grow in a lot of different ways and hopefully help young athletes in the future and understand what it means to compete,” he said.
In Fittest on Earth, Fikowski placed fourth in the first race after he is passed during the final stretch by athlete Sam Briggs. The next year, an in the documentary The Redeemed and the Dominant, he redeemed himself by beating her by a narrow margin in the 2017 games.
READ MORE: Fikowski wins silver at CrossFit Games
“I remember that race and there were men that walked most of it and you don’t hear about that, and I’m proud that I ran most of it,” Fikowski said.
“I finished it and pushed myself to get a lot of points. It’s those little stories that I take and I learn from,” Fikowski said.
He hopes to inspire others with the documentaries.
“It’s super cool to hopefully inspire people to get off the couch and live healthy active lives,” he said.
Fikowski plans to compete in the games again in 2019 and eventually wants to work with young athletes to”become better versions of themselves.”
To aspiring athletes, he said play as many sports as you can.
“It allows so many opportunities for us to learn and grow,” he said.
Fikowski said he’s happy with his performance at the 2018 games, even though the instinct as a competitor is to be disappointed.
“You can choose to look up at the three men who beat you and have some envy and jealousy or you can look down at every other crossfitter at the competition and in the world and know that they would gladly trade spots with you,” he said.
Fikowski balances training with part-time work at Strawhouse Inc. and evenings with his wife.
I do my best to find balance. When you want to achieve something at a really high end sometimes the balance isn’t really possible,” he said. “I don’t make much time for anything else other than working and competing and spending quality time with my wife.”
To watch the CrossFit documentaries, visit Netflix.com.
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