This Cape Flats dad promises to bring back gold when he tackles other muscle men at the World Body Building Championships in Budapest next week.
At 55 years old, Jason Kleinsmidt has a body that will put many a younger man to shame.
The Lentegeur dad of six works in the security department of Community Safety MEC Dan Plato’s office.
And it’s easy to see why the Mitchells Plain “Hulk” was chosen to represent South Africa at the world champs - flexing his bulging spiere, Jason is keen to show off his impressive physique.
With his broad shoulders, muscular arms and legs and narrow hips, he has the perfect build, good enough to be world champion, in fact.
In November, he came sixth in his sport’s biggest competition, the International Natural Body Building Association (INBA), which was held in Las Vegas.
Now Jason is going for gold and will have to compete against competitors from 26 other countries in Budapest, Hungary, on June 10.
Jason, who weighs 93kg and is 1.87 metres tall, leaves South Africa with three other teammates on June 8.
He has been training hard, sticking to a strict protein diet.
“I am going for gold and I need to get rid of the water as the date draws nearer,” he explains.
“I’m ready for them. I have been on a three-month high-protein diet which means I had no carbohydrates.”
Jason also trains at Camelia’s Body Building Club in Lentegeur, owned by John Roman, 62, and his wife Penny.
John was Jason’s coach during the SA World Champs in Spain in 2007 and 2009.
“We are proud of him,” says John.
“You see, the difference with a backyard gym is that you can motivate each other better than when you’re in a gym.”
Jason was the first black South African to compete in Mr Universe in London after democratic elections in 1995.
Plato says Jason is an asset to the country: “He is really a star and he is an asset for us and Mitchells Plain.
“I have visited him and see the projects he does and I want to say what an astonishing job he is going.
“I want to wish him well and God’s blessing upon him when he competes in Hungary.”