{"id":14292,"date":"2026-02-18T16:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14292"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:01:00","slug":"gold-medal-powerlifter-takes-on-fifth-polar-plunge-challenge-centralalbertaonline-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14292","title":{"rendered":"Gold-medal powerlifter takes on fifth Polar Plunge challenge &#8211; CentralAlbertaOnline.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>      <!-- Body --><\/p>\n<p>Jayson Stubitsch, a 24-year-old Special Olympics athlete, is enduring the cold once again, jumping into his fifth Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics Alberta on Saturday, Feb 21.<\/p>\n<p>The Polar Plunge fundraiser, organized by Special Olympics Alberta and the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), will take place at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame starting at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than jumping into the Red Deer River, participants plunge into a bin filled with freezing water pumped directly from a fire hydrant.<\/p>\n<p>Stubitsch has been paired with LETR member Korey Cleland for three years, with the duo dressing up in themed costumes to brave the cold together. Stubitsch first got involved as a volunteer and has been taking the plunge since he was 19.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"inset-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"plunge\" data-caption=\"Jayson Stubitsch (left) and\u00a0LETR member Korey Cleland (right) have done the plunge together for the past three years.\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"322c4da4-1807-447a-a9c0-d58b1b114301\" height=\"567\" src=\"https:\/\/d3355vjhs3bhr1.cloudfront.net\/inline-images\/613559232_10161499622670378_7584575909523932923_n.jpg\" width=\"392\"\/><span class=\"caption\">Jayson Stubitsch (left) and\u00a0LETR member Korey Cleland (right) have done the plunge together for the past three years.<\/span><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cLETR really means a lot to me because they always show up for Special Olympics athletes and support us in so many ways,\u201d Stubitsch said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, Stubitsch has dressed as characters including Batman and Barney Rubble. This year, he\u2019s part of the Mutant Turtles team and will dress up as Raphael.<\/p>\n<p>Stubitsch has exceeded his fundraising goal of $1000, meaning his mother Nicole will take the plunge with him. His father will also brave the cold as the Mutant Turtles team raised over $2300.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"inset-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"jayson stubistch\" data-caption=\"Jayson Stubitsch will be participating in his fifth Polar Plunge on Saturday, Feb 21.\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"34c0561e-4c65-4b6f-90b3-75637270464a\" height=\"268\" src=\"https:\/\/d3355vjhs3bhr1.cloudfront.net\/inline-images\/Screenshot_13-2-2026_162050_www.centralalbertaonline.com_.jpeg\" width=\"404\"\/><span class=\"caption\">Jayson Stubitsch will be participating in his fifth Polar Plunge on Saturday, Feb 21.<\/span><\/figure>\n<p>Stubitsch says that all funds raised support Special Olympics Alberta athletes in multiple ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money we raise helps pay for our sports programs, equipment and travel,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>Stubitsch is also an athletic champion, having won a gold medal in powerlifting at Special Olympics Alberta, just nine weeks after undergoing total knee reconstruction surgery. Competing a push-pull, he posted a 275-pound deadlift and a 170-pound bench press.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"inset-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"POWERLIFT\" data-caption=\"Jayson Stubitsch participates in a Special Olympics event in Calgary.\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"c5b2204f-4497-49b0-803e-1243b1baf3ac\" height=\"292\" src=\"https:\/\/d3355vjhs3bhr1.cloudfront.net\/inline-images\/16521_0.jpg\" width=\"437\"\/><span class=\"caption\">Jayson Stubitsch participates in a Special Olympics event in Calgary.<\/span><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWinning the gold medal at Special Olympics Alberta was an incredible surprise and something I\u2019m really proud of,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Supporters can donate through\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/soa.crowdchange.ca\/127738\/page\/385613?fbclid=IwY2xjawPWP1BleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFiVm1lZE90ZkJLQ0Y2cmowc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHn6fHgMgrqHG_z2KgqpMeIITBdD8zn2q_EbarRJN25Lyh_SHn90IMHW_6IMz_aem_nml9Zmbi9VMJKgVAkqn9rQ\">Stubitsch\u2019s fundraising page<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0or cheer on him and the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/soa.crowdchange.ca\/127738\/team\/72926\">Mutant Turtles team<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0during\u00a0the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.specialolympics.ab.ca\/events\/2026-red-deer-polar-plunge\"><strong>Law Enforcement Torch Run <\/strong><\/a>on Saturday Feb 21, at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n<p>** With all photos courtesy of Nicole Sather.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.centralalbertaonline.com\/features\/daily-news\">Sign up<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest local news headlines delivered directly to your inbox every afternoon.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@centralalbertaonline.com.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>CentralAlbertaOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the CentralAlbertaOnline app.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Audio --><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Video --><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Gallery --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/centralalbertaonline.com\/articles\/gold-medal-powerlifter-takes-on-fifth-polar-plunge-challenge\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jayson Stubitsch, a 24-year-old Special Olympics athlete, is enduring the cold once again, jumping into his fifth Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics Alberta on Saturday, Feb 21. The Polar Plunge fundraiser, organized by Special Olympics Alberta and the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), will take place at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":14293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[273],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-powerlifting-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gold-medal powerlifter takes on fifth Polar Plunge challenge - CentralAlbertaOnline.com - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gold-medal powerlifter takes on fifth Polar Plunge challenge - CentralAlbertaOnline.com - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jayson Stubitsch, a 24-year-old Special Olympics athlete, is enduring the cold once again, jumping into his fifth Polar Plunge in support of Special Olympics Alberta on Saturday, Feb 21. The Polar Plunge fundraiser, organized by Special Olympics Alberta and the Law Enforcement Torch Run (LETR), will take place at the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=14292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-18T16:01:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3355vjhs3bhr1.cloudfront.net\/inline-images\/613559232_10161499622670378_7584575909523932923_n.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14292#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/?p=14292\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Bodybuilding News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d84bf475351cac13351c44d62b00dcd2\"},\"headline\":\"Gold-medal powerlifter takes on fifth Polar Plunge challenge &#8211; 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