A TEENAGE bodybuilder with a “brilliant future” ahead of him has been found dead at his home in Brazil.
Matheus Pavlak, 19, had taken up the gruelling sport to overcome his obesity at age 14.
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He was found dead on Sunday afternoon at his home after reportedly suffering a heart attack.
Matheus was a regular competitor in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, where he lived and last year won a regional U23 contest.
In May this year he finished fourth and sixth in other major competitions.
His former trainer Lucas Chegatti posted an emotional tribute to the teenager writing: “Today ends in a sad day with the loss of a great friend, a spectacular boy who leaves us early, a tragedy that took us by surprise.
“He had a brilliant future ahead of him as a respected athlete.
“I was Matheus’ first coach and I’m very proud to have had the opportunity to have cared for him like a son.
“I promised him that one day he would beat me and said and done, the first time we competed together against each other, he ended up winning.
“He was no longer a part of my team, but I know I managed to form a great athlete. May God comfort his family and take care of our boy.”
He went on to reveal Matheus had decided to take up bodybuilding to overcome his childhood weight problems, saying: “He started training harder around the year 2019 due to obesity.
“In 2022 when we met, we aligned our training and started aiming at making him a champion.”
Matheus himself had posted pictures and video footage of his remarkable body transformation on his own social media.
He wrote alongside the images: “It doesn’t matter how difficult or impossible your dream is.
“If you really want to to you’ll make it come true. I DID.”
Matheus’ death is the latest in a string of high-profile tragedies involving bodybuilders.
In May a Majorcan bodybuilder who survived cancer and life-threatening peritonitis died aged 50.
Xisco Serra’s premature death was attributed at the time to natural causes in local media after he suffered stomach problems.
In April a Brazilian bodybuilder and fitness instructor died aged 29 after losing his battle against Covid.
Jonas Filho, known as Jonas Big, had left his 10,400 Instagram followers worried after publishing pictures of him on a respirator in hospital in the city of Fortaleza soon after he was admitted.
