A champion bodybuilder who boasted of living a monastic life has died at 30 due to reported heart problems.
Wang Kun, one of the sport’s biggest stars in China, died from what ‘seems to be due to a heart problem,’ the Anhui Provincial Bodybuilding Association confirmed to Jam Press on Wednesday.
He had appeared to be in good health just days earlier, according to multiple reports.
Wang was best known for transforming his body and his life by living a ‘monk’s life,’ as he told previous interviewers. He typically ate hot pot broth with meat dipped in soy sauce, and the occasional boiled chicken breast.
Professionally he will be remembered for winning eight consecutive titles at the Chinese Body Building Association National Bodybuilding Championships.
He had been planning to open a new gym in his native Hefei, a sprawling metropolis north west of Chao Lake in China’s Anui province. He’d hoped the project would be ‘a new starting point, a new world … right before my eyes,’ as quoted by the New York Post.
Several bodybuilders passed away in 2025, including Jodi Vance, a 20-year-old who had competed at the Arnold [Schwarzenegger] Sports Festival. Vance reportedly battled severe dehydration before dying.
A month later, in April, Vittorio ‘Vito’ Pirbazari died, followed by Colombian bodybuilder Zunilda Hoyos Mendez in June and Spain’s Lorena Blanco in July.
In August, 37-year-old Hayley McNeff passed away. Postmortem results showed McNeff had a number of drugs in her system, including heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, as well as other banned substances associated with the narcotics.
Ricardo ‘Kadu’ Nolasco dos Santos, who won 11 Brazilian championships, passed away in October just weeks after proposing to his girlfriend. The 31-year-old reportedly fell victim to a stroke following the death of his beloved cat.
