Malta is Now Home to One of the Fittest Men in America

One of Malta's newest community members, Yurii Hanson recently placed fourth in the 2022 NOBULL Crossfit World Games in Madison, Wis., on August 5.

Hanson and most of his family including his wife, Whitewater native Kerry (Simonson) Hanson, and daughters Ava and Etta, moved to Malta a few weeks ago. His son Eli has been in Malta since last Spring.

"Kerry is from Phillips County, but really it was about our kids; a different life for our kids," Yurii told the PCN. "That was the catalyst behind the change."

The couple has owned, operated and competed with CrossFit Billings since 2008. Hanson has served as a fireman at the Billings Fire Department for 11 years. Six years into his career, he was introduced to CrossFit.

"It completely changed my life, and I was so moved by it that I told my wife, 'Kerry, we are opening a CrossFit gym'. It was supposed to be a hobby and side hustle," Hanson said.

He continued working both jobs for five years, until he stepped down from the fire department to focus on his passion, Billings CrossFit. Currently, there are around 250 members.

This year, Hanson competed in the Men's 45-49 Master's Division and placed fourth after scoring 500 points in the World Games.

"Once an athlete turns 35, they have the opportunity to move into the Master's Division," Hanson said.

Before joining the Master's Division, Hanson had seen success in the Individual or RX Division (age 18-35), taking first place in the 2012 NorthWest Regionals. He qualified and competed in the Nationally Televised 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games, finishing 44th overall.

Hanson would return to the Reebok Crossfit Games in 2017, this time earning a bronze medal in the Men's 40-44 Division. He placed 15th in the Team Division in 2018 with his team; CrossFit Billings.

To reach the 2022 World Games, Hanson's journey, like over 20,000 other competitors in his age group, started last February in the Open. The open is the first round of competition.

"It's a virtual competition," Hanson said. "Every week on Thursday afternoon, they (CrossFit) present to the world, a workout to do."

Athletes do the workout with a certified judge that counts the reps to each exercise, making sure that the athlete upholds the movement standards.

"To take things to another level, you also record your workout," Hanson said. "You send the workout in and you get judged by the LLC."

After performing different workouts week-by-week, athletes are ranked according to their division. In this year's Open, Hanson was ranked 8th in the Men's 45-49 Division.

The top 10 percent, or roughly 2,000, moved on to the quarterfinals, another virtual competition. The quarter finals was a one weekend event.

"They will give you four to six workouts to perform in that one weekend," Hanson said.

Only 30 competitors went on to the semifinals during Memorial Day weekend, where Hanson took third place. Hanson had to do six workouts that weekend.

Only the top ten went on to Madison Wis., to compete in the 2022 NOBULL Crossfit Games (formerly sponsored by Reebok) from August 3-5.

Hanson was asked what it is like to compete on the National stage for CrossFit.

"It is the most challenging, grueling, and exciting competition that I have ever been involved in," he said.

To make it as far into competition as possible Hanson prepares for the unexpected.

"The idea of CrossFit is that you want to be ready for any and every physical endeavor that you can think of," Hanson said. "We don't know what these workouts are. We don't know what we are doing basically until we show up."

Hanson said that you have to train to be able to handle anything and that Crossfit isn't simply a weight lifting competition or running competition.

"As far as CrossFit is concerned, you could run, you might not," Hanson said. "You could row, swim, you lift weights, you do gymnastics, you climb ropes, you jump over obstacles. You have to be ready for anything and everything, the known, the unknown, the knowable and the unknowable, and it's who competes statistically the best over all of the events, is crowned the winner."

Now, living in Malta, Yurii and Kerry still own and operate CrossFit Billings. Kerry works remotely, while Yurii commutes to Billings.

The idea of moving to Malta came when Eli asked his parents if he could transfer to Malta last year.

Though they were reluctant at first, Yurii and Kerry allowed their son to transfer to Malta High School from Billings Senior, while living with April Ost and Scott Ost. April is Kerry's sister. Eli lived with the Ost family from early spring until the rest of the Hanson family moved up to Malta mid-August.

Being from Billings, Yurii was asked what he thought of Phillips County.

"I enjoy the heck out of it," he said. "One of the things that kind of moved me, was that I spent a little bit of time over here through the summer helping the football team get a strength and conditioning program going this summer. This week, we were involved with painting the horseshoes for both the volleyball and football team, and it moved me to understand the devotion and just how much the parents cared about these kids; and the community, that the town of Malta would let them go paint the streets. That would never happen in Billings."

He said that everyone that he has met in Malta has been welcoming and polite. Hanson has also run into many gym members of Billings CrossFit from Phillips County over the years.

"Montana is a big-small state and everybody knows everybody, so oftentimes we get people coming in from the Hi-line and Kerry knows them from a lifetime ago," Hanson said. "We have a number of members right now, that I can think of that are from Phillips County."